Tips on Choosing a Videographer
With all the low-cost video equipment available today, it’s easy for someone to buy equipment and claim to be in the video business. Understanding your goals, planning properly, being professional, flexible, and easy to work with, having done successful similar work, having satisfied clients, and having the experience to solve problems during your project are traits you should look for when choosing a company for your video project.
“In the end, your video will be a reflection of your company!”
Price
Often when someone is seeking a video production company they don’t know where to begin. Most likely they’ll do a google search and choose from the top of the list, or they may steer towards one of the biggest and most common mistakes: price shopping.
When they compare only on price, they may be comparing “apples to oranges,” or maybe apples to lemons.
The misconception is that videography is a commodity like shopping for gas or a gallon of milk when in reality it’s more like choosing a surgeon where you want the best and most appropriate for the surgery.
By choosing the cheapest video solution they can find, they’d have no idea whether the videographer will be recording their videos with quality equipment and years of experience or show up with an iPhone on a day off from school.
Unless cost is your only priority and the result is not important, what’s best in most situations is not to go with the cheapest nor necessarily the easiest to find, but to take the time to research a few video production companies to find which one best suits your company’s needs for a specific project.
When prices are significantly lower than other bids, you may want to dig deeper and find out what is and isn’t included.
“Keep in mind, you’ll essentially Get What You Pay For.”
Experience
A company without experience may know how to do a certain task very well, however, if they are faced with any technical issues or changing requirements they’ve never faced and most likely aren’t equipped for, they won’t be able to cope and your project can be ruined.
Inexperienced videographers are basically using your video project as a learning experience or to be able to add something to their portfolio, and often the results can be disappointing or not exactly what you were expecting.
Understand Your Goals & Planning
If you meet or get in contact with the videographer to discuss your project, they should prioritize learning what your objectives are and be willing to learn as much about your company and the subject as possible.
The majority of a video project effort goes into the planning, known as the pre-production phase. Inexperienced video companies often don’t realize the importance of this. Without proper planning, they may shoot first and then realize that the storyline doesn’t work properly and that they don’t have the footage they need. It’s never advised to shoot first, ask questions later!
Every video project is different and if you’re given a quote without discussing your details, it can lead to a product that doesn’t achieve your goals or extra costs being tacked on later.
Never ask a videographer to just show up and shoot without having a plan. If you need help developing a plan, a good video production company should be willing to help you with this.
Samples
A video company should be able to show you samples they’ve produced similar in concept to what you need.
Every video project is different and you may not be able to find video samples exactly like you are looking for. In this case, you want to pay attention to the look and feel of the companies’ samples, as well as quality.
References
The videographer should be able to provide a list of past clients you can speak with.
If this isn’t available, or even if you find yourself questioning what the available references are able to tell you, this is an obvious red flag. A professional videographer should strive to satisfy their customer’s needs and if there is any sign of an unsatisfied client or mediocrity, the same could happen to you.
Professionalism & Flexibility
Just as with any other business, professional appearance, punctuality, mannerisms, and customer service are critical traits to take note of when interacting with your videographer.
Video requirements can change as the process unfolds and you want a video team who shows they can be flexible to needed changes. You want to choose a video team you feel comfortable with.
A good video production company will strive to make the experience simplified, stress-free and pleasant for you and your company. If you sense personality traits, conflicts or lack of concern for your needs, these will be magnified as the project progresses.
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