Your Corporate Video is Boring. Stop Hiring Videographers.

You know the formula: a slow-motion shot of a coffee machine dripping, a panning shot of an open-plan office, and a stiff, terrified executive sitting in front of a blurred background, reciting a scripted monologue about "synergy" and "innovation."

You watch it once to sign it off, it gets posted to LinkedIn to a chorus of polite likes from your own staff, and then it dies a quiet death on YouTube, stuck at 42 views for the rest of eternity.

It’s a massive waste of time, energy, and capital. But the problem isn’t your business, your team, or even your budget.

The problem is that you hired a videographer when you actually needed a filmmaker.

To the procurement department, those two words look identical on a line-item invoice. In reality, they are two completely different disciplines, and mistaking one for the other is the exact reason your video investments aren't driving revenue.

No doubt you’re told by your PR consultant or newly-hired head of marketing that “you need video”. 

Great…what does that mean?

Thanks to a culture of box-ticking and spreadsheet analysis dictating our decision-making; these people will simply look at stats on what performs best on social media, and then recommend that. Without asking what “perform” means and why those specific metrics are (or are not) relevant to your brand. 

It’s all well and good looking at general stats around video and its relative engagement levels online, but these stats are so wide reaching as to be potentially meaningless for your company. A video of cats being funny, for example, will garner millions of views. While a three-hour keynote speech on the efficacy of vacuum plasterboard construction…less so. 

A video is not just “a video” - it’s a medium. 

Widespread uptake isn’t the only measure of efficacy for all applications. Just as you’d be unlikely to fax something these days, email is not responsible for the quality of information in its attachments, despite being overwhelmingly more popular than fax machines. 

To continue with that analogy (and hopefully avoid stretching it to breaking point) if email is video, then videographers, filmmakers, actors et al; are the PDF, JPG and word files. Yeah I’m pretty sure I broke that one!

You get the point though: determining that you “need video”, putting out a job description or solicitation for someone who “does video”, hiring the cheapest possible option (probably a videographer who does some basic editing) and then wondering why it didn’t yield results, is missing the point. You found the wrong tool for the job. 

So what is a videographer?

Lest this article be accused of being a hit piece on the noble profession of videography, let’s get clear on what we mean by this. A videographer is a video camera operator whose job it is to capture video and audio, set up basic lighting and provide a basic edit of the captured footage. 

They are a one-man band (of sorts) that offer a base level of coverage. 

Where the lines have been blurred is the mission-creep instigated by clients trying to eke out as much from videographers as they can. Obliging as ever, they’ve learned chroma keying, 3D rendering, audio mastering etc… all to try and offer the best value that they can. 

The problem with this is that they’re attempting to provide the work of an entire film crew. Moreover: they have to own and provide all of the necessary equipment as well. 

What is a filmmaker?

A filmmaker is someone who assembles the team and understands how the medium of film can be used to construct an impactful narrative. They are across multiple disciplines, not just videography. 

They don’t just light, point and shoot whatever the client has arranged. They consult with the client, pitch ideas, storyboard, plan shots etc… giving you an end result that knows how to speak to an audience in exactly the right way. 

Expecting a videographer to deliver the same net result as a film maker is like expecting your tire fitter to have also fixed your broken cam shaft, changed the oil and replaced the cracked windscreen when you come to pick up your car. All for the same price. 

Now while it is all too often the case that clients place unreasonable expectations on videographers, the inverse is also true. You might only need someone to turn up and cover your event, or shoot a direct-to-camera interview with your CEO for internal comms. If that’s the case: go get you a videographer! 

A filmmaker in those scenarios is likely to be surplus to requirements. 

If, however, you want your flagship film or video marketing to support your brand’s uniqueness, with compelling human narratives: you need a filmmaker. You need someone who understands not just how to make something look good on film, but someone who can marshall the medium and bend it to their will. 

Film is a language, not just technical exercise. 

So, I hope that has offered a degree of clarity on the matter of why you shouldn’t just hire a videographer for all of your corporate video needs. There’s so much more to making “video” work for your brand than simple coverage. 

If you need help figuring out your next move when it comes to video, drop me an email (duncan@coppersprocketcontent.com). I’m always happy to chat and offer guidance where I can. 

If you want to learn how to create your own video content, using nothing but your iphone and some basic equipment; check out our free 30-Day DIY Video Content Course.