I read not long ago about Robert Rodriquez who profiled his gorilla film making techniques en route to producing the classic El Mariachi and other high profile films that were shot on a shoestring budget but went on to make millions at the box office.
Rodriquez has always recommended that film maker-wannabes “Just shoot it.” Get a camera, and shoot. Don’t worry about film school. Learn by doing. The more you shoot the better you’ll get.
Barry Feldman may not be creating epics for Hollywood but I believe that he espouses the same philosophy when he says “If you’re not experimenting with video you’re simply sitting on the sidelines.”
The same can be said of video in marketing – “Just shoot it,” says Rodriguez, while Feldman would say “go experiment,” lest you be sitting out.
Lights… camera… action!
That said, I would humbly underscore the word “experiment” because there is nothing worse than video that is poorly shot or edited. I wrote about that very thing concerning the proliferation of real estate videos which are embedded in websites to profile homes for sale. If you want to immediately lose your audience, then by all means shoot video that is poorly lit and shaking all over the place.
No substitute for [some] skill
This all fits in to the overall big picture of Feldman’s theory that there are all types of video ideas that can get your message across but if they are not well-thought out you are doing yourself more harm than good.
These days you don’t need much to shoot a video. Heck, you can pretty much shoot an entire movie with your cell phone (which was recently done, by the way) so don’t sweat the budget thing. Just forego for the moment any auteur theory and embrace the basics of stable, well-composed video that tells a message!
Develop a minimum of skill – a little working knowledge – and all the other elements will fall into place!
For inspiration, check out MarketingProfs‘ graphic:
#PointAndShoot
