Mistakes Videographers Make & Solutions Offered

A

andybiz_2005

Well-known member
Hi Fellow Members,

I've been searching the threads for any posts regarding what mistakes (whether big or small, serious or trivial, costly or not so costly) videographers make & how they came up with their own unique solution.

Perhaps I would like to get this thread started so that as a communinty of videographers, we can learn from others' mistakes & also offer helpful advice to those who are still new to this area.

Anyone & everyone is welcome to chip in their 2 cents worth, but it must be related to the topic. Thanks.

Andrew

P.S. Perhaps the moderators of this forum could consider putting this topic as a "sticky" if it proves to be popular. Thanks.
 
That is a pretty wide-spread question, there. Can you be more specific as to what type of mistakes you are asking about as I can think of goofs from audio to zebra stripes.
 
There's ALWAYS a problem. Just when you think you've got them all licked, another one will pop up and bite you in the ass.

The trick is to not let the client know that there are any problems, and work around them -- or even use them to your advantage.

For example: To my shame, a few times I recorded an interview and forgot to press record until halfway through. :embarasse I got around this dumbass noob mistake by saying to the interviewee, "That was great! You really got on a roll at the end. How about you repeat the begining questions, but with the same enthusiasm you had on the last questions?" And got EXCELLENT interviews as a result -- so much so that this has now become a regular technique.

I HAD made a list to tape to the side of the camera to remind me of all the things to do before and during shooting (like check the framing, focus, audio, room on tape, etc). It was initially meant to be just a few items, but there is so many things to consider that it became too big. I replaced it with a simple: "WHAT ARE YOU FORGETTING?" (in small letters so the clients won't see.)
 
I guess the worst mistake I made was placeing a 650 watt open faced light too close to a plate glass window. You quessed it, the heat cracked the clients large store front window. The only response I got to my question, "Do you have insurance?" was the client asked me for a cigarette. He didn't somke!
 
Hi Every1,

Thanks for all your contributions so far.. Well, Moonwind, yeah, it is a very wide topic, I'd agree, but it can cover things like what videographers learnt when they 1st set up their production business, or how did they market their services & using what channels, what problems they encountered, etc. It can be related to the technical stuff like what scene settings worked best for them, or about the viideography business & how they overcome setbacks when setting up their own business.

Anyway, a friend once told me that when shooting with the camcorder on a tripod at a dinner for example, never leave both camcorder & tripod unattended, cause if children knock it down, there goes your expensive camera. Not only the camera malfunctions, which results in costly repairs, but the rest of the event cannot be film unless ofcourse you have a spare back-up camera on hand. From then on, I've heeded his advice & always unmounted the camera from the tripod when not shooting.
 
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