I’ve been in the video production industry for 10+ years and here are the hardest 2 lessons learned. First off is a hard lesson, second is a soft lesson. If you nail these skills, you’ll be in for a great career one video shoot at a time.
Hard Skill #1 for the video production industry: Doing What You Say
The first hard skill I’d say people need (to survive and thrive) in the video production industry would be doing what you say you will. Specifically, call times and promptness.
Are you ready to go – at call time? That means you’re unloaded and made it to wherever people are meeting at that location around 5-10 minutes before “call time”.
Late is never OK. Late for traffic? Nope, not an excuse. Late for bad GPS? Nope, not an excuse. Late because you couldn’t find the parking ramp? Nope, not an excuse. Late because… Nobody cares. Everyone else planned buffer time to account for bad traffic, the parking ramp, finding the right hall or room to meet in… and they got there early.
If you’re pulling into the location at call time, you’re late.
This is a hard skill that people often just don’t do starting out – and it costs them future work. It costs you clients. It means you don’t get called back for future work. When you say you’ll do something (aka be there at a certain call-time) – do it.
Soft Skill #2 for the the video production industry: Professional Communication
A soft-skill is “professional communication” (aka learning how to talk around clients and on-location).
An example of this is when on headsets, we have a term “client on comm”. That means that the client is wearing and listening in their headset to everything we’re saying. So make sure you’re appropriate, not making jokes about how funny someone looks, how this would be nicer if… how the client should have… etc.
When working with clients at their facility, we want to be above-the-bar in not only our tasks (lighting, audio, cameras, etc…) but truly being professionals. Being a professional includes a positive, effective, and respectful crew.
Tips for using headsets on live events and film sets:
- never making off-color or dirty jokes
- always being PC
- being positive (letting things “roll off your back” while assuming the best in others)
- not debating things or arguing
It makes a big difference on-set when the crew can have a positive day. Days go fast and fun, even when it is a 10hr+ day on average. Having a fun enjoyable crew also gets reflected to the client when they consider who they want to work with on future projects. Better client experience = more work for the production company = more work for the crews.
At ProvidFilms.com we believe that a rising tide lifts all boats!
If you’re new to the industry or know someone new, share this page with them. We’ve got blog posts with tips and training to help people get into it.