What’s the first thing you do when you need to get a video made?
Maybe you’ve never commissioned a video project before or you’ve been asked to get some competitive quotes to mix things up a bit.
It may be tempting to just fire out a few generic emails and hope for some decent costs back from a range of professional companies.
But the truth of the matter is that if you don’t write a video production brief for your video production company, the costs could be way off what they need to be and the production process could be a long, complicated and confusing mess! A mess that goes over budget and over deadlines too!
By writing a brief in advance of getting quotes for a project, it gives you the chance to organise your thoughts, messages and ideas so that everyone involved is on the same page and you can make the most of your video production budget.
To make things simple, Here’s a summary of three important tips that will get you on the right track.
1. Establish the goals of Your Video Production
Always ensure that the goals, messages and overall focus of your corporate video are clear in your video brief. Why are you making a video in the first place? Why is it not a website, a brochure or an email campaign? Give us the background of the project and how the decision to make a video came about.
This leads us on to messaging. What is the core message you want to communicate to your audience in this video? There may be more than one key messages for a single film, that’s ok, but you want to make sure these are set in stone from the outset and don’t get carried away with too many.
This in turn plays into the ultimate goal of your project — so what’s is it? are you trying to drive more traffic to your website? Or are you hoping to spread awareness of an upcoming event? This can be as broad as you like, but it all links back to that original ‘why’
The more detailed this information is in your brief, the better your video production team will be able to create something that accomplishes your goals.
2. Make Your Preferences Clear!
The video production brief is the perfect time to make your stylistic preferences clear to the video production team.
Have you already seen a video you like visually? Perhaps there’s a video from another market or industry that does a good job of selling their key messages? Maybe there’s a video trend or visual style you want to avoid in the execution?
If this isn’t the case, maybe there’s a look and feel you want to avoid? If anything, it’s more vital for us to know what you don’t like them what you do when it comes to visual style.
While you don’t necessarily need to have a finalised idea already set in stone at this point, providing your video team with examples of which styles fit (or don’t fit) your brand and its message can make it much easier to develop your video in a style that will effectively communicate your message.
This is most likely to impact your budget as well!
3. Set the Timescales for Your Video Production
Setting clear timescales for your production is essential for getting your finished product delivered on time and looking exactly how you want it.
There may be restrictions on certain elements of the video production. For example, filming may only be able to take place on certain days during working hours. Maybe the edit needs to be turned around in 24 hours? Perhaps a key stakeholder in the project is heading off on holiday for a fortnight during the script writing phase! All these things impact on the flow of the project and need to be dealt with as soon as possible.
In addition to the final deadline for the completed video, the members of our Nottingham video production team often find it beneficial when clients are able to provide other dates and times that are relevant to the production — such as when a special event relevant to the video will be held or when an important interview subject will be available. This vital information allows us to complete projects efficiently and on time.
While it may require a bit of extra time and effort, providing a detailed video production brief to your team will set the tone for the rest of your video project. By clarifying your project’s focus, establishing your preferences and setting the timescales for your project, you can put your team on the path to success.
