For First Timers

FIRST

So you have a great idea for your project and you decide to hire a professional to help you make it happen. The FIRST thing you should do is right up a description of what you would like to see or at least everything you can imagine. This is known as a treatment. It will help you work the idea out of your head so you find the specifics you want to tell in your story. While also giving the professional a clear idea of what you are trying to say.

SECOND

You should find examples of other projects that have a similar look and feel to what you envision in your mind and wrote in your treatment. This is helpful for a number of reasons. For starters it helps the professional get a better understanding of the visual style you like. Which if they are good will spark the professional to ask more specific questions to hone in on the needs of your product. It will also give them a gauge of what equipment they need to use and better understanding of how they need to plan producing your project.

THIRD

Assess your budget. One of the most frustrating things for professionals is going back and forth about pricing. Have an accurate budget in mind and be willing to share this info with them. The budget for your project is hugely important it's how a professional asses how they will manage and complete your project. Some professional may have pre-packaged prices while others like myself usually base the price on the requirements of the project. For example things like equipment, crew, graphics, effects, props, securing locations, wardrobe, hair & make up styling may all be things that go towards your budget. So don't assume what ever dollar is going in their pocket. If they don't know what you're working with or you give false information about your budget they may not be able to offer you best bang for your buck.

FOURTH

Gather your materials. If you have things you know you want in your project that you already own, things like photographs, videos, awards, letters, recordings ect. make sure you have those things available to give the artist at the beginning of the project. This will give the professional ample time to figure out the best way incorporate them into the project. This is especially important if you aren't sure about things like image size and quality for videos or other media. This can be extremely problematic if they have already started editing or finalizing your project when you send files and request add-ons.

FINALLY

Be patient. More often then not you aren't the only client they are working with. So don't assume they aren't diligently working on your project. Things take time especially when you deal with video and graphics. Things that you may think are simple changes may have multiple or complex steps. It may be called movie magic but there are a lot of hours behind the scenes to make even the shortest video of high quality possible.

I hope this helps shed a little light into the darkness while getting your first project off the ground. Hopefully it's with us but if not this is a good guide to getting yourself together to speak with a professional near you. Until Next time.

- Sky