To be progressively successful at photography and videography skills, you need to keep nurturing and nourishing your practice of such arts. With every new session, you learn something new and improve your creativity.
At the same time, with the evolving digital technology and the rising competition levels in this industry, you must also pay attention to certain other aspects besides enhancing your creative skills.
When it comes to videography - regardless of whether it’s being shot outdoors at a location or indoors in a video/ photo studio rental - if you keep certain things in mind, you can achieve so much more and also get the best out of your investments in terms of money, time and additional resources.
Let’s take a look at some of those influencing factors here:
Allocate the budget methodically
To organise video production or videography in Brixton, begin by conducting a proper research about budget. Look into all the details for equipment including camera and lighting, the locations available and the best options in context of rentals, the fee for actors or models, food, transport and lodging, and miscellaneous costs.
Budgeting must be a detailed process and it needs to be tackled at the pre-production stage or else chances are that things could go wrong during actual production. Be realistic and do not get carried away with the idea of creating a stunning video.
A lot can be achieved even by keeping costs on the lower sides. Do you really need fifteen people in the crew or can the same results be achieved by twelve instead? Do you have to travel to a faraway location or can something similar be done more cost-effectively by taking a studio rental in London back home? The key is to make sensible decisions.
Make sure you know the real purpose of the video being created
Video production in general is a complex proposition because so many factors are involved such as budgeting, hiring cast and crew, conducting recce for faraway potential shoot locations, or taking a studio space for rent in London. So when you decide to get into this business, ensure that you identify the purpose of your video before involving other people or businesses in it.
While outlining the purpose, determine the target audience and build from there. Who will like to watch your video? Where will this video be put up? Is it for Facebook, YouTube or any other social media platform? Is the reason to create this video money, social awareness, brand popularisation or something else? If you’re having trouble answering these questions, then reach out to someone who has better experience than you in the industry.
Limit the number of people involved
Videography sounds like an extensive job and sometimes it is. As the number of people involved in the process increase, their opinions also start to come in, and subsequently confusion begins to build up. Since creativity is a subjective and personal process, not everybody will see eye to eye.
Video production is a team effort and all the cogs need to come together to build a common vision instead of trying to rip the process apart and start stressing on their own individual goals. Therefore, hire the experts - the people who know exactly what goes into the making of a video and thus bring in their invaluable insight.
Everybody in the crew needs to contribute something. Let’s address this with a simple example - say you hired a photo studio in London to shoot a music video. Now, the photo studio may also have its own team of professionals to help your photographers or videographers with setups for lighting and props, because they know the space better than anyone else. In this scenario, would you really need to bring in that one extra assistant who will only end up adding to the costs?
Invest in the best
This is connected to the last point we discussed. As you limit the number of people involved, only the best of the best will remain to help you meet your vision. Every person has their own expertise.
While working on pre-production as a videographer, it is important for you to research the background and the skills that every person (you’re thinking of hiring) carries with them. This goes for everybody right from production designers and sound designers to artists and the production crew.
Even in terms of location hires, if you’re doing an indoor shoot at a photo studio hire in London, conduct a recce of the place before finalising anything. See if it really is the right studio that will fit into the scheme of your things and then take the final call.
The above mentioned things can go a long way in launching a good video production and should come in handy to any budding or experienced videographer. The key is to do a very thorough pre- production so the surprises during actual production are not scary! All the best!
Author Bio: Founded in 2006 by Photographer Francois Boutemy and Designer Chris Charalambous, Simulacra Studio has worked with a number of high calibre clients for more than a decade. It also organises workshops and artistic development courses to give budding photographers the best of growth opportunities in the industry. For more information on the studio and trainings imparted visit https://www.simulacrastudio.com/
