Scheduling a project

You want it when!? Most things are possible IF you’re prepared to put up with the concessions sometimes needed to deliver to the tightest schedule. If the project is straightforward in its production demands and logistics, then we can fly into action quickly. However, a properly planned production lead time will always get the most out of your project and your budget. So try and give as much warning as possible.

Starting a project with Player

So you’re interested in Player Communications… how to get off on the right foot? Well, we can start with a chat over the phone, then arrange a preliminary, no obligation meeting to chat through the basic parameters of your objectives, talk through some creative ideas, logistics and a ballpark budget. If we get on and it all sounds achievable then, if you haven’t already done so, you would prepare a full, written brief to us. We will respond to this in writing, laying out in 2-3 pages a creative treatment together with outline schedule, budget and T&Cs. The budget would represent all the costs necessary to achieve the written treatment and would normally include all creative fees, production overheads, camera crew, editing facilities, actors (if any), music and usually an allowance for travel. If you’re happy with our ideas and our figures, we both duly sign an industry standard production contract and get going.

Budgeting a video project

How much? Many feel that video programmes carry a price tag per minute…. “Ooh, I got mine done for £250 a screen minute!”. I’ve also heard… “You can’t something decent made for less than £50k!”. However, the truth is it all depends on the scope of the project and the creative approach taken. Both can be adjusted at the start if the price tag is too big. But it is important to be open with how much you’re prepared to spend on the project from the start, even if it’s a minimum/maximum spread. “As little as possible…” is always the underlying wish, but it could buy you underachievement if you undervalue the project. If you have a budget, tell us. If you’re cagey you might end up regretting the lack of ambition and impact in the final result. If you give us the basic parameters of the project as you see it, we can always give you a ballpark scale. You know the value to your company of what you’re proposing, so don’t afraid to be open. Working together with Player Communications, you’ll be centrally involved in how that money is spent. Don’t forget that the video programme you’re buying is an investment too – in the future it can be re-edited, added to or converted to different media platforms and continue to be of use to your company.

Thinking about having a video made?

Any new business relationship carries an element of risk. If it’s a venture that’s slightly out of your normal zone, then nerves are understandable. That’s why we’re laying before you some of the knowledge and experiences Player Communications have had over the years that can help make this new relationship and the experience of commissioning a video programme productive and enjoyable. What gets the best projects across the line on time and on budget? As you’ll see, it comes down to communications, transparency and properly managed expectations. (And having properly contracted stage payments throughout the production helps reduce stress and risk to both sides.)

Video fit for the internet

Viewing a made-for-the-internet video on a desktop is not the same as experiencing a programme destined for HD DVD playback on a high res television screen. So the traditional television tools used to produce video can seem rather OTT.

Incredibly good cameras with HDV are available incredibly cheaply. OK, its still best to be able to use better lenses. You can often get away without lighting too. Sound is more important than ever - what you can’t see on your 320×240 screen can be compensated by good sound from a properly placed mic not set to auto. Editing gear likewise is cheap and powerful.

You can be up and running with a decent little production studio for about £6k. This is all fine, but what can get lost amidst the constant demand for “content” and “assets” is the idea of story and structure. Never has it been so important before lifting up a camera to sit down and think about what we’re going to say and how we’re going to put it into pictures and sound that will . If we do, then with all the affordable hardware at our fingertips we can produce something more easily and with more quality than it’s ever been possible to do before.

But even if the equipment is relatively easy to use and isn’t expensive, just how much are the skilled professionals worth to get the most out the production? Internet or not, the video is still going represent your brand or your company?