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Posts Tagged ‘skills’

4 Reasons To Switch Up Your Video Production Teams

November 9th, 2011

diverse team

All too often video creators and producers want to use the same production teams over and over again. Is talent recycling a good long-term strategy? I explore this often overlooked topic below.

4 reasons why switching up your video production teams is a good idea:

1. Safe is risky – Quite honestly it’s a big pain and challenging problem building teams around video and film projects. So what many video creators and producers do is save time by just using their same local talent, without exploring opportunities outside their city. Call it a “team building comfort zone” or whatever term you want to use, but bottom line is that having a core team is perhaps a good idea for stability reasons, but learning to be flexible for attracting outside talent can be very beneficial for your projects.  Sometimes good things take time!

2. Fresh perspectives – Teams can get stagnant, so bringing in even one or two new members for every project can help liven things up a little, and ignite more conversations that ultimately beat a better path towards the end goal. Individuals who challenge the status quo should be at the very top of your list.

3. More resources to draw from – Raw human talent is a wonderful thing, and so too are the assets which each member brings to the table. Some examples are videographers who have their own cameras and lighting, producers who have money to invest, composers who have sound equipment, etc. When bids are made on Spidvid projects we always urge the talent who are bidding to specify what they can contribute in terms of skill set, and any equipment, tools, props, or software they have at their disposal.

4. New connections – When you attract new members to your teams the chances are good that a few of them will be valuable connections beyond video projects. As a small non video production example, I’ve been offered places to stay should I decide to visit San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London, New Zealand, and even Australia. Harness these relationships, and never burn bridges if things don’t go according to plan.

Build the teams you need for your video entertainment projects, join our Spidvid community to gain access to a vast pool of talent from across the world that wants to collaborate with you on developing your content!

Do you have a 5th reason to add? The comments are yours below!

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Multiple Video Projects At a Time

February 4th, 2011

multiple hats

Are you a passionate man or woman on a mission when creating new videos? Perhaps you try to do everything by yourself, work on just one project at a time, and ultimately end up with sub-par results over a long period of time.

We all want to be multi-talented at what we do, but wearing many different hats on a project can be exhausting and you can spread your skills too thin. For every successful film project, there is a talented team behind it, period.

So you have a couple choices: a) work on one project at a time and try to do everything yourself, or b) reach out to outside talent, connect and collaborate with the individuals you need to add skill to your project, and free up more of your time to do multiple projects at a time.

For example: Jessie is an aspiring filmmaker who loves writing and shooting creative new videos, but hates editing them, dislikes using his voice for the voice over, and tries to score each of his videos but they always end up sounding rather boring to viewers. Jessie can keep pressing on with this process and settle for mediocre videos, or he can focus exclusively on writing and shooting videos and collaborate with other like-minded talent to fill in his skill gaps. This gives Jessie the time to do many projects simultaneously, allows him to complete more projects faster, and hedges his bet so he doesn’t invest a ton of time into projects that end up getting little or no success. He gives up some control and perhaps pieces of the content ownership, but gets many more opportunities at success with each new video him and his team release to the world.

Our Spidvid community is full of talented individuals eagerly waiting for new and exciting projects to be part of. If you have projects you want to launch but either don’t have the time or talent to accomplish that, then get a Spidvid account, and post a project. We will help you spread the word to the specific talent you need, and get your project heading in the right direction.

Jeremy Campbell New Project, community, resources , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You Can’t Create Entertaining Videos Alone

September 11th, 2010

I’ve spoken to video creators and filmmakers who have created a video or film either by themselves or with one other person, and while it’s possible it’s normally anything but ideal. The fact is most of us are good in just one area, and mediocre at the other important elements which round out the entire process. This is usually apparent when the final product has been completed, and the decision isn’t where to distribute to, but rather if distribution actually makes sense at all.

In order to create an entertaining video or film, it typically takes a few people on the team to really pull everything together in a successful way. Sure there are exceptions out there with solo talents such as iJustine, and some other young YouTube talents, but for the most part the “game” is a team sport.

Make it easier on yourself and partner up with the talent you need to make your next production project a success. Grab a free Spidvid account, post your project, and let us help you build the team you need to create some quality entertainment you can be proud of.

Or if you are looking to join a team, then grab an account, and keep your eyes open for interesting projects led by our talented community of creators and filmmakers.

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The Benefits to Video Production Collaboration

June 26th, 2010
It can be a huge challenge to do video production on the go. Long gone are the days when ‘portable’ in the 1970’s meant Francis Ford Coppola and his portable video studio that fit into a van along with a large number of crew people. Fast forward to today- ‘portable’ might just be one person with a camera and a laptop in the trunk of their car along with the talent in the passenger seat as they drive to location- and that’s it. Yes, production has changed but collaboration is still necessary.
Even in the days where you can fit high-end video recording equipment along with a high-end laptop and RAID drives into your trunk collaboration is still necessary. Even if you can direct, and edit you will still need publicists, make up artists, FX, writers, and artists. You will always need more people then you can be. Even if you are only publishing to the high-end of youtube you can still get better, faster results with collaboration with other people.
1. The best product can only be achieved with collaboration. And only the best product can stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Even if you have a strong creative vision it is only with collaboration that the highest technical standards can be achieved.
2. The most viral video product only happens through collaboration. Finding the actor with the perfect look, the voice actor with the wanted tone of voice, the cast and crew you need to do the stuff you can’t do you? Well there is a reason you collaborate- so that other people can do the things that you can’t do yourself. And even if you could do a lot of their functions they can quite often do the ‘little nitty gritty’ stuff a lot better then you could.
3. The most marketable product can only be achieved with collaboration. Even some of the most independent looking viral videos still quite often had an experienced FX team behind the scenes helping turning a normal HD video frame into one teeming with activity and life that was only put there through 3-D character riggers and animators.
4. The easiest creation process can only be achieved with collaboration. Props, chairs, walk-talkie’s, and folding tables need to be moved. They aren’t going to move themselves. By collaborating with PA’s you save yourself time- and back strain. That gives you more time to focus on the important things like deadlines and creative vision.
5. And finally, collaboration can work wonders. It can raise the level of quality of whatever production you are involved in. It makes the end-product- the final video that everyone will see much more professional and appealing.
While you could shoot a video with the web camera embedded in your laptop and expect a few viewers with are vaguely interested in it- having more people video your final video with much more higher interest can usually only be achieved through collaboration.

It can be a huge challenge to do video production on the fly. Long gone are the days when ‘portable’ in the 1970’s meant Francis Ford Coppola and his clunky video equipment that fit into a van along with a few crew members. Fast forward to today and ‘portable’ might just be one person with a video camera and a laptop in the trunk of the car, what a new aged on-demand video studio indeed. Video production is now more simple than ever before, but collaboration is still vital to overall success.

Chances are you can do one thing really well in the video production process, but that still leaves a few talent gaps open in order to create quality content. If you are good at shooting video then you still likely need at least one individual to be on screen, and maybe an editor to put everything together in post production. Collaboration is the key to forming a team capable of creating video entertainment.

1. The optimal end product can only be achieved with collaboration. Viewer attention is limited, so only remarkable content will stand out and reach a large viewing audience. Your idea or script is nothing without others helping you out to make the content a reality. Excellent scripts often sit on computer hard drives waiting eagerly to be used.

2. Viral videos only come to be through collaboration. Finding the actor with the perfect look, the voice actor with the ideal tone, and the crew who do the tedious work is necessary for reaching success. Sure you can learn how to do the things you can’t do now, but you should focus on what you’re passionate about and where your core skills lie. I can’t remember the last time I saw a viral video that was born through a single individual’s effort.

3. The most marketable product requires collaboration. Even some of the most independent looking viral videos still had an experienced VFX individual behind the scenes helping to turn a regular video into one with cool effects, and making the content so much more marketable. Be kind to VFX individuals because your next video may need the skilled expertise that only a VFX artist can provide.

4. Things are easier with collaboration. The more talent you have on your team the more you can draw from to make the production process easier. The challenge is delegating tasks so that each individual can contribute to the team’s overall end goal. Collaboration only works when everyone adds value collectively.

5. Collaboration can work wonders. It’s amazing what can be done when collaboration is leveraged for the greater good of the team. One individual can feed off the next to create momentum, and elevate one’s own skill level to new heights.

If you need to collaborate on a future video or film project in the near future, be sure to grab a free Spidvid account and connect with the talent you need to reach your production goals. Have an open mind, be friendly, and have fun collaborating this summer.

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Thinking Big About Collaboration

November 14th, 2009

the think big manifesto

This post in inspired by The Think Big Manifesto by Michael Port.

I have listed some quotes and questions from the book below, which inspires both Spidvid and our community to provide ideal environments to produce quality video content. There are some (Spidvid’s take) comments as well on how these quotes and questions relate to collaborative video production.

- Love is at the foundation of the very best collaborations. Spidvid’s take: any video will be produced better if the team members feel the love for each another.

- True collaboration is a give and take. True partnerships are founded in equality. Equality does not equal sameness. We don’t all bring the same skills or resources to the table, but we all bring something and we all need something. Spidvid’s take: every video project needs a diverse set of individuals to make things happen.

- The paradox: Big thoughts create independence, not dependence. Big thinkers act instead of compete. They discover that in an open, fluid, back and forth collaboration, in the free flow of ideas, when you can intrust yourself to the notion of trust, big thoughts get even bigger. Spidvid’s take: open and authentic collaboration will always yield better results than a closed silo type of approach. Our social platform has been developed using these key concepts.

- Collaboration levels: (1) Competitive interactions, (2) Cooperative transactions, and (3) Collaborative interactions. Spidvid’s take: there is competition for joining limited sized production teams, but healthy competition ensures projects receive the highest quality of talent possible. 2 and 3 are large parts of what our platform stands for.

- How do we find partners and collaborators? The same way you get a date. By believing in yourself and what you’re doing. When you are excited about a project, you will draw others to you. You will receive offers of help. More than you can even accept. Spidvid’s take: if the enthusiasm and confidence in your projects is evident it will motivate others to join your production teams, and the passion will trickle down to each member involved.

- People who play small think they have to do it all themselves. What about you? Are you ready to play bigger by truly collaborating with others? Spidvid’s take: our skills, talents, and outputs are limited when we are the only person working on a project. Working on a well coordinated team ensures that our projects get value which we can’t provide on an individual basis. Long live collaboration.

- Are you the kind of person people want to help? Do you enjoy collaborating with others? What kind of collaborations do you engage in? Can you take your partnerships to the next level? Who do you love?  Spidvid’s take: if you are open to leveraging a collaborative model, can delegate tasks to team members, and trust and believe in what your team is capable of, there should be lots of love when your videos are fully produced.

Statement of Collaboration

- I will be a person others want to work with.

- I will work with others without hidden or selfish intent to accomplish our mutual goals in the service of what each of us stands for.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,