Video consumption statistics help you to understand the value of quality production. Each minute, more than 500 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube alone in 2021. With the ordinary internet user spending at least 100 minutes on videos each day, only quality will make viewers choose your video over the millions of others online. So, why not enroll in the services of the best video producer.
Video production is about packaging a specific message and getting people to act on it. Since you are investing, for instance, in an advert, you need a professional to help you obtain the best ROI. That professional is a video producer.
So, who is a video producer? What is their role in the production process? Do you need one?
Here are a few insights to help you create the best video production experience for your project by hiring a pro producer.
Who Is A Video Producer?
A video producer is a leader who ensures that everything is done and executed correctly. In a corporate setting, this would be a CEO or a Chief Operations Officer.
The producer manages all aspects of the production process, ensuring that the team achieves its goals.
Whether you are working on a TV commercial, movie, PR documentary, or covering a live event, all the producers involved have one role; to make things happen. The producer has a lot of power in calling the shots.
The work of a producer begins long before set or actual production and will end long after all actors or participants have left the scene. This is because they are involved in the pre-production, production, and post-production phases of all projects.
Let’s break these phases a bit more, shall we?
Pre-production
Here, the producer reviews your video idea to assess its viability. Then, the producer forms part of your scripting process to ensure that the acts and props are realistic. They then gather a cast that will help you achieve desired results.
The video producer also has to develop a reasonable budget, making it within reasonable financial limits. Further, producers help with scheduling, choice of scenes, and allocation of duties to the personnel joining the project.
If pre-production planning is haphazard, your project will be prone to hitches. It might even become so expensive that it does not deliver the expected ROI.
Production
At this stage, the video producer does a minute-by-minute direction to the team providing the raw material for your video. They are responsible for developing an all-rounded view of the entire production process so that the thousands of pieces involved can come together into a single successful video.
The producer also needs to work closely with a director. The relationship will help mitigate delays during production as it saves time. Moreover, it would be expensive to set up again for more clips after the raw material is considered insufficient.
Post-Production
The post-production phase is like stitching all pieces of a puzzle together. The producer must understand the script, know the clips available, and what all the raw materials already gathered are supposed to produce.
The advantage of a video producer is that they know the best software to use, skilled editors to join the project, and what it will take to deliver to the financiers’ expectations.
Hence, you need an expert who has been in production for a reasonable time to understand the final touches of a video. Remember that viewers will consume what comes out of this post-production process.
Qualification of a Video Producer
It appears that a video producer has an enormous task at hand and must, therefore, have extraordinary ability. Well, such responsibilities require an all-rounded individual who is goal-oriented.
Beyond the technical video production skills of scripting, shooting, and editing, the producer, must possess excellent interpersonal skills to manage the entire team.
Further, the role requires self-motivation and ingenuity to manage complex tasks, all at the same time.
Here are the qualifications a video producer needs to deliver on the role:
1. Technical Video Production Skills
A video producer performs some of the technical production tasks. They also have charge of personnel responsible for these tasks.
Some of the technical skills include:
· Scriptwriting
The entire production is anchored on the script. The producer must understand how to write and interpret video scripts. The producer hires actors and the crew, prepares venues, and sets up stages from the scripts.
· Filming
The filming stage is where the raw material for your video is generated. It is one of the most expensive and intensive video production phases. There it is paramount to do it right.
When it is time to film, knowledge of cameras, types of shots, and video quality, among other aspects, takes center stage. Lighting and sound are also technical elements during filming.
Thus, the best assurance for quality is when you hire a professional.
· Editing
Editing is also a technical production task. It involves professional editors and the best software for the job. The producer must understand the requirements of the editing phase and its functions to organize the work to deliver the best results.
2. Management Skills
Management is an essential skill for a producer: The entire project will succeed based on managing people, resources, and time. A producer mostly learns management over time, working on different projects.
An accounting course is an added advantage for producers because you have to keep the project within budget. Since each project is unique, the producer must take the initiative to draw detailed plans before the project commences.
3. Interpersonal Skills
Video production is about actors, crew, or service providers, and third-party contractors. Take into account the fact that people want to be around pleasant people. In the absence of good interpersonal skills, you will be creating a hostile work environment.
A producer who is good with people creates the most welcoming work environment. Actors deliver to their best, and the crew goes the extra mile to make the project a success.
4. Personal Skills
A producer is the heart of any video production project. If organized, the entire process will be orderly.
If the producer is creative, it will be evident in the video. It means that the producer lends the video their character.
Hence, hire a video producer with a desirable character and personality because they reflect in the final video.
Where to Get Top Video Producers
The enormous responsibility of a video producer calls for caution and extreme due diligence when hiring. If you get it right, your project will run smoothly and deliver desired results. On the other hand, you end up with a production disaster when the wrong person takes the reins.
That said, where do you get these professional producers?
a) Freelancing Websites
Producers have joined the freelancing bandwagon and are advertising their services on such platforms. Freelancing platforms vet their skills and experience to guarantee the best skills once you hire through their website. Freelancing websites also offer room for reviews by clients and supervisors to give you an idea of the quality of services to expect from a producer.
Check the profile of a producer before hiring. He must possess the right technical skills and experience to produce a video. Because the websites bring together many producers, choose dynamic skill sets and bargain for a lower price.
b) Production Companies
Hire a production company to take up the whole task. A company comes with crew and equipment as a package. It is easier for your project because everything is managed from a central point without requiring your direct input.
Moreover, the companies have professionals whose skills are ascertained. This option gives the assurance of quality and easier management of the entire project.
c) Independent Producers
Hire independent producers wooing you through social media or private websites. These independent producers are freelancers, only that they do not operate under freelancing platforms.
Because of this, you can negotiate a personalized package that will favor your budget and unique project requirements.
Still, the producer must meet the qualifications necessary to handle the intensity of your project.
d) In-house Producers
Hire a video producer as part of your workers. You could promote one of your production crew members to act as a producer.
An in-house producer understands your job and is, therefore, better positioned to deliver excellent videos. What’s more, you know their work ethics, technical skills, and character well enough to place this enormous responsibility on their hands.
Regardless of where you get the producer, you must ensure that he has the technical, interpersonal, personal, and management skills required to deliver on the job. Check reviews and ratings by other clients to assess his capability.
The Cost of Hiring the Best Video Producers
As you may have noticed by now, video producers are not entry-level employees. The responsibility comes with massive facilitation. However, there is no single payment scale for a video producer.
Several factors determine how much you pay a video producer. They include:
- The scope of the video in terms of characters involved
- Length
- shooting venue
- target market
- The experience and expertise of a producer
Ideally, you negotiate the price based on the details of the project but must be ready to invest in getting the best producer.
Conclusion
As the glue that holds the entire production project together, you must choose a professional who understands the job and has the skills to deliver desired results.
Prepare to invest in an exceptional video producer if you are looking for the best video. A video producer shapes the quality and character of your video.
Bunny Studio has an incredible variety of highly skilled, creative, and experienced video producers. Talk to us today about all your production needs. We offer a personalized production package to deliver on any project.
