ReelSEO ► Video Production Tips ► Why Pre-Production Creative Meetings Are Key to Video Project Planning [Reel Rebel #28]

Why Pre-Production Creative Meetings Are Key to Video Project Planning [Reel Rebel #28]

Mark R Robertson | 6 months ago |

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Why Pre Production Creative Meetings Are Key to Video Project Planning [Reel Rebel #28]

Most people, especially creative types, cringe at the thought of having a meeting. However, when you are putting together a video project it is essential to sit down with the necessary parties, do your brainstorming, define your production aims, style, key messages and target audience, and ensure a more effective and hopefully profitable video. In this week’s Reel Rebel, Stephen covers some of the basics of why holding a creative pre-production meeting is essential to producing quality video.

In some cases, if you are producing a very simple video it is not necessary to have a meeting with anyone else. However, in most cases, there is a greater agenda behind the videos you produce if you're working with a larger production team, you'll need to get a lot of different parties involved from the beginning.

There are a lot of people who should be involved in a creative meeting including your script writer and director, your production team and your financial backing. Obviously the size of your production depends on just how many people are at your creative meeting, but having everyone involved in the beginning will help set a direction for the shoot and ensure everyone is on board and understands what the final product should be.

While an important reason to have a creative meeting is to make sure the individuals financing your video are happy with the planned outcome, that is not the only reason to have a creative meeting. When you sit down in a group and brainstorm, most times you can come up with better ideas, anticipate potential problems and usually end up turning an average concept and video into something really great.

Your meetings should cover the idea, scripting, storyboard process and scheduling. While there is always room for things to go wrong, this limits the problems you will encounter in the video production process and make sure all the different teams are kept up-to-date with the production schedule.

It can be tempting to skip creative meetings and jump right into shooting, but in the long run, spending the time to sit down and work through possible scenarios will save you time and money when you actually start shooting.

Question: What tips do you have for holding pre-production creative meetings that are effective and productive for all parties involved?

View The Full Video Transcript:

Hey I’m Stephen Schweickart with ReelSEO’s episode of Reel Rebel and today, I know you’re going to hate me, we’re going to make you metaphorically eat your vegetables and have creative meetings.

Nobody likes meetings. I have them all the time and I’d almost always rather be sticking my hand in a beehive. But meetings are a necessity, especially when you’re putting together a shoot, so sit down, eat your green beans, and when you come out the other side you’ll have a fully nourished idea that’s ready to be shot.

Of course, there are some simple videos you can produce alone, so you won’t have anyone to meet with, but in most cases if you’re doing anything of value when producing videos for your company there’s going to be a lot of people involved. From the creative types (which are always interesting for me to deal with ) all the way up to the suit monkeys (that’s me), everyone is going to want a say in how the video looks and, since those suit monkeys are the ones who pay you, you have to appease them. Sorry.

But that’s not the only reason to have creative meetings. Sitting down in a group and brainstorming ideas together can help build bigger, better ideas that will bring your video from just ok up into the realm of totally awesome (that’s what we do). Taking your idea from just a seed of an idea, through scripting, even through the storyboarding process, creative meetings help fortify the walls of your shoot to keep it from falling apart at a moments notice. Plus, it’s a great way to meet with a team working on separate aspects of a video project and keep everyone up to date on how the different tasks of preproduction are coming along. In the end, all these different tasks come together.

The saying goes “Two heads are better than one” but even more people with strong creative ideas will produce something special. Just make sure there aren’t too many cooks in the kitchen otherwise someone is bound to get burned.

We know that just the word “meetings” is enough to make the happiest man on Earth put on a big ole frowny face, but trust me, with the right people involved, a couple of creative meetings may be exactly what you need to get that project in tip top shape before your shoot.

We’d love to keep meeting with you guys and giving you tips on how to keep your videos from sucking, so go ahead and click the subscribe button and like this video. Keep it real, dawg.

About the Author - Mark R Robertson

Mark Robertson is the Founder and Publisher of ReelSEO, an online information resource dedicated to the fusion of video, technology, social media, search, and internet marketing. He is a professional online video marketing consultant and video marketing expert, popular speaker, and considered to be a passionate leader within the online video and search marketing industries. View All Posts By - Mark R Robertson

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What do you think? ▼

http://www.kre8insights.com/ Kris Simmons
I find that combining the creative meeting with the initial sales meeting can really help you get the information you need to write a successful video proposal as well. Then, when you win the deal, the official "creative meeting" will just be confirming the original concept and getting down the logistical details such as shoot dates, talent options, b-roll needs, etc.
http://www.facebook.com/higher.imagez.1 Higher Imagez
Nice video, very helpful to know for anyone. Espcially noobs.