In the last decade, video production has become more widely available to small and medium businesses.
However, the process of making a video is still a complicated workflow including several creative and technical stages. For most business owners creating a compelling business video is outside of their skill set. Not to worry though because it happens to be one of the things we’re very good at!
We understand that if you are paying for professional to create your video, you expect to be happy with the end product. In order to maximise your investment you must provide constructive feedback to the team working on the video. The best videos come from a collaborative process, and communication is key to success. Follow our guidelines of giving great feedback-
Give honest feedback at the right time during production
The creative process of video production is a series of different stages, each providing plenty of opportunities for review. Each stage will focus on different elements, and they will need to be locked down before moving on. It is imperative that you feedback on the element of the video that is being tackled at that time. Being honest about anything you are unsure of, when you are given the opportunity will make the process smoother. By holding back any doubts until a later stage in the process will make it much harder to reverse and make amends.
Relate back to the objective of the video
The goal of a project is agreed upon by yourselves, the client and the creative team at the beginning of production. Try and relate any feedback to the original brief, highlighting aspects that may not hit the objectives highlighted at the outset. This will give your feedback meaningful structure, and result in a more focused end project.
View the video as if you are the target audience
It’s easy to have subjective opinions when watching a video, but personal preferences may not be in line with the desired outcome of the video, especially if you are not the intended target audience. Watch the video through the eyes of the target demographic. Do you think it will have the desired effect? If you don’t think it will work for the intended market, try and articulate why.
Be specific with your feedback
Video is a complex medium incorporating many different elements, making it difficult for people who don’t have a technical background in video to articulate what they want to say. When giving feedback, try using visual examples – images or videos – as a reference point. Alternatively use screenshots and annotations to highlight and comment on particular moments.
Once the video is in the post-production stage use a video timecode to reference the section you are giving feedback on. This will help the editor identify the exact point where the change needs to be implemented. Additionally, it will eliminate any ambiguity from description of the scene.
Consolidate your feedback
When a project is being reviewed by a board or committee, there will always be conflicting opinions and view points. Before you pass on feedback from the group, consolidate different opinions into a single, unified source. Whilst we appreciate it is difficult to accommodate everyone, having one or two ultimate decision-makers will make this process a lot easier.
Expect and respect push-back
Video production is a specialist and creative profession. The team involved will have used their knowledge and expertise of the industry and relevant trends to produce your brief to a high-standard. Consequently, you may experience resistance from them based on constraints such as budget, or professional opinion. You should expect a creative to stand by decisions and if they’ve been made with good reason they should be able to justify it.
Footage is always reviewed by the editor in extreme detail. No-one else in the production team will watch each clip multiple times to decide on the merits of each one how the project scenes work in relation to each other. It is always best to trust the decisions the editor makes.
It is important to consider the impact of any changes you want to make. What might seem like a quick fix to you could potentially be much more complicated than just clicking ‘update’ or ‘animate’. However, if you have an issue that you feel strongly about, do say something. The production team will respect criticism if it is presented with good reasoning and specificity.
Ultimately the video production team’s goal for your video is the the same as yours, and communication from both sides will enrich the video production process, resulting in a better quality end product.
Square Daisy are a complete creative agency offering website design and digital marketing. More details on our services can be found here.
