What to Consider When Looking for Outside Help with Video

What is the value of working with a freelancer versus a video agency? 

When you are considering who to work with as you roll out your video projects, understand that we were freelancers when we started Boston video production company, Skillman Video Group. We were the people who showed up to shoots with a camera and did the editing, invoicing, contracting, etc. 

Working with freelancers can be a great choice. In fact, in some cases I think working with an agency would be overkill. For example, if you are shooting a simple video, like a talk, and have a clear sense of what you want and do not need any creative direction, why pay for an agency? Why pay for that extra creative? In that case, look, seek out, and find a freelancer.

The other side of this is when it may or may not be appropriate to have one person acting as director, producer, camera operator, audio person, lighting person, and everything else on the day of the shoot. That is asking an awful lot of a human being. If you have a shoot with a lot of logistics involved and you need some more expert guidance, you probably want to look more in the agency direction. 

This includes anything with pre-production. If you want a lot of scripting or need someone with creative ideas who can learn about your business and help guide you through that pre-production process, you should look into the agency model.

Another time you should go with an agency is if you have a lot of videos that you want produced quickly. There is only so much one freelancer, who is working for themselves, can do. The great thing about an agency is they can pound out through a lot of videos. They have specialists who are editors, colorists, and even animators, which guarantees that video elements, like graphics, are going to come out to a certain standard. Someone who is a one-off freelancer is not equipped to give you all of that.

An important thing to remember during all of this is our framework, which we go into more detail in a previous post covering when quality matters. There’s two parts to this.

The first part has to do with intention, and the second part of that framework has to do with platform. When you look at it through that lens, there are times when doing something down and dirty is perfectly acceptable. Additionally, there’s going to be times when you need to up-level. It’s going to be up to you, your budget, and your strategy, for 2020 and going forward, when it’s time for you to up-level your message and image. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It entirely has to do with your intention and your platform.

If you want to learn more, contact video production Boston agency, Skillman Video Group, at [email protected] and check out our Youtube video below.

Consider This When Looking for Outside Video Help: