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, being licensed and insured, 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 or “One Man Band” freelancers 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 their 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 a lack of concern for your needs, these will be magnified as the project progresses.
The Difference Between a Production Company and a Freelancer
In its simplest sense, a freelancer or freelance videographer is usually an individual who is hired to perform a specific task such as recording with a camera.
A video production company provides its own equipment, planning, supervision, customer interface, the actual recording, editing, and anything else the client might need to successfully complete their project.
The price points for hiring an experienced production company and hiring a freelancer are different because of the functions and value-added a video production company provides.
Often, this is bundled into hourly pricing.
Because video is becoming so common with inexpensive equipment available some clients might look only at price and think all they need is to hire freelancers and that person will do the rest. This doesn’t always work out well for the client because often they really need the total expertise and resources of a full-service video production company but because of inexperience while shopping, don’t realize the difference when they hire and don’t find out what is lacking till later; often when it is too late. There is “buyer’s remorse” yet most people will be hesitant to indicate to themselves or their boss, they made a mistake and will end up living with the result.
Hopefully, this blog can provide more insight and define the differences between hiring freelance videographers and of hiring a video production company with the many extra functions that the latter can provide.
Gathering Information, Pre-Production Planning
Aardvark Video is a Video Production company in business for over 30 years and we are pretty well established in Las Vegas. Because of what goes on in this area, frequently we are contacted to record presentations, seminars, live streaming and to produce highlight videos at trade shows and conventions. Local companies call us to produce training videos, social media, commercials, and information videos or a value proposition to differentiate and promote their business. Often it is a combination of business video needs.
Frequently we get calls with very cursory descriptions of the project; often because the caller doesn’t really understand what is needed and what has to be done.
For example, a caller may say, “I want to record a 1-hour presentation I’m giving at such and such convention center on a certain date/time, can you record it?” If we were an inexperienced freelance videographer (which also usually means a one-man-band) we might just say, ” fine, I’ll be there thank you for hiring us”
However, as a video production company with years of experience, we are going to find out if the client has permission for us to record from the show management, who the AV contact is so that we can connect to the in-house sound system, and whether they want the PowerPoint part of it recorded also, what is the lighting setup and when and where can we set up on the floor, how do they want files delivered, do they want the presentation edited, what is the contact info for the client at the show, etc.?
And because a production company has the resources and expertise, they can adjust and be flexible to needed changes at the presentation even providing more equipment and crew if needed.
We are also going to explain to the client that rather than just show up and turn on a camera, time is needed to set up and test and also to tear down and remove equipment.
Recording a 1-hour presentation is perhaps 4 hours of work by the technician and supervision that is bundled into the pricing.
A freelance videographer is going to look to their client to do most if not all of the planning and other functions that a production company provides and, in some cases, particularly when the freelancer is being hired by a production company, that is all that is needed from the tech.
A video production company, if they’ve got experience and credibility, should be able to ask the right questions and guide a client through the entire production process.
Sample Conference Project Suitable for a Video Production Company
Let’s give an example of planning associated with conventions. We were hired to provide the crew and equipment to record (10 technicians) and live-switch (10 technicians) between speakers and PPT presentations in 10 rooms simultaneously for two days. Files needed to be edited and uploaded to the client’s website the same day and we needed to be certain the technicians were supported. So we also provided 2 editors and 3 supervisors. Of the 25-person crew, 22 were technicians and the 3 supervisors were needed to make the project work properly.
For a project like this, (1) We started with developing written guides for all crew members specific to their role, (2) Tested all the equipment weeks prior to the show, (3) Numbered every piece of equipment to match the room it would be in, and even had the cameras name the files on the memory sticks to match the room numbers. (4) We had crew members come into our studio weeks in advance to become familiar with and practice with the planned equipment and the guidelines.
In addition, prior to the show, there was a constant stream of emails and conference calls with the client to go over details.
At the show instead of only having what was needed: 10 cameras and 12 computers; we had 12 cameras and 14 computers plus backups of all other components in case something went wrong including recording the cameras internally and redundantly remotely. We also had extra technicians standing by in case something happened to any of the scheduled crew (and in fact, it did the night before with a crew member having back problems).
The day before the show, the supervisors set up and adjusted the equipment custom to every room and during the show, supervision was there to help the technicians correct any problems and supervise the entire workflow.
The project went flawlessly and the client was very pleased. If the client had to deal with 22 “freelancers” without the functions of a “Video Production Company” planning and supervision, besides the communication and equipment headaches they would have, you can imagine what could go wrong.
Most Freelancers would not be able to handle this level of planning, equipment, supervision, and complexity.
How is a Corporate/Business Video Project Different?
A lot of the equipment, planning, and experience used for a conference can also be used for a Corporate project such as a training or marketing video. What is perhaps one of the biggest differences is the scripting needed ahead of time.
A script starts with discussing the clients objective and scripting – what do they want the viewer to do after watching? It involves (1)Learning the corporate culture and branding, (2) Location scouting and planning all the shots, (3) Someone on set to be certain the shots have continuity and that all are recorded, (4) Often a make up tech and or a teleprompter, (5) After the shoot, putting selected takes on a timeline and building a story, (6) Adding perhaps a Voice Over, Graphics, Animations, B-Roll, etc. during editing.
When to Use a Freelance Videographer
In many cases, if someone else is providing the equipment (or a great deal of equipment and backup isn’t needed), the planning, and supervision, a freelance technician is all that is needed and the right choice.
However, if this isn’t available from the client, it is often the best choice to work with a video production company to have supervision that understands the client’s objectives, can assist with the planning, and can interface rather than just knowing how to operate the equipment.
We here at Aardvark Video in Las Vegas are a full-service video production company. You can learn more about us and how we achieve client goals with video at https://aardvarkvideolasvegas.com
We are always available to chat and provide our ideas and expertise. You can reach us at 702-897-4477 or via email at AardvarkVideo@gmail.com
