Free Video School

at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church

Why is Video So Time Consuming?

People who have never produced video have no idea (and really can't have any idea) how much time it takes to produce video. Most of your friends will be impressed with your first 5-minute video, but they will assume it took you an hour or two to finish, when in reality it's more likely to take you 10-15 hours. We added this page to begin to explain why.

Let's say you're typing this page on your computor screen and you realize you mispeled a couple of words. No problem. If your computer didn't already fix it for you, you can go back anytime and fix it, probably with a right-click of your mouse.

Now let's say that you do that instead in a video. No problem, right? All you need to do is to re-shoot that scene. Okay, let's get everybody in the shot back, together. If somebody's out of town, wait for them to get back. Make sure all your talent are wearing the same clothes, that their hair and makeup haven't changed, that the weather hasn't changed, that there's not some new piece of equipment running in the background, etc. And make sure you use the same camera on the same settings, so the picture will fit in with the shots on either side of it.

Are you thinking you would like to avoid this? You're not unusual. Most of us would rather not have to re-shoot a scene. So we find ourselves being REALLY careful as we shoot to make sure we have everything we need.

Then when we're finished shooting, we spend LOTS of time in the editing process making sure the program flows smoothly. And there's almost no limit to the little tweaks and adjustments we can do in editing to make your program smoother, stronger, and more interesting, from nips and tucks in the lengths of shots, to adjustment of audio levels, to coordination with music, to adjusting transitions, to enhancing titles. A smart person said this: "Great videos aren't finished because they're perfect; they're finished because you will yourself to stop making them better."