I spent the greater part of the weekend reading a book on the idea of starting the business of your choice. The books you read will enable you to see the positive when it comes to creating a more profitable video production company. It has certainly helped me be aware of the feelings I go through regularly due to the stress that comes with running a business, as well as managing production and being the one who shoots and edit a significant portion of the work that is brought to my studio.
I’ve observed that the most significant loss of time and money for a business in the video is the process of creating. We spend too much time experimenting with tweaking and hating the creations (repeat) till the time is set, and we’re forced to rush and get the video ready to be delivered to our customers. Our studio is usually described as “polishing an ox!”
If this happens, it’s not a good time for us as artists, and our bank account isn’t stocked with enough money to feed our families and invest in our business.
To be happy and financially prosperous, We must find ways to streamline our process of creation so that we can provide high-quality products faster and with greater profits.
Insanity refers to repeating the same thing repeatedly and expecting different outcomes. In any creative setting, I believe we’d all like to think that an alternative definition is doing things differently each time but expecting the same outcome.
We would like to be as imaginative as we can in every project we tackle and also to be compensated for the time we put into creating our client’s dream. This simply isn’t possible in this way.
There isn’t the benefit of an open-ended meter, where we are able to do a job all the time we want with the assurance of being the amount for each hour that it takes to finish it to our complete satisfaction.
In reality, we put in too many hours we aren’t compensated for, or we deliberately reduce our hours since we want to ensure we’re compensated for all of our efforts.
Both are harmful to us, the business owner. If we are working long hours and aren’t compensated, we’re not able to live and prosper financially. If we are working fewer hours than we need to create a top-quality product for our client, we may be rejected for a second time, which can impact our financial health.
It’s a lose/lose scenario.
To succeed in our field, We must organize the entire creative process as is possible. Below are a few areas to think about.
1. Scriptwriting
How do you write your script? Set up a system for conducting the research, preparing the outline, submitting it for approval from the client, etc. Another thing you could consider doing is encouraging the client to take on some of the writing responsibilities to ensure that you don’t get caught up in that aspect that is involved. That’s what I strive to accomplish in all my projects, and it’s proven to be much more lucrative (and enjoyable) for me in general.
2. Lighting Interviews, B-ROLL, etc.
I’ve met DPs who prefer to adopt an entirely different approach to lighting on each shoot. I’ve heard them tell me that they don’t want two shoots to appear alike when it comes to lighting. Involved. This is absurd! My opinion is that you shouldn’t be changing your style each time you shoot. Instead, select an aesthetic, master it, and apply it over a long period of duration on a variety of shoots until you are convinced that you’re in need of upgrading the equipment or more sophisticated techniques.
It took me about one hour to properly prepare for an interview. Nowadays, I can finish this in about 15 mins or so since I conduct it, in the same way every time.
3. Editing & Motion Graphics
This is the phase of the creative process that causes us to be miserable. The creative side of us is eager to explore new ideas, but the manager in us has to get it done and get it done. You’ll be surprised to learn that there are patterns you discover over the course of the design and editing procedure that are easy to duplicate with slight modifications. This method takes significantly less time to design; however, it will look totally different in the eyes of your customers.
A logo that is the same, with different colors, shadows, and fonts. It could be used in hundreds of videos with no one being aware. A similar color correction style or vignette technique can be used in all projects with no issues. There is a myriad of options to make your work more current for each client and to significantly reduce the time required to finish it.
I’m sure I did not go into an enormous amount of detail in this article about how to organize each step of the creative process. I’m sure you’re now thinking of ways you can make great work in a shorter amount than a week… that will lead to more money for your business in video production!