How to assess and produce the corporate client's visual needs

Communicating to clients in the art world is so important.  Trying to get understanding on there vision or idea and projecting it back to them from a profesional and technical stand point is more important then our own creative freedom.  Clients who come to you expressing a need already have the companies vision and direction in mind.

As professionals in the motion picture creative art world our job is to translate the clients vision so that they can connect to there audience in the way they see fit.



On your first approach about a client's project, there has to be an exchange of questions in order to move forward with the project.

Here is some questions to ask when when assessing your clients need.

#1.  What are you looking to do?

The first question is vague and it lets the artest know the strengths of there clients overall objectives.  In other words, does the client even know that they want or do they need your help in finding the most appropriate execution that might surve there companies overall objectives.

#2.  what is the overall length of the finished product?  What is the medium of distribution for the end product?  Do you need any photos, graphics or animations made?

This is sort of a one part question because it lets the artest know the workload and the elements needed to do the project.  Don't bother the client during the discussion as to the details of what you need inorder to finish the project.  Your job is to keep the stress level down for the client so they can do there job.  After all you are providing them with a service.

#3.  What is the over all budget for the event or campaign, and how much are you looking to spend for Video production and or photography session.

asking them what they are going to spend on there events or campaign tells you the size of the event.  For example a bride that sets aside 20 k for her wedding vs a bride that sets aside 5 k for her wedding.  The diference here is understanding the budget constraints they may have and what equipment you are willing to take or rent for the event.  If its a big major event then you really don't need to know the budget because the client knows what he is getting into and for the artest he or she can figure that the client has a healthy budget they can set aside for your services.  Know your client and there needs before you make conclusions.  Otherwise it just makes the artest look bad.  Holding your words till the end will save you allot of embarrassment later or you could end up saying something that could cost you out of pocket and not your client.

Asking a client how much they are willing to spend tells the artest what size of production they are looking for.  If your client says just give me a quote say ok and make the assumption that they trust you with your judgment to offer them a far and reasonable offer.  You have to do your homework to figure out the details of what it would take to do the project.  Some times clients don't know the first thing about what it takes to produce a video of any size or nature.  Other clients might just be insecure about the numbers and could just be shopping around.   Simply asking your client what they are willing to spend just gives you the upper hand during negotiation.  No reason to cut your self out of the deal because of a simple number conflict.   A job is a job no matter how you look at it and at the end of the day you just have to take what they offer you work with it.  This is a mutual relationship both partys must respect one another and not short change the other.

Don't undercut your self but don't over charge your client ether.  Greed will be your down fall if you try to charge too much, but undercutting your services only causes you to not make a living and if your clients decide to spred the word about your good works and pricing your reputation is on the line because now you have new clients who expect the same treatment at the same pricing. It is just bad business to undercharge because if every artest gave in and undercharged then it just encourages businesses to abuse that because they know they can.  There is a standard price range and then there is competition.  You know how much you and your time is worth.  You know how much your equipment and resources are worth.  So why even bother doing charity work for the corporate company when they don't even care about your lively hood.  There are only two reasons to do pro bono work.

One is if you want your potential reoccurring client to know that not only can you produce a product but you are willing to take a pay cut aka a gamble because you believe in your self and company so much that the work you produce will keep your clients coming back.

Two pro bono work can lead to a better reel and quite possibly future connections to things that are bigger and better.

If there was a three I would say do pro bono work for projects you have a heart for or that the people involved with those projects are close to you.

Remember, Build a strong business from the start.  There is no reason to cheat your worth because you think competitor A, B, C will get the job.  Yes there is competition, but your soul is worth the money.

If you get a job that you feel goes against your morals and ethics don't do it.  You know who you are and you know what you believe so why jeopardize your soul for some money.  There is always a way to live.  Money can come and go, but it does not define who you are.

One thing I found is that the more an industry is morally or ethically questionable the higher the pay and the less competition there is.  I know of people who got there start in this way.  They sell there soul to the devil to build there entire empire.  Studios and hollywood careers have been built on ethically and morally bankrupt people.  And now a day the public idolize  these people with no idea of how they got there to begin with.   Yes its possible to gain great riches on earth in exchange for your soul and dignity, but can you really put a price on your soul and dignity?

Know your boundaries and live by them.  No need to fear those people who try to take advantage of you.  How much so will they be willing to take care of you in the future with such bad business ethics.

From experience,  I know that keeping good clients is a prised thing and even if they are not the big shot money people there loyalty is worth far more.  A healthy and steady client base is really the key to a good strong business.

After you ask your clients the questions needed to understand the project at hand you then need to write up a proposal.  Just talking about it verbally is not a legal way of conducting business and it will protect your butt later.  If I have not said it before I will say it agin.  If it ain't on the page it ain't on the stage.  Meaning have everything in writing for your own protection.

After writing the proposal send it to your clients to review and sign off on.  Your clients must submit there approval in written form.  Remember do do this all in email format because email is a legal document that can be used in the court of law.  Many agreements and deals are made this way.  

After the proposal has been approved and all revisions has been adjusted and modified if any, create a contract with the elements discussed and the prices. Also make sure that there is a place in the contract that says any modifications to the budget will be discussed and approved and added to the final payment.

If doing a bid for a gig my strong recommendations is have your clients pay 50 % up front with a no refund policy in the event that your client decides to cancel prior to the event date.  The reason for this is you as a profesional is in charge of buying all the resources for the production and if the event was canceled for whatever reason you are not stuck with the bill of buying tape stock or rental equipment or what have you.

You are equally responsible if you miss the event or for some reason something went terribly wrong.  But a good filmmaker will always have backup.  I always have more then one camera on stand by and I always have more then one person on a big gig.  If its something stupidly simple then I can see why you don't need an extra crew member.  But never chance your gigs.  I should not even need to tell you why you need be overly prepared.  There is always something that can and will go wrong.  Hell will freeze over every time if you don't take the proper precautions.

You must not do a production without a script.  No matter how simple the concept.  Its all part of keeping it legal.  There is no winging it.  Also you have to have the client write the content for the script.  The client may hate you because he or she may say why don't you write the script.  But the reality is your client already knows what direction they want there company to go in and they already have a target audience in mind along with a particular voice.  A company should always know them selves more then any one else does.  If your client says "No, I want you to do it.  I am paying you aren't I?"  If they ask this then say "You know your company better then I do.  If you give me the script I could add unicorns, butterflies and rainbows and that may not be what you want.  Remember you are a profesional and your clients are not.  If your client was already a profesional he would not need your guidance and services.  So the point I am trying to make here is your goal is to help your client achieve there vision and your goal is to help them achieve that vision by guiding them along the process with all your technical know how and resources they need to make that vision come alive.    You need to protect your clients best intrest at all times by explaining and taking care of things they do not understand.  Your clients could want elephants in there production, but you must hold there hand the entire way so they know what to do and what not to do.  If they want something big just tell them "In a perfect world anything is possible,  but we do not live in a perfect world so we must operate with in the parameters we are given."

Some times clients will want to get a better bang for there buck, so they will often ask for freebees.  like the client might ask for extra b roll or interview that has nothing to do with the curent project.  If that is the case then just tell them that you must treat anything extra as a separate project and that anything extra will cost the more.  But assure them you are willing to do it if they agree to the extra fees.  If they say no then there is no loss for ether party if they say yes then do as they say.  There are no discounts just because you just so happened to be there that day.  You planed for the event and the script is what you need to stick with.  Don't stray off of the script.  There is nothing wrong with being accommodating, but be aware the more you go off of a script the more you could be held liable for missing content or changed content.  Even if you are working with the boss and he is right there beside you just stick with the script.  Remember you are the profesional.  so act as such.  Your clients are not and remember that they hired you to get the job done and if that means telling your client no we can't stray from the script because of time or other reasons then so be it.  maybe next time they will understand the importance of the script and give more attention to it.  The experienced clients understand this.

Here is another legal tip always make sure that you edit the footage don't stray from script.  If the client keeps wanting to make changes then tell them that you must commit to the script because it was signed off.  If they insist then just make sure that if they want any further changes they will have to pay extra for re edits or re shoots.  If there are honest mistakes that you made in the edit or shooting phase then try to fix them to the best of your ability.  But if it is a radical change and has nothing to do with the script or anything agreed upon then you have every right to charge them extra.  Just make sure this was in writing prior.

Typically editing cost about 50 to 100 $ an hr.  Less if you are working for someone full or part time. So let them know if they feel the need to change something.  Don't let your clients take advantage of you.  After all you have a business to run.   But remember to be nice about it.  They are still your paying customers.  So treat them as such.

One thing I like to do in the post phase is edit in stages and let my client see the progress.  This keeps reedits to a minimum.  For me, I like to cut the interviews first,  then add the b roll, then the text and lower thirds, then the graphics.  By showing each stage to your client, he or she will be able to refine the video with you so it can be best tailored to there specifications.  If your client can not handle the stress of reviewing raw footage then just edit it for them and tell them you stuck with the script.  No need to be mean about it, but there are just some clients that are difficult.  For weddings I never let the clients see the video because they are too picky every little thing.  like the bride may say I don't like my mother in law so I want her edited out.  If this happens just tell them it will cost extra.  Most likely they will just not bother with the re edits because of cost.

After the product is finished, make sure there is an even trade of money in hand for the final product.

Just a simple, but life saving tip.  Offer your clients the option to buy a hard drive to store the project in.  If they refuse then just warn them that any data that you have stored on your drives may be wiped out.  If you are smart you can just buy a project drive and warn them that if they want the project files in the future they will have to pay a very high fee of x amount of $.  I really don't fell bad about doing this because if a client feels that backing up data is not important then so be it.  It just means more power to you because you own them if they want that content back.  However,  they do own the media of which it was shot.  So if your client request it then you are liable to give them there tape footage unless stated otherwise stated in the contract.  I really would not fret about this because if you stick with the script then there is no reason for them to really use the content over and over.  It is possible, but not really something you should care about.  If they are good clients they will keep coming back.

I typically try to keep the master tapes because I know that for whatever reason that footage could be lost to a disaster in some part of the world.  So the footage is better kept in your hands then your client because your client is more likely to loose the tapes then you are.  Its just a fact.

The last client I worked with I always said I was more concerned with them getting a product they had envisioned then to worry about wether or not I was spending too much time on the project.  You are not a true artest if you can't take pride in your work.

One pece of big advice.  Never treat any gig as if it where less then just because it is simple and or you are not getting paid some big fat check.  Treat every project like it was your own.  It makes you look profesional and your reputation can gain because of it.

So go out there and get those clients. Remember these things so you can protect your self and maintain a good long client relationship.

By
Robert Sawin