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How to Create an Entertaining Video in 24 Hours

May 8th, 2010

If you’re in the video production industry perhaps you have wondered, ”how can my team create higher quality content out of the limited amount of time we have for each project?”. I have put together a compact list of three hints for how to successfully complete your projects in 24 hours or less. These tid bits of wisdom include: the importance of connecting with quality people to form a quality team, how to create a video fast, and how to allocate your time to maximize your end results.

Step 1 – Put together your team

Your team members should be reliable people that you trust, know where their specific talents lie, and can rely on them to do a great job. Make sure you know where your team members are located and what time zone they’re in, don’t waste too much time on conference calls or group Skype discussions, and be sure that everyone is very clear on what they are expected to contribute to the project. And treat every member of your team like they are absolutely integral to the success of the created video, people tend to exert more effort when they’re appreciated.

Step 2 – Create the video

The next and second most important part of the project is the process of planning out, shooting, and editing the video. Some people think that between these three elements you should allocate an equal 1/3 of the project’s time to each, but the fact is you will burn most of your time shooting the video and post-producing after. Have a good story written but be flexible to adjust the script and dialog according to the actors and director on the set, because things will always change on shoot day. Spend the most time on making the key seconds and moments in the video as remarkable as possible, and entertain the viewers early on to keep them sticking around for more. Over 50% of video viewers leave in the first 10 seconds, so make your impact on them quickly.

Step 3 – Manage your time wisely

24 hours goes by pretty fast, especially if some of them are spent sleeping. You have to keep tracking your team’s progress every hour or so, but don’t over obsess in this area or time will be wasted on plan management vs actually creating the video. Be relentless during pre-production to be sure that everything is ready to go from the moment you start filming, actors know their lines inside and out, equipment is functional, the location or locations are setup, and the project workflow is easy for everyone to follow. There are lots of variables when it comes to time management, and there will always be things that pop up which you didn’t initially plan for, so set aside at least 10% of total project time for the unexpected extras. In post production every team member should get time to review the project and voice their own opinions to increase the content’s quality, so be sure to set aside a few minutes to create a clear path to a successful project conclusion.

You can do it

There are many other things you can do to create quality video entertainment fast, but hopefully these tips will get you headed in the right direction when working on a tight deadline. If you already have a production project on the go you can manage it via Spidvid’s collaborative production platform. Or if you need to build a new team then grab a free account and invite your members to connect with you in our social network, or find new talented individuals to collaborate with in our community.

Have another tip to add for video production under extreme time constraints? Share one below with a comment.

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