When you have a story to tell visually, you need someone you can rely on to tell it well.
Sadly though, there is probably no other industry as riddled with horror stories of terrible work as is the video production industry.
A part of what makes these bad jobs so horrifying is that someone entrusted an individual or company with a story – their story – something that is both deeply personal and priceless, whether it is for their business, team, organization, or family.
What makes it even worse is that if a video production company was brought in for a specific event, there is no re-doing it or taking it back. There is no fixing a bad job.
So when a video production provider misses the very high mark you had your heart set on, it is devastating.
But how do you know whether or not the video production provider you are interested in will actually do a good job and tell your story the way you envision it or better?
One of the best ways you can determine this is by looking at their past work. Following are a few ways you can look at past work to help you find a Salt Lake City video production provider you will be thrilled with.
Looking for Quality
One of the biggest and most obvious reasons to carefully review a production company’s past creations is to ensure that they produce quality videos.
When you watch them, do they honestly look professional? If it is a live action video, is it well lit? How is the sound quality? Picture quality? Are moving shots smooth? Do shots and scenes flow smoothly together? Or does it look like some well-intended teens made a video for their club?
If their past work doesn’t look and feel professional, neither will what they do for you. This won’t reflect poorly on them, it will reflect poorly on you and your company or organization. If a video you put up on YouTube of your business looks and feels unprofessional, viewers who see it will think your business is unprofessional.
Looking for Talent
In part, your hunt for quality in past videos will reveal talent. But talent does go beyond just technical and technological quality.
You may be able to tell that the equipment the production company uses is excellent, but what about things that depend on the talent of those behind the camera and in charge of editing?
Are the angles and shots they take not only professional looking, but actually appealing and enjoyable to view? Does the way the connect one shot to the next, or one scene to the next make sense and look and feel right?
The difference here is that simply having professional quality video will result in a video that is “okay” or normally “professional” looking – it won’t leave a bad impression, but it may leave a bland one, or barely make an impression at all.
When a production company has talent, however, the type of shots they take and how they connect everything will produce a video that results in the “Wow!” moments. It will make a powerful and positive impression.
Looking for Creativity
Taking the last point a step further, you should also look for creativity in a production company’s past video.
How do they tell the story? Is there anything about how they put the story together or filmed shots that made a serious impression because you hadn’t seen it before? Look for new things, things you don’t see in standard corporate videos.
You will want to find a video production company who has creative ideas to bring to the table, someone who can help you tell your story in a way that will be memorable and unique.
Looking for Personality
Similar but still different from the last point is using past work to look for a production company’s personality.
The main reason you want to do this is because with this type of service, you really want to find a provider whose personality fits with you and/or your organization’s own.
Besides looking at their creative style, another way to help determine this is by looking at the genre of videos they tend to do. You will want to find a company that is working in the genres or type of videos that you are interested for your organization.
If most of their past work is in one type of genre (maybe client interviews/testimonials, for example), but you want a different genre of video, then that provider might not be the best company to go with.
Looking for a Match (Similar Companies/Groups)
Finally, you are looking at a production company’s past work to tell if they are overall a good match for you or not. This includes some of the above points, like personality and creativity. But you also want to see if their interests and passions line up with yours to make them a good fit for your business to work with.
A way of determining this is reviewing their past work to see what other types of groups they have worked with. If you are from a construction company, but most of a provider’s past clients are legal firms, then they may not be the best match.
Take the Next Step
Of course, while you can carefully analyze and determine a lot by reviewing a production company’s past work, you should never make your decision solely based on that. Always give a company you are interested in a call and arrange a meeting.
Are you needing a Salt Lake City video production company for your company or organization? Give us a call today to set up a consultation!
