It’s our new Season 3 and we have a big upgrade! We filmed this whole season over a 2 day shoot in our new studio – Worthfull Studios. The theme of this season is how and when to use a crew, a studio, and great gear to make a high-value show and get a great ROI. We even invited guests onto each episode to share their perspectives and be our case studies. That means we highly recommend watching each of these episodes on YouTube. There’s lots to see!
In this episode Tiff and Christine go over the value of a full production, and what is possible when you invest more.
“It ups the level of creativity, it ups the level of planning, of getting things done when you have other people on your team.”
Tiff Tyler
Topics covered:
This season of the show is all about using a studio and a crew to film your show and make it look its best! That means that we filmed the whole season in Christine’s new studio in Salt Lake City, Worthfull Studios! We invite you to watch the full episode on YouTube to see everything we are talking about >> https://youtu.be/-xm0Gyx-xJI
Follow the Podcast on Social!
Links mentioned:
- Looking for pro support to build your podcast? Find out more ways to work with us!
- Tiff Tyler
- Christine Baird
Subscribe to the Podcast!
Many thanks to our production team
- Casey Partridge for video editing
- Worthfull Media for audio editing
- Mosaico Productions for video effects
- Amela Subašić for artwork
Transcription of this episode:
(auto-generated, please forgive typos)
Christine (00:04):
Welcome to Think Like a Producer podcast. I’m your co-host Christine Baird.
Tiff (00:09):
And I’m your co-host Tiff Tyler. Being in the podcast industry, being in the content creation industry. This is what we learned, and this is how you can get out of your own way and get started.
Christine (00:20):
You name it. We’ve probably done it. This podcast is about bringing all the wisdom to you. Tune in weekly, to learn how to think like a producer.
Christine (00:32):
Welcome to this episode all about how to get the value of what we’re calling a full production. And for the purposes of our show and the purposes of the content we help people make, we’re saying a full production is where you actually have a crew and you actually have a set and you actually have real gear. So right now we’re shooting on two different cameras. We have three different lights, we’ve got obviously nice mics. We’re calling this like a full production and Tiff and I are kind of cheating cuz we’re double doing it. She’s the director of photography, the camera operator. I’m the audio engineer on our own show, but we’re gonna show you later in this episode when we have our guest Cami Lynn, come on, that we have a whole set when we do a full production. We’ve got multiple camera operators, we’ve got production assistance, we’ve got producer.
Christine (01:23):
So that’s what we’re talking about in this episode is how to think about the value of a full production and when it makes sense for you to invest in a higher end quality where you actually have a crew and you go to a studio where you, you know, set up a really nice set in your home and then what that requires. So I’m gonna start and then I’ll pass it over to Tiff cause she has a lot of experience in actually working on sets for a variety of different productions. And then I’ll bring it back and kind of help you think through the high level logistics of the money. Like when does it make sense to invest a few thousand dollars? How much? Okay, so first off, the value of whole production, as you can already tell, you look a lot better because you’ve got nice cameras with good lenses, we are artificially lit and so you can tell there’s just a lot better lighting going on.
Christine (02:16):
There’s better audio going on and we, the way we’re recording this is allowing our editor to go in and make a much cleaner, more produced look on our final episode. So kind of speaks for itself, hopefully , this is what we do for clients and we’ve done it in all different places. But now that we have a studio, obviously we love it when people come to us, but this is what we’re talking about when we say the value of a whole production. You can already tell that we are more expert, we’re more professional looking, we’re presenting at a higher level of authority because we are actually recording at a higher quality of media and there’s nothing wrong. Oh, did you have a
Tiff (03:02):
Question? I was gonna say we’re not in our pajama bottom , you know, like if you’re at home recording, it’s like all you have to do is just make sure Yes, kind of from the stomach up that you got like everything on, you could be like barefoot, you could be anywhere, but totally we’re showing up and we’re doing the job.
Christine (03:15):
We even thought about what we’re wearing. It may not look like it, but we, I actually changed my outfit because I was wearing white and it was too white with the white wall behind me. So we like thought through these things, right? So that’s the value of a whole production on the highest level is you literally look better and that translates as authority, expertise, success in our world where we work with a lot of personal brands and a lot of people who are experts, coaches, authors, speakers, consultants, that’s really valuable to them because they’ve spent decades developing their experience and expertise and it wants it, they want it to translate on camera and on audio. So Tiff, now that we’ve talked about the value in kind of a big picture way, tell us about, briefly, I know you’ve been on a lot of different sets in the last year, but tell me about what’s possible when you actually have a crew and good gear and a full production going on. Like what’s the difference in what can get created?
Tiff (04:17):
I think for the people that we work with, it’s the timing, like the efficiency of having someone else worry about the camera, someone else, uh, listening and making sure that you sound okay and if nothing is peaking or anything like that, someone else looking at your lighting and making sure, like Christine said, you know, that the color tones and different things are pleasing. Uh, it just, it takes a lot off of your mind, especially if you’re the person who is in front of the microphone. If you’re the person who’s creating, you’re the talent. You can sit back and actually perform, you know, tell the story whether you’re informing, whether you’re entertaining, however you’re doing it. But it makes a difference. And I think this is sometimes the not hard, but it’s like until people see it and actually experience it, they don’t, it’s like where the value comes from because what we just said, you can buy a camera, you can set up in your home, you can just, you can grab a light, you can learn these things on your own.
Tiff (05:13):
It’s not like it’s not possible and a lot of people have been doing it, but it just, it ups the level of creativity, ups level of planning, of getting things done. When you have other people on your team, when you think about hierarchy, it’s the time, it’s the scheduling, it’s the little things that people don’t think about, like lunch and hydration. I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned being on set. I did a, a docu-series last year, like an independent one and it was my job to make sure that the crew was able to be at their best, um, all day. So making sure that breakfast, lunch, hi everyone was hydrated, we would be out on the beach, we’d be in downtown la we’d be in a bunch of different locations. We weren’t even in a studio, which I know is not the point of here, but we were everywhere.
Tiff (05:54):
But I think, you know, I’ve just, I’ve been hired as a solo creator and we, you know, I work with someone all day, eight, 10 hours and we both are dehydrated, hungry, , like didn’t think about the little things that help us be at our best. So it’s great to have other people there. It’s great to have a good schedule. It’s great to let go of those things so you can, like I said, show up and be at your best. The, the one thing I didn’t understand that was really important that we did on that shoot with Magalie is having someone that’s thinking about the wardrobe. I remember uh, we had a production assistant just steaming the clothing and the outfits that we’re gonna have and you’re like, oh, you know, it’s not that big a deal but it is uh, having someone that’s gonna tailor to the wardrobe make sure that everything isn’t wrinkly.
Tiff (06:39):
You know, the microphone’s in the right spot. If we take a break and we’re going back continuity, you know that the microphone is still in the right spot, her hair is in the right place. I think that was one of the major things that I liked about filming that here and we’re full studios was having someone just think about that. So all I have to think about is the lighting and the shadows and I don’t have to worry about some of those smaller details. Uh, it just, it makes a difference. The timing, the efficiency, the scheduling, the just peace of mind when you have other people who are passionate about what you’re doing. And you don’t have to be the only one who’s driven and who, who can see the vision. Christine’s gonna go through the actual spending the almighty dollar, but just overall the time efficiency once people are here.
Tiff (07:22):
I remember we had a friend of ours, Magalie come, I know we’re gonna talk about a different person today, but she came and she was just able to sit down and coach and be at her best self cuz she didn’t have to think about anything. She could just be in her greatness. And then she had other people who were great who were, what do we call it? The zone of genius. Yep. Be talented in what they do and take it from me. I have been a one woman crew for a very long time and even us just sitting here, I’m thinking about the angles, I’m thinking about how the editor’s gonna cut it, like my mind keeps going to the multiple things that I’ve had to learn to be able to pull these things off. But man, just having one other person, two other people on set, it just takes the weight off of everything on my shoulders just as the creator, uh, behind the camera.
Tiff (08:04):
So there really makes a big difference. And like Christine said, I’ve been on commercials, I’ve been on uh, TV shows. I finally got to do a movie where I had to like wrangle 200 extras. Just the extras was 200 people. And you think like, man, what is everybody doing? There’s 80 people on the set, there’s a hundred people on this set but everyone has a job. In order for you to pull off this commercial in just two days, everyone has to be working efficiently or this could take a week, a month, right? So it actually saves you time and money when you have an invest in more people. But let’s talk about that financial investment. Well
Christine (08:38):
It’s different for everyone and that’s why we have like a separate consult with any client who wants to hire either one of us. Technically we work a lot together, but we’re separate entities,
Tiff (08:49):
Good team.
Christine (08:50):
And we are a good team. We have some miles on the road together. So the first thing we always on a high level ask is what’s the return on investment you’re looking to get from this production? Because we wanna really understand is it monetary? Like do you wanna sell a certain number of tickets to your event books, coaching sessions, course sales? Like we really wanna understand is it monetary or is it more thought leadership status, networking. Do you wanna use this as a reason to connect with other people in your space? And sometimes the answer is purely, I want to give back freely to my audience. This is for various established brands who have a lot of resources and a very large audience and they have a vision. They’re like, we want to give really good content away for free because that attracts their ideal customers to them.
Christine (09:40):
So that’s the first thing you gotta get clear on like what’s the return on investment and is it monetary or is it not? And then we move into, okay let’s talk about based on either the budget you’re thinking or how much you wanna get back or the kinds of opportunities you wanna attract from this production. Maybe you’re doing quality production cuz you wanna book speaking gigs. And so we’re trying to think through like, well who needs to see these videos in order to book you? And let’s make sure the content is tailored to that person. So it’s not for the masses, the masses can enjoy it, especially if you put it on YouTube. But if we’re really tailoring it to kind of your target client and that could be a booker, it could be someone who works in big corporate packaging and wants to hire you for long engagements.
Christine (10:27):
It could be because you are looking to get a book deal and you know you need to up your media presence and so you, you wanna show better to potential publishers. There’s just so many different ways to think about return on investment. But once we’ve figured out your top priority return on investment, then we’ll say okay, let’s talk about the kind of content that will actually get you closest to that. And then we sort of, we call it reverse engineer, then we kind of work backwards and say okay, how much money does it really make sense to spend on this based on what we think we can get back? And then we’re talking, you know, are we talking a few thousand? Are we talking 10,000? Are we talking 20,000? Are we talking 2000? And then we work on that scale. Now obviously if you’re gonna book a studio and a crew, you’re gonna spend a few thousand dollars.
Christine (11:12):
Like you gotta pay people what they’re worth and people who work in media have a lot of experience and they work really in a highly skilled way. So plan on at least spending a few thousand dollars, even if you’re just gonna do sort of a smaller shoot like one or two days and just produce a few videos, that’s probably your starting budget. But there’s a lot we can do once we get someone into the studio and have the whole crew. Our job as producers and video shooters and camera operators is to make sure you get the most out of that shoot because it is a lot. You’re booking people, you’ve got gear, you’re traveling potentially. Like that’s a big investment. And so our job is to make sure we get get them absolute maximum value out of a shoot cuz we know it’s an investment and that’s what brings us joy is for clients to come in, put up the money, put up the energy travel or you know, have everyone come to them and then at the end of the shoot just say like that was the best investment ever.
Christine (12:09):
Like this opened my mind to a whole new world of what’s possible for me. Uh, that’s like some of my favorite feedback I’ve ever heard. A hundred percent. So we’ll leave it there cuz we’re doing a little bit of a high level. In this next segment of the episode, you’ll see us actually talking to a guest and she is going to tell a little bit about why she thinks about the value of better production in her business. So we’ll show you a little bit of how we coached her for a segment of video that she was shooting for her business. And then we will wrap it up at the end with a few final thoughts for a long time. . Okay. Kay everybody, we are here with Camilynne Nelson, an absolutely beautiful photographer who recently met and become friends with and she’s our featured guest for this episode.
Christine (12:57):
So we referenced her earlier. Camilynne is a photographer who works both with families and with children with special needs as well as groups of seniors. When you showed me that work, it was like friend photo shoots for senior pictures, , I’m still thinking about it. And so we asked her to come in today, we’re actually shooting a video in just a minute for her for um, a beautiful gift, um, around her work with children with special needs. But we’ve had a conversation recently about the value of investing in good media for your business, even if you’re a creative . So we’ve been talking about shooting different videos for her website, talking about her work, her origin story. And so what I wanted to ask you Camilynne if you would share on our episode is just off the top of your head, what are you noticing already about having good media to represent your business? Like how does that help your clients understand the value of your work?
Cami (13:51):
There are so many photographers out there. First of all, there are so many photographers and, but the things that I do I feel like have so much emotion. I don’t do family sessions without giving an album because my family sessions are pretty casual. Like you get a, um, put your arms around each other, get some family pictures and then the rest is interaction. And so I feel like a lot of that interaction is captured in an album. But then even just, um, trying to explain and show, show a family why they want an album is a lot better captured in video and so that they can see it beforehand because it’s not always how things are captured. So, and then even a story like why do I want you to tell your story and put it in an album? I feel like that is so much better captured on video rather than just written in a website when people just skimming skimm and scan anyway these days.
Christine (14:51):
Well thank you. Okay, I’m gonna get off camera and I want you to show some of your work cuz you brought some. Yes.
Cami (14:57):
Here’s this one. This, this actually was also in, um, my initial shoot of kids in Idaho. And, and this girl right here, she has RET syndrome and um, she constantly has her hands over her face and her head and her mom wanted a smiling pitcher and she did get lots of smiling pictures. This was a great smiling pitcher. Um, but also this movement I think is so beautiful because it really captures the, um, something that’s hard and yet familiar that uh, parent sees every day, um, in a really beautiful way so that they can go back and look at that. And in fact, it was in this first shoot that I really kind of discovered myself that, you know, I have lots of hard things that are inside me and they have hard things that are outside and in everybody’s hard things we can be beautiful or learn something beautiful. And that is really what this first shoot taught me is that hard things can be beautiful, just depends on how you look at them, what kind of light you bathe them in. And um, that’s it.
Christine (16:12):
Oh, I think we can use some of that for your video so you don’t have to go back and talk. Okay. Alright. So now you’ve seen in action what we talked about at the start of the episode we worked with Camilynne. We talked about her business. We really tailored what we were shooting specific to her. That’s the value of a full production. Having a producer, having camera operators, having production assistants, we are able to help you think through what is going to get you the very best and specific to you. And that’s why people spring for actually hiring a crew with a producer, not just a freelance videographer who we love. Tiff did that for many years, do a lot. We love freelance video shooters. We hire them at Worthfull Studios. But there is a distinct difference when you bring in a whole crew and everyone can, as Tiff said earlier, work in their zone of genius and everything else is covered because it gets you the best result and it gets your business the best result. And it lets you be the talent which is the industry term for the person on camera. So we’re gonna wrap it there for today. We would love to see your questions. Feel free to drop a comment below because this is just one part of taking advantage of a higher production and working in a studio and working with a crew. So be sure to tune into the next episode because we’ve got a lot more to share with you.
Christine (17:38):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Think Like a Producer. This has been a Worthfull Media production. Massive thanks to our team who makes the show possible. Worthfull Media for audio editing, Jorge and Veronica from Mosaico Productions for video effects and Amela Subasic for our amazing artwork and graphics.
Leave a Reply