Video – The importance of efficient ideas
With the right idea, video is a powerful tool within any industry, with the wrong idea it can become a time-consuming money sponge. An efficient idea is a must.
Videos are an exceptional tool of engagement within the creative industry and are core to the advertising industry as a whole, but they must be used efficiently. The cost of making video can be high but get the idea right and the results will speak for themselves. Get it wrong and you’ll very quickly find yourself up the proverbial creek without budget for a paddle.
It’s early September, and the Page & Page team are embarking on their Summer(ish) party. Armed with childlike anticipation and excitement, they journey down to Brighton to visit the Spa Hotel and terrorise the staff.
Alongside a hugely insightful and inspirational Business Development session from Paul O’Connell from www.themindsetdifference.com,the team were given a hum-dinger of a creative task riddled with creative potential, real-life limitations and welcome challenges. The kind that will get any marketing professionals’ juices flowing and all the wannabe performers giving it their best jazz hands.
The Brief:
Create a (short) video, bringing to life the Page & Page team ethos, (We are here to help extraordinary people do extraordinary things. Things that take more effort, more imagination, more guts).Something that will stand the test of time, something that is memorable and something that entertains.
The Rules:
No footage to be filmed before the day.
£100 budget.
All editing must be done in the allocated time.
All videos must be formally introduced by the “Directors” at a presentation showcase.
Failure to supply a playable video file is an instant disqualification.
“Don’t panic Mr Mainwaring.”
So, The Page & Page crew were divided into equal teams and let loose on the Brighton coastline. You have 4 hours… GO! “Fly my pretties.”
A serious challenge to say the least, with such limited time and resources, but one that the creative types at Page & Page get a real kick out of. But what was lacking in resources was made up for in creativity, blind enthusiasm and aspiring performance artists. Our very own Judy Dench’s, Jack Nicholson’s and Charlie Chaplin’s in the making if you will… finally let loose to spread their wings and wow the film-loving nation with their Oscar-worthy performances.
Scriptwriting, film direction and editing, all skills that the majority of the team wouldn’t claim to be top of the professional game in, but all challenges they can thrive at. And they did so with incredible success. Time limitations alone make the task of producing a coherent film a very tricky one, throw in some gale force winds, minimal preparation time and the need for a strong brand message, and you’ve got a real uphill struggle.
Working with such constraints highlights how quickly the budget for video disappears. Whether the metaphor is that of an epic, Interstellar-style black hole that sucks in all time as we know it or an overpriced magician, making video takes time and can make your money disappear.
But the Page & Page team nailed the task with time to spare. Producing three very different, and equally impressive responses to the brief within the constraints. Showing that at the core of it all, once you’ve removed the bells and whistles, the idea is the hero and must be efficient. Find the right idea, and the video (or any execution for that matter) will fall into place behind it.
An exceptional example of this is the music video for ‘Star Guitar’ by the Chemical Brothers. Their idea being: “We’ll represent the music with pictures”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S43IwBF0uM
The entire video consists of a view from a train window (minimal filming budget required), the passing landscape then transforming according to the music – electricity pylons become the beat and rolling hills the synths. The execution will have taken some skilful editing, potentially while locked in a dark room for a weekend, but overall – no overheads, minimal stakeholders, little admin, no travel (except the train journey of course) and no hotels.
The learning is: If the idea is the right one, time and money won’t be a problem. Budgetary limitations can even be seen as a filter for syphoning off the ideas that require expense to make them work and leaving just the golden nugget, in all its glory for the viewer to enjoy.
This content was provided by Page & Page and Partners