Should You Say Yes to Every Video Gig?

Whatever God asks of us, whether it is giving, going, serving or speaking, we always want our response to Him to be “yes and amen.” That is how my pastor closes every sermon and recently I was asked to film at a funeral ceremony. To be fair, it ended up being more of a ‘celebration of life’ event at someone’s house, but as a corporate videographer, this was far beyond my skill set and comfort level. I said yes anyway. Not because I was desperate for a gig, or eager to pay my respects (I didn’t know the person who passed or their family). I said yes, because I believed this was one of those opportunities for me to step into the unknown and learn something new.

This post is an outline of my experience – a spotlight on the areas where I need to improve, but also some strong validation that I’m on the right track. The following are the lessons I’ve been reminded to prioritize in addition to the new lessons learned. Would I do it again? Let’s find out.

Lesson #1 - Preparation is critical

Have you heard the expression, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?” It’s a good rule of thumb in any industry, but especially in videography. Where are you filming? Will we be indoors or outdoors? Is there a PA system? How many speakers are there? What is the story we’re attempting to tell? Are there specific expectations or must-haves from the client?

All of these are questions that went unanswered for this shoot. In fact, I didn’t even know the location and contact until hours beforehand. We were stepping into this shoot with no prep and no structure. As a result, I had to prepare for everything.

If you’ve read and/or watched any of my content on the matter, you’ll know that I am a firm believer of scheduling time with your clients ahead of the shoot to get a good grasp of their vision and understand the full scope of the project. Unfortunately, this scenario did not provide adequate time for such a luxury, and normally would have been my first signal to decline. When preparation is limited, it all comes down to experience and creativity. How quickly are you able to adapt to a mixed environment filled with changing lights, sounds and people? Let’s discuss that next.

Lesson #2 - Experience matters

I’ll begin with another sound adage: "when backed into a corner, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training." There’s a misconception that if we’re put on the spot, we can ‘wing it’ and still produce a great result. The truth is, you’re only as good as your practice says you are. This is true of sports, this is true of music, and this is most certainly true in video production.

Most of my production experience has come from the corporate world (think cookie-cutter talking head interviews and office antics). The environments I’m accustomed to filming in are highly controllable from the lighting, to the a/c, to the amount of people on set (if any at all). In contrast, live events are something out of the wild west. We started filming at sunset in a backyard pool area overlooking a well-manicured pond. It was a picturesque dream. Until the sun went down… The speeches ran for more than a half hour with no available exterior lighting. I tried everything to bring more light into the lens, just to capture an image, which only introduced more noise despite the Canon R8’s full frame sensor. By the time the speaking and music portion of the event had concluded, it was completely dark, with nothing but a few motion-sensor LED lights fixed to the pool cage and the soft glow of the house lights behind us (and the camera).

It was then asked that I remain available to film one-on-one interviews for those who were not comfortable sharing their memories in front of the full crowd and luckily, I packed a couple of softboxes just in case. After we wrapped up the interviews, I shot some B-roll inside while people gathered and shared refreshments. It was a tight schedule, with minimal flexibility, and arguably the most difficult production I’ve worked on, despite once being a dedicated videographer/producer/editor for a $250 million company. Experience truly matters, and this project certainly pointed out some gaps in mine. Based on these two lessons alone, I should have politely declined the offer, but something told me to go for it.

Lesson #3 - Kindness is everything

Despite all the challenges of this project, and the sheer panic that was happening in my head the entire time, nobody once questioned my methods, or made me feel like I was inadequate. I’ll remind you that this was a celebration of life event and people were here mourning the loss of a dear friend, a wife, a sister. I did not know this person, but I received a glimpse of the joy she brought to the world by listening to every funny story and heartfelt memory. I was just the video guy coming in to do a job, but this group of strangers made me feel like we were all connected in some way.

It didn’t matter that a lawn mower fired up somewhere in the neighborhood midshoot, or that the host’s microphone didn’t want to cooperate with the guitar amp it was connected to (had I known they didn’t have a PA, I would have brought my own!). Nobody was looking for perfection, but rather a way to preserve the memories of a meaningful person. I’m just happy that I got to play even a small part in that.

Would I do it again?

Let’s bring this back to video production for a moment, and the question posed in the title of this post: should you say yes to every video gig? To put it simply, no. But my answer to the question, “would I do it again?” might surprise you. When operating a business, you have to be selective with your time. You’ll want to be strategic and only take on projects that most closely align with your skillset. Over time, you’ll become an expert in this niche and your work will attract more of the clients you are perfectly equipped to serve. But there will come times when it makes sense to say yes to the odd thing. The thing that is 1,000 miles outside of your comfort zone. It might not make the best business sense, but it will make sense to you at that time. With that in mind, I think I would film this event over again. Knowing what I know now, I would certainly prepare differently, but I learned some valuable lessons that I otherwise would have missed out on, and for that I am grateful.

Whatever God asks of you, my friend, whether it’s giving, going, serving or speaking, we always want our response to Him to be yes and amen. I hope this encourages you to try something new and to create something amazing.