Reconnecting with your craft
It has been months of labor-intensive work. The team has been working long hours to get finished the last and longest (just under an hour) video training module for the corporate client. Don’t get me wrong, its great to be busy and have plenty of work, but making videos professionally in the corporate world is not always as glamorous as it seems. There is no doubt about it that professional video production is hard work. Corporate client demands can be very taxing on the production and team. With so much invested in their brand image there can be no room for error and many pick up on the slightest hair out of place (fly away) while on set or the smallest visual detail while in an editing session.
Corporate video production is also demanding based on the tremendous growth and evolution it continues to undergo, especially online. There is a lot more competition since HD Media Creations first opened its doors over 5 years ago. While competition is a normal part of business it also brings the inevitable pressure on margins and makes you think twice now on whether you can afford to pass on a project or not. Technology change is another constant in the video business. You can be so far ahead of the curve and the competition one minute with a great technology and then quickly find yourself in need of updating to make sure you are once again pushing the envelope creatively for your clients. Did I forget to mention ROI tools, social media integration and interactivity as other key elements that clients are looking for as part of their video solution nowadays?
As these demands take from you and your team, the passion drive, and commitment begins to wane. Transforming your passion into a viable business is a great feeling but the moment that passion begins to flounder you need to evaluate the situation and remedy it quickly. Here is the checklist that the HD Media put together
• Is the video content you are creating meaningful to you and your team?
• Do you think the video content you’re creating will be meaningful to others?
• Are you able to choose your video production jobs or are they choosing you?
• Is the time and effort your team putting into the production being adequately compensated financially and emotionally?
This list is not exhaustive but it certainly helped the team understand that they needed to reconnect with their craft. They looked at three criteria to forge the connection:
Have fun: Connect with video outside of the corporate world
Educate: Pass on their knowledge of video
Inspire: Give back to help inspire future generations of video producers
So here is what we did. On Thursday April 19, 2012 we took the afternoon off from busy corporate video production and setup on location at the Eatonville Public Library, in Toronto Ontario. For the afternoon we educated, inspired and had a lot of fun talking, teaching, and showing a group of home-schooling students all about video production.
We explained to them the tools of the trade and everybody had a smile on their face as they worked on the make believe set. Some were DOP’s, boom mic operators, talent or PA’s. We even setup an editing station so they could see some of the cool effects that they may have seen on their favorite TV shows. It was a blast for the kids and the HD Media Creations team took some much needed time to reconnect with their craft and realize that video is about connecting people, creating excitement and having fun. It really helped to put things into perspective and helped us remember that video production has to be about more than just dollars and sense. Sure, sometimes the content you are creating may not be the most interesting to you, but that’s the price to pay for doing what you love. The key is to reconnect with your passion once in a while and most importantly on your terms. If you are in the fortunate position to make money from your craft, remember that every now and then you need to reconnect with it and remember why you were passionate about it in the first place. So get your camera out and crew ready and look for inspiration as it is all around you each and every day. The team at HD Media Creations certainly found the passion and reconnected that afternoon at the Eatonville Public Library.
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