The Client Experience

How to define the client experience at TXFW…. To each their own? Well in a way. Every project is different, but we’d love to treat every client the same. The first thing you gotta know as a TXFW client is that we are here to serve you and make sure you get exactly what you came for or better! It can be readily understood that the client experience at TXFW, like any other business, will depend, at least 50%, on the client! When any individual or organization or committee engages with a professional video team, hopes and dreams, expectations and realities, learners and teachers, savings and expenses, mysteries and the mundane, will all abound, but at the end of the day, when you choose to hire this video production company from Bryan College Station, you are engaged in a relationship with real people! And IMHO, these people at TXFW are really great. 

Texas FilmWorks: we’re a Texas video company striving to deliver excellent work while honoring our clients. We’re grateful for the work we get to do, and we have a lot of fun doing it. This sums up our core values, just so you can understand who we are. And if you are our client, guess what? Our goal is to understand who our clients are! To really know, not just what they want to accomplish, but who they are and why they want what they want. Sure, there will be a product at the end of the day - a kick @$$ video that you’ll want to show your mom - but to really manifest what we hope for and what the client is paying for, we want this thing to share a digital version of the client's heartbeat. But enough with the high falutin’ word juggling (even if it is a helpful foundation… go back and read it again if it helps). Let’s talk about the experience.

So, you’re asking yourself, “Yea, but what can I ACTUALLY expect in working with TX FilmWorks?” Let me give an overview and add some vocabulary to what we in the business call “the production process”. It’s not really a fair title for the process because… well, you’ll see. 

Pre-Production, Act 1

Everything that happens before we pull out the multi-thousand dollar camera and hit the record button on the camera, we call this part pre-production. It’s the planning part. From the get go we’re going to ask a lot of questions. We need to know what the client is hoping to accomplish - timelines, deadlines, bottom lines, script lines, thought lines, and more. It’s true that we want to get to know the client, but if we feel like we really know you (yay!) and then deliver a short film when the client needs a 30-second ad (not so yay…), that’s not gonna help much. So the more detailed expectations we can draw out from the client, the better chance we have on nailing a five-star-worthy video.

Apart from questions, we also want to really bring the client into the loop on how and why we do what we do, to the extent there is client interest in the process. At this point, because it’s a blog post and I sincerely like to protect the emotions that people may be feeling, I think it’s good to remind a client why they sought a professional video production service in the first place. Video production is our thing, and we take our thing very seriously, striving to get better all the time. If video production was the client’s thing, they wouldn’t have engaged with us, amiright?! My point is, I would encourage clients to ask questions and be open to some creative direction we might be able to offer in creating something great. This is a relationship, and relationships work best when they are two-way.

After the initial meeting to discuss the scope of the project, we will often (but not always) follow up with another creative pitch meeting. At this time the TXFW team will share with the client what we call a “look book” or a “pitch deck”. This is a visual reference of examples to help paint the picture of what we plan to accomplish in the project, and it will often include mood boards, shot lists, gear lists, and possibly time constraints. Depending on the scope of the project, there may only be one idea that we want to explore with the client, and sometimes there may be multiple to choose from.

At this mid-point in the pre-production process, we can now build our statement of work, or SOW. This encapsulates the proposal to include the budgeted line items, deliverables, deadlines, and multiple other details outlining the expectations for both the client and TXFW. The document is still up for edits and revisions all the way until it is signed by both the client and executive team at TX FilmWorks. 

Pre-Production, Act 2

Now that we have all agreed on the more general version of what we’re going to do, it’s time to nail down the details! The first thing to do is put the filming days on the calendar so we can plan around that. This includes locking in scheduling for locations, talent/actors, equipment rentals (if necessary), travel details, etc. Client involvement in this stage cools off just a touch as we handle most of these details. Resources and contacts that are available to the client will be called upon by TXFW to arrange for the filming days. 

Another potential piece in this stage is finalizing the script. In some projects, the video is driven by a pre-determined script that is often read on or off screen, and sometimes the script is a description of the footage to be captured and used in the video. Finalizing and approving the script is a critical part of the client role, as this is the heart of the message to viewers, and it could also drive the subject matter for production days (see below). When utilized well, a script is very powerful.

Production Days

That time has arrived… the moment you’ve been waiting for… we’ve scheduled, we’ve planned, we’ve hired, we’ve scripted, we’ve scouted, and now we get to say, “Lights, Camera, Action!” (Usually it’s more likely, “We’re settling… quiet on set! Roll cams… Action!). These are the days with all of the action. If you haven’t been the subject of a professional video production, the first time can be a bit intimidating - bright lights, big cameras, tight direction (look here, don’t turn, you coughed so let’s do that part again, can I fix your hair a little bit?). We roll the cameras, capture the interviews, the audio, the b roll, and before you can say, “subscribe to my channel” production is wrapped.

Remember when I said “the production process” isn’t a fair title for this whole video project thing? That’s because in the grand scope of the project, the production days (aka recording the video footage) is a very small slice of the project’s time pie. We’ve been in discussions and planning for days, weeks, and possibly months, but the production time rolls by so fast. How do you make the most of it? 

In Hollywood, you may have heard stories of entitled (and incredibly talented) directors and/or producers who don’t put up with anything extra on their movie set. After all, the planning and creative phases have largely set in motion the production that is now being directed rather than written or created. At TXFW however, we have an open invitation for our clients to be involved in the production days. 1) It’s fun to be on set. 2) It’s important to get it right. 3) It’s ultimately the client’s project, not ours! Clients can choose their level of involvement. We’ve worked the spectrum from those who are in the weeds, helping fix wardrobe or hair and wanting a production monitor to see every shot (Bring it on! We love having more eyes on set that care about the project!), and there are some who are content to not even be present during the production. And we got you covered! You can rest assured, knowing that this isn’t our first rodeo, and we will make good decisions to have beautiful footage for you at the end of the day. 

One quick note: If there is an interview involved, some clients prefer to ask their own questions during a production. No problem! Others would rather our team ask the questions, and we’re happy to accommodate both ways. 

One quicker note: We do prefer to limit client involvement in handling any of the [potentially very expensive] equipment. It’s just not fun to be on the wrong end of the “you break it you buy it” situation.

Post-Production

This is the final part of the video production process, but it is by no means the simplest. There are estimates out there that if you film one hour of footage during a production day, you may spend as many as 5 to 25 hours (and in some cases as many as 60 hours!) to edit that footage into a deliverable product. At this stage, we just ask our clients to remain patient. We do everything in our power to hit established and agreed-upon deadlines, and part of the reason we take our time is because we are truly committed to delivering an excellent video to our clients. By all means, you can always ask for an update on your project, but the real and final dialogue on the project starts when we deliver the first version of the video to our client. 

To be transparent, we’ve hit plenty of home runs on the very first version of the edit. We’ve also swung and missed. Our goal is to deliver something we can be proud of to the client, but more than that we aim to be exactly aligned with the client’s vision for the video. Once the first version is delivered, we invite feedback and ask for notes so that we can be as clear as possible in our revisions for version 2. We’ll stick with our client until we get it right! 

Summary

To wrap this all up, in a way, our clients can choose their level of involvement throughout the project. At TXFW we will do what we can to get the clarity we need to create something beautiful and also helpful, hopefully exceeding expectations every step of the way. Our clients will experience service, honesty, professionalism, and really, just a good time along the journey. Creating something great takes hard work. We hope to be allowed on our clients’ teams so we can help you accomplish your goals. The client experience, not just the final video, matters to us. I hope we get a chance to show you.