Published: October 20, 2016
by Katie Hemmeter
Your video production is in the planning stage, and it seems like a great deal of time and effort have gone into creating just one video for your organization. The question: “Is this required of every video we produce?” The answer might actually be no, but the solution requires a little legwork on the front end. We’ve learned that pre-production is everything, and if planned ahead of time, repurposing footage can go a long way. Done right, one session of capturing footage could be a multi-purpose resource, meaning that an extra 1-2 hours of filming may provide you with enough video assets to create 1-2 more videos in the future.
Let’s break it down with this simple example:
Client: Mom and pop music shop.
Project: Video promoting private lessons.
Location: Their music shop.
Talent: Music teacher and student.
This client has a list of shots that’s already been provided, but what other shots could be captured so they can get more out of their video footage? In this example, maybe the family-owned business dreams of a commercial on cable or social media videos advertising to Millennials. How about a promotional video for the store itself that plays on their website where viewers hear from the owners about all they have to offer (cross-selling) or how long they’ve been serving the community?
They add these shots to the list: an exterior of the shop, the owners at work, the owners helping a customer, polishing the bell of a saxophone, instruments on the wall, stacks of reed boxes, sheet music for sale, pans of the interior of the shop, etc.
Your turn. Start thinking about what other videos you’d like to have for your organization. What other shots would serve the purposes of your future videos? If these aren’t on the shot list already, add them! Remember that a bit more planning now provides content for multiple videos in the future. And in this society where what was posted yesterday is already old news, the ability to create more videos for a much smaller average cost is a great way to keep up.
Going in prepared for a shoot could save a lot of time in the future. Even without the client asking, a well-versed videographer should consider what else can be done with the extra b-roll that was filmed, even if it’s just a short 15-20 second video for social media.
Sounds good in theory, right? See this in practice with our video for Kishwaukee College (also below) and Family Service Agency. You’ll see some repurposed clips that otherwise would not have happened due to the constraints of their budgets.