A major semiconductor tool manufacturer wanted a five-minute demonstration video to market a new service to engineers. Just point and shoot the demonstrator, the engineering group originally thought; should be done in half an hour. But such thinking can wind up costing far more than doing it right the first time.

Instead, by working with the internal media producer who used a WMS director, the production was completed in half a day, post-production in a day and a half. Here are just a few of the money-saving, quality-improving services provided:

• Plan production flow to minimize production time. The best flow and least time and cost often call for something entirely different than chronological order. In this case involving a "clean room," scenes were shot from cleanest to least clean areas.
• Meet with client prior to shoot date to walk through production and area. Potential problems can be spotted and corrected beforehand.
• Manage nonprofessional talent. Our director calmed the presenter's jitters plus gave him some personality.
• Include wide shot to establish theme of program.
• Direct shooter to ensure best view of the demonstration. (Seeing a lot of the demonstrator's back seriously mars the program's impact.)
• Keep work flow moving. By thinking two scenes ahead, we avoided crew down time between scenes.

A Shooter a Director Is NOT!
Shooters can't see the big picture because they're focused on doing their job. Costs can quickly add up in the absence of a director.

Poor camera work often results from the client telling the shooter what to do. The client doesn't know how to make each image "pop" to deliver the most powerful visual message. The client doesn't know to zoom, pan, etc. when appropriate. Also without a director on site, whole segments have been left out. These problems may mean re-shooting some of the production.

The hidden costs of clients' time must also be factored in. First, clients must look at all the footage. Then write down time code numbers. Then get others in the company to approve the edits. Then when the first cut comes back, gather colleagues to view it. Inevitably someone finds something missing or wrong.

And that leads to revisions, which can also drive up costs. Clients usually aren't precise enough in their editing instructions. Inaccurate time codes and other sloppy instructions are left to the editor to interpret. Revisions ensue.

This second scenario actually results in greater profits to a production company in the short term. But WMS is more interested in building relationships with its clients and providing outstanding service. So please, include a director in your next production!