Incorporating Existing Video Do’s And Don’ts
Here’s a question I’m getting asked more and more often… can you incorporate some stuff we’ve shot on our own into the video?
The easy answer is… yes… of course we can do that. The follow-up question I then ask is… do you really want us to?
The reason for that question is simple. There’s little chance the video company X hands over to us that they’ve already shot is going to meet the same quality standards that we’ve going to provide when we shoot something.
In other words, when you watch the finished video, you’re going to see a big contrast between what the pros have shot and what Ted in the PR department or Sue in HR shot.
There are times amateur video is important to a project… like any historical video or something from a past event. We’re video professionals, but we can’t travel back in time to shoot something that’s already happened.
On the other hand, there’s really no point in handing over amateur video for something that can be shot now by the pros. Why go through the time and expense of having a video professionally shot and edited only to hand over some amateur video that’s going to make your production look partially… well… amateur-ish?
Also… a side note… I hope you find a producer who’s going to raise these issues with you. Like I mentioned, the easy answer is to say, “Yes, we can incorporate it.” But when the end result is a less-than-professional-looking video, that producer isn’t doing a good job of looking out for your interests.
Being a “yes man” is simple. Providing people with proper guidance is more difficult, but it’s also far more valuable.
–Tony Gnau