Producing a Video Series: Why Pre-Production is So Important
February 7th, 2008
Part 1
Before you even begin to shoot your video, there is a significant amount of work that
you’ll need to do first. Since the actual shoot is called the production, this is called the
“pre-production.”
Over the past several years I have spent a fortune on books specializing in marketing,
time-management and similar topics. While reading a book by corporate motivational
speaker Brian Tracy, I read of the “one minute, ten minute” rule. Tracy starts out by
citing a mock emergency situation. He says that most people will spend one minute
planning (if that much) and use the remaining nine minutes to take action. When NASA
astronauts were put in the same situation, they would spend the first nine minutes
planning and only then execute a well thought out course of action.
The “one minute, ten minute” rule states that for every minute spent planning, you save
ten minutes of work. This is true for astronauts. This is true for businessmen, salesmen
and entertainers. This is especially true when planning a video.
If you want to save time and money during your video shoot (and who doesn’t?) then the
best way to accomplish this is by spending more time planning during the pre-production.
I can hear some of you already saying:
But, Scott, why not just go out and shoot as much video as possible right now? Can’t I
just make it look good with edits?
Yes, sort of. With today’s technology you can take bad footage and make it look better.
Two points, though. Notice I said “better” and not “great.” You can only do so much.
For example, you’ve seen home videos with bright backgrounds (like windows) and the
person is just a dark silhouette? It’s possible in post-production to bring details out on the
subject and make their face visible. However, it will never look as good as if it were
exposed correctly. There will be additional noise in the face and have a ‘grainy’ look.
Plus, this type of editing can be expensive (in time and/or money).
There is a term in computer program that says Garbage In/Garbage Out. Essentially, it
means that if you start with garbage, you’re going to get garbage back out. Video is
similar. In fact, in some cases, it’s worse. For example, in the world of analog video
each copy (or generation) loses quality.
I’m sure you’ve seen this if you’ve tried to copy a VHS tape. The copy has some “snow”
or noise appear. If you make a copy of the copy, the loss of quality grows. With digital
video, this isn’t the case. You can make a 10th generation copy and it will look just as
good as the original.
However, the problem still remains. If the original is garbage, the copy will look like
garbage. If your video has poor audio, you can tweak, but you can only do so much.
And again, you’re going to be paying for it in post-production editing dollars.
So we need to determine how to get the best footage before we even shoot a single frame
of video. Our technique will depend largely on where you will be performing. You will
have different constraints in a hotel banquet room than in a thousand-seat theater.
Where do you want to work?
The first step to capturing the best footage for your video is capturing the right footage
for your video. Huh? You’re going to want to make sure what you are showing in your
video is appropriate for the audience watching your video.
If you were an event planner for corporate events and you saw a video of someone
performing at colleges, in front of a college audience and another video of someone
performing in a banquet room for well-dressed adults, which performer would you
choose? This is true for the college market as well. If you have two tapes and one shows
a corporate looking speaker, the other a hip, fast-paced comedian, which do you think
will get hired for the college show?
EXERCISE:
So decide on whom you want for your main clients and where you want to perform. Begin with a
blank piece of paper and list them. Spend as much time as you need and make your list as long as
possible. Look at your act, look at your prospects and determine exactly whom you want in front
of you when you walk out on stage.
Handpick your potential clients
You should have a long list of potential clients by now. We now have to look at
trimming the list to our “A” list of prospects. At this point look through the list and ask
yourself, “Can this prospects afford my services?”
Again, I come back to Brian Tracy. A common truism in marketing is the “80/20” rule. I
know, too many rules! But this one is really important. It says that 80% of your business
will come from 20% of your clients. So focus on the top 20% of that list.
These are your new favorite people. You are going to design your video for them. How
do you go about doing this? For starters, find out what they are looking for in an
entertainer. The best way to accomplish this is to simply ask them.
EXERCISE:
Make several calls to people who hire the entertainment and simply ask them what
they are looking for in an entertainer. Take detailed notes with each call and look for
recurring trends. Look for the most common traits that these prospects want. Also,
ask them how long a video are they expecting.
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