Discover the Keys to Effective Video Production on the Road

Ever wondered what it takes to pull off a flawless video production shoot out of state? Let me pull back the curtain on three pivotal lessons I learned while spearheading a major project in Columbia, South Carolina. From coordinating logistics to ensuring crystal-clear communication with our client, this episode of the Elevate Media Podcast is packed with insights to help you elevate your production game. You’ll discover how meticulous pre-production planning and a dedicated team were game-changers in streamlining our workflow and delivering outstanding results.

Join me, Chris Anderson, as I recount this eye-opening experience and share actionable tips to enhance your video production services. Learn the crucial role of having a reliable team and how thorough pre-trip preparations set the stage for success. Whether you're coordinating travel, crafting shot lists, or scripting interviews, we’ll explore how each element can make or break your project. Perfect for anyone from beginners to seasoned professionals, this episode provides the roadmap to efficient and effective out-of-state video production. Tune in and elevate your business today!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Elevate Media podcast with your host, chris Anderson. In this show, chris and his guests will share their knowledge and experience on how to go from zero to successful entrepreneur. They have built their businesses from scratch and are now ready to give back to those who are just starting. Let's get ready to learn, grow and elevate our businesses.

Speaker 2: 0:21

And now your host, chris Anderson our businesses and now your host, chris Anderson. Have you ever wondered what it takes to take your video production photography services on the road? Well, I'm going to share with you three invaluable lessons I learned on a recent trip out of the state of Indiana to do a production in South Carolina, and I think you might find these really valuable for yourselves some things you might not think about and, hopefully, things that you can help to improve what you do when you serve your clients out of your home state. So if you're ready, let's jump into it. All right, welcome back to another recording of the Elevate Media Podcast. I'm Chris Anderson, your host.

Speaker 2: 0:59

Today. I'm going to dive into our recent trip that myself and the team were able to take to Columbia, south Carolina, where we did a big, huge video production shoot for a client of ours. It was a multi-video type deal, so we had to get a bunch of shots, a bunch of interviews, tons of B-roll so we could put these three videos together that we're doing for them. So it was a big ordeal. Now, the first thing that I want to share on this is I'm so grateful and lucky to have a team, because this would have been really really hard to do by myself. There's probably no way I could have done it myself in one day, two days, probably the whole week, just as much as we got done, because we had so many people there on deck helping out. It was myself managing the project and then we had three others on the team who came with us to here. That helped me, you know, consistently, and then one that we connected with down in South Carolina brought on to help us as well. So it was a huge, huge thing to have them with me to be able to get this done. I I could have done it without them. So that's just kind of like an additional thing. If you can bring people on and maybe you're not at that point yet of building out, you know kind of an agency type thing, even if you're just looking for an extra hand, it's something to think about when you quote your prices for these.

Speaker 2: 2:19

So the first thing I wanted to dive into about this trip that was so important for its success is actually things I did here in Indiana before we took the trip itself the pre-production things. So that's lining up help, that's lining up logistics as far as travel, that's lining up lodging in a way that possibly could have been used for shooting, if needed another location for shooting, if needed another location. That's getting the scripts created and done and the shot list and all those logistical things that we could have layout, the production day schedule so we could give to the team and they could look at it and understand the mission and what we needed for the job at hand. So when they were out doing their shoots I didn't have to be in every place making sure they were getting stuff done. They had the, they had the sheets, they had the scripts, they knew what we were doing, so they could get those shots without me having to kind of oversee them really closely, which was amazing. And so that was a huge thing.

Speaker 2: 3:17

A critical piece to getting it done so fast and so well is because of that pre-production phase that we had here before traveling there. So we got ahead and that was communicating with the client as well. You know, figure out what they wanted, how they wanted it to come across, things that they wanted incorporated, and so all that worked ahead of time, pre-trip. So when we got there it went a lot smoother. So that's the first thing I wanted to hit on.

Speaker 2: 3:42

The second thing I wanted to hit on was how important communication is, communication with the client themselves. You know we had a point person with the client who was communicating with us on what they needed, what was happening, and so we were communicating with them to get things set up, make sure everyone was on the same page as far as the schedule, when we were going to be where and things like that. When we are going to be where and things like that Communication. You know you have to make it pretty. You know black and white pretty easy to understand so nothing gets lost in translation or lost in communication, or nothing is assumed or nothing is left out. So you've got to be really detailed, really direct and you know to the point of exactly what you want and what's going to happen. That's super important Within communication, though too little communication is hard, it's not going to help you.

Speaker 2: 4:31

So if you don't communicate enough and no one knows what's happening or when they got to be there, what's going on, you know, especially with the pre-production, getting that done, too little communication will hinder the project. But on the flip side, too much communication can kind of, you know, throw a little bit of a kink or make things a little bit difficult for the client themselves and sometimes for the team. For example, we obviously, like I mentioned earlier, great amazing group. They're helping and you know, everyone kind of directs and explains things differently. But when you have clients who aren't used to being on photo or being on video and you have, you know, two, maybe three different individuals trying to explain the same thing, it can get a little hectic for the client, for that person on camera, and so you know, I recognize this and this is no fault of the team they're, you know, doing the best they could.

Speaker 2: 5:24

It was hot out, the client was getting kind of hired and you know it was the end of the shoot. And so I saw that and I asked our team hey, what needs to happen? Because I was at the point of just managing, I was letting them do their thing. So they told me this is what needed to happen. And so I walked to the clients, because it was a group of them. I said, hey, listen, this is what needs to happen. We're going to do this, this and this, and they're going to do this, this and this. And so it kind of separated it and made it clear to the client those behind the camera or in front of the camera what needed to be done and how to do it, and so it helped my team kind of get the shots they needed without having to worry about directing the client, who was kind of tired at the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 6:01

There so too much communication, so having a bunch of people offering direction or giving suggestions could be confusing or overwhelming for those who aren't used to being on camera. So it's something to think about as you're, you know, doing this. Well, multiple people have maybe one point person leading the directions and make sure that it's super clear and, you know, concise, because these people aren't videographers, they're not photographers, most likely, so they're not maybe going to understand your lingo or what you're trying to have them do. So just again, communication, making it clear, concise, is going to be best for you. And then another big thing to think about, as you're doing out of your home state productions, is trying to get there a day early.

Speaker 2: 6:46

Yes, you might have to pay for another night of lodging or of vehicle rentals or whatever food, but being there a day early and being able to scout out the area that you're going to be shooting in, maybe finding new locations that work better, because if you're not from the area or not used to it, then you're not going to know. You're going to be walking into somewhere on shoot day completely blind, and some of that's hard. You can't control everything, like we weren't able to go into the office and see exactly where we were going to be doing the interviews. But we had an idea at least. But everything that was outside or downtown, like, we were able to kind of go scope it out. We actually met with some of the clients are point person and they kind of showed us some of that. So we had an idea. We were able to take some snapshots of those areas. We could go back to the room that evening and kind of brainstorm more ideas on what we're going to do the next day, which again reduces the amount of time you're out there shooting because you already have an idea of the location and what you're going to do.

Speaker 2: 7:38

So, yeah, always try to plan a day extra before the shoot at least so you can get down there and scope the area out. It really helps. It makes things flow a lot better going into, you know, production day. So these are the three things that really stood out to me on this trip that I wanted to share with everybody listening. Obviously, if you're not in the video or photo business like we are, it still can be. It can still be helpful for you, especially if you're a service-based business or even not service-based, because planning ahead, pre-planning is great. Communication is always important and then scoping out ahead of time could be anything. You just have to think about it in your industry and what that can look like. So hope you found value from this, hope you could learn something and take it and implement it and, until next time, continue to go out, elevate your life, elevate your brand. We'll talk to you again soon.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Thank you for listening to the Elevate Media Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. See you in the next episode.