In this 6th and final part of marketing video tips, here are some general points to tidy up.
Allow plenty of time for any video shoot you are involved in. Generally, it will take a lot longer to get things right and that’s before you start working with the things that move, AKA the talent. Horror stories abound where the super efficient PA to the CEO has graciously allocated 10 minutes to film a 5 minute piece, of which CEO has barely had sight of or it is being rewritten and not even ready for the tele-prompter or the talent insists they will do it on the fly… and then like a recent keynote political speech, their most important point gets forgotten.
Agree any costs and specs to carry out all work to completion. Make sure you know what likely extras have not been agreed, i.e. music licensing, stock footage and specialised animated graphics. This will upset many pros but if you pay someone to film for you or your company, stipulate that upon payment YOU will own the COPYRIGHT to that footage. By all means allow the production company to use your footage for promotion but subject to your approval. Arrange in advance to get a copy of the source footage transferred to a hard drive or a USB Stick handed over when the project is finished and keep it safe in case it is needed for another project or a re-edit is necessary.
To be clear, if you subsequently want to use the footage for something else, you should not have to pay for the right to use something you have commissioned in the first place. I will always put in writing “on receipt of all outstanding monies as cleared funds copyright of all footage will become the property of ****” i.e. you the client.
So there are some areas to think about but I finish with a note of caution. It is what I call the “Sir Alan Effect”. In the first series of The Apprentice, ten years ago, Alan (before his peerage) Sugar, during the video task was scathing on the amount of money he had wasted over the years with media types who went off to collect awards for TV ads etc, were congratulated by all and sundry but their “amazing creations” didn’t sell any product. As with all creative industries, pretentiousness and the Emperor’s New Clothes are not far away. Do not allow any professional company to lose sight of what your video is for – to enhance your business, not to win them awards.
I am happy to answer questions and can be contacted here or by email david@dsvp.co.uk