The 5 Biggest Misconceptions We Hear About Video
For so many of our clients, film and video is a new and unconquered frontier. Part of the intimidation that comes with video is not understanding the process, so we always try to educate clients as much as possible beforehand. We don’t want video to feel like this abstract, ethereal concept, because that can lead to unrealistic expectations. We feel that transparency is the best way to set up a project for success and to ensure everyone feels confident going into the project. Today we’re addressing some of the biggest misconceptions we hear about video and film, so let’s get into it.
“I just need video content - let’s wing it.”
Many times we hear things like, “We need video content. Can you just show up and see what we can get?” This kind of thinking makes video very abstract when it should be considered in concrete terms. At Tripp Films, we think about video in terms of deliverables or end products, such as a 2-minute Branded Film or a 30-second social media short.
We also think of video in terms of stories - what is the message we want to convey, and how do we tell it in a cohesive manner? Stories are what connect us and provide meaning behind our brand and products. Video without storytelling is a wasted opportunity to engage with your audience. The beautiful thing is that it doesn’t have to be complicated to tell a story through film. You can tell a story through an intricately woven 3-minute short documentary, or you can tell a story through one 5-second shot.
Lastly, to take advantage of the power of video for your business, you need to have a purpose and strategy behind the content you are putting out, especially if you are investing time and money into professional film production. All of this requires a proper planning process. With proper planning, we can create an end product that actually achieves results for your business, so that your investment is well worth it. To sum up these three points, no we can’t just wing it. We are always shooting with an end goal in mind.
2. “I’m only paying for shoot time.”
As mentioned above, there is a proper planning process that takes place ahead of the shoot date, which you can read more about here. After the shoot is when the majority of the work takes place - in the editing room. Most people are surprised to find out how much time the editing process takes. On average, I usually account for 3x as much editing time as the shoot time. It takes a lot of experience, time and intuition to put together all of the footage into a cohesive story that engages your attention, flows well and captures the essence of your brand.
3. “I’m not good on camera.”
You mean you’re not a professional celebrity who is used to cameras in their face all the time? Of course not! And we don’t expect that of you. We work with people all the time who are not used to being on camera. We have many tricks up our sleeve to help you feel comfortable and come across competently on camera. From personal experience, I can tell you that it gets easier the more you do it, so I always encourage clients to start small. You can jump on Stories and talk to your Instagram followers, and even that helps prepare you for when we press record on set.
4. “Can you photoshop that?”
Nope. For our purposes, there is no such thing as “photoshopping” in video. To get a little bit technical, there are 24 frames (or single images) per second of film. You can maybe guess how long it would take to edit out a flyaway hair in a 10-second clip. We make sure that everything looks great while we’re shooting because we don’t abide by the phrase, “we’ll fix it in post.” I like to think of film as a more authentic perspective of a photograph, because it can capture way more than a photograph and it cannot be easily altered into a perfect image. That’s kind of what I love about it though.
5. One and Done.
Video is not a one-use-case scenario. After we have intentionally captured the content that represents your brand and functions within your marketing strategy, there are endless options for utilizing it on different platforms and re-editing it with a different purpose. The last thing we want is for you to post your finished film once and then forget about it. We really want you to take advantage of your film content and be able to use it in as many ways as possible. For instance, our Branded Film package includes the 2-minute full film and 2 15-30-second reels. After we deliver those 3 films, there is still the potential to use the content in different ways, especially for short pieces on social media. Oftentimes clients will request additional reels to be edited from the full film or even from footage that didn’t make the cut. With intentional planning, the opportunities for content can be limitless.
(If you are a current client, inquire here about reel editing services.)
We hope this gives a more accurate picture of the production process and specifically the way we, at Tripp Films, work. Not only that, we hope that this gives you more confidence in approaching a film project with any production company. Please feel free to reach out with any other questions! If you’d like to inquire about a project, you can fill out a contact form here.