Top 7 Ways to Completely Ruin Your Own Video Project

Top Ways to Ruin Your Own Video Project
Writing, pre-production, budgeting. Don’t sabotage yourself on your next video production project. ECG's Trey Gregory has tips to help you avoid a video disaster.

1. Pick a vendor based solely on price

The choices you make when selecting your video vendor are critical, and this choice is BY FAR the most important choice you will make with your project.  Your vendor will not only help you with the technical aspects of creating a video, they will walk you through the entire process, they will navigate you through the pre-, prod, and post-production process, and their knowledge of their craft will help you every step of the way. You need to choose a vendor that has experience with your kind of video, someone you get along with, and someone who has passion for your their craft and for your project, and who can work with your stated budget.

But if all you do is choose the creative vendor because they bid so low, then you are have already made a decision that will hurt your project. What if this vendor is inexperienced and they didn’t properly understand the scope of the project? What if they just bid low to get you in the door so they can charge you more later?  The point is, if you have a low budget, you should select several vendors within your budget range, and pick the one that is the best fit for you, not the one that is willing to do the most for the least.  Because while you think you are getting more for less, you are just getting less.

2. Let inexperienced people on your team write the script

Professional writers are a critical part of the production process.  They have an understanding of script structure and convention.  The know how to write dialog.  They can write a script that reads at a specific length.  They are your first, last and only line of defense against a bad project.  Everything is based on the script, leave it’s creation in the hands of a professional.

3. Not heeding the advice of your video vendor

If the person you hired to do your project is very gently trying to push you in a certain direction, even if it’s a direction you aren’t sure of, you should probably listen to them.  You hired this vendor to make these kinds of decisions for you, let them do it for you, so they can give you the best possible product.

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4. Don’t have a plan for deployment

Know how you want to deploy your project at the very beginning.  If you plan to put this spot on TV, you need to be sure it’s center-punch and title safe.  Is it going on the web?  What platforms?  How will you host it?  These are all questions that should be asked up front, not as the project is being delivered.

5. Be completely inflexible with your concept

To get the most bang for your buck,  come to your vendor with a loose concept and allow them to collaborate with you to fully form the idea.  Video professionals have a way of thinking about video that is, in and of itself, a valuable resource.  Take advantage of that resource as early as possible.

6. Plan and Execute the project at the last-possible moment

This one needs no explanation; JUST DON’T DO IT.

7. Just fix it in post

No words have ever been uttered that send more terror down the spine of a post-production professional.  Fixing it in post is like procrastination, but worse because it involves many people, who may not even be on-set to point out the issues with ‘fixing it in post.’  There is almost always a way to fix it in production, so save yourself and your post-production team a headache and fix it now.

The best and easiest way to not ruin your video project is to reach out to someone at ECG Productions.  Let us make all the hard choices for you.  Give us a call and get the converstation started today.

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