The creation of a video is a process characterized by the communication between the client and the video agency. What is special about giving feedback? Find out here how the cooperation can be arranged smoothly.
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The cooperation with your video agency is characterized by a lively, open, and honest dialogue. A transparent feedback culture has been established between the video agency and the service provider within the framework of a video production.
As a company, you can save an enormous amount of time, money, and nerves, if your feedback is given to your video agency as goal-oriented as possible.
You want to...
- finish your video faster than expected?
- have less feedback loops?
- and avoid unnecessary coordination?
...then this article is just right for you!
In just a few minutes, the following tips will tell you how to give your video agency efficient feedback!
The 1x1 of Video Agency Feedback.
The more concretely you formulate your feedback, the higher the probability that all your wishes will be implemented correctly. This isn’t new insight, but feedback often fails due to stumbling blocks that are sometimes banal and easily avoidable. In the following, we will deal with various feedback topics and give valuable advice on how feedback can be skilfully formulated and efficiently presented to your video agency.
Precise Change Requests for Your Video Agency.
Imagine the following example in a scene where different characters interact with each other. An adaptation suggestion for this could be the desire for more dynamics in the scene. The feedback could therefore be, "Please, be more dynamic.”
Specify your feedback! A wide variety of interpretations are possible for film productions..
If you take a look at the graphic shown above, the video agency has plenty of room for interpretation.
Does the dynamic wish refer to...
- the interaction between the characters,
- the currently moving character,
- or the desire to create more movement in the background?
In order to let your video agency incorporate the feedback in the best possible way, it helps to specify the desired changes. For example, the reference to "more dynamics in the gesticulating characters" is sufficient. If the wish refers to the whole scene, the feedback could be "more dynamics in the whole scene.” If you are unsure, a short consultation call with your video agency can be helpful to discuss the timetable for further action.
Do We Understand Each Other?
Ambiguities, misinterpretations, or different reference points can lead to the wrong implementation of your feedback wishes. A "bit" for one is already "quite a lot" for the other.
How big is the character allowed be? Bigger can quickly be "too big.”
Enlarging the character "a little bit" can quickly lead to "the character is a little bit too big" in the next step. Here is a tip! Take a screenshot of the corresponding scene, copy and paste the character, and enlarge it to your desired size.
The character scaled to the desired size: An ideal template for the video agency.
Alternatively, you can use programs such as PowerPoint, lines, or markers to specify a desired size.
Define character sizes with auxiliary lines: A helpful guide for your video agency.
Of course, this process is not always necessary. In almost every case, the video agency and the client communicate with each other without any problems, even with rough specifications. However, if you have exact ideas regarding a certain change, the graphic support with lines can help prevent misunderstandings that result in delays.
Back to Reality.
Creativity knows no boundaries, but the implementation possibilities of different animation styles do. In the course of film production, the video agency will move within a defined framework. Ideally, the feedback should not exceed this framework. At the beginning of the production, clarify with your video agency which special features the selected video style has in store and where limits lie.
The explainer video classic: The Whiteboard Style works with the laying technique.
The classic laying trick, for example, is characterized by sliding into the picture or the simple appearance of static graphics. Movements are generated here, as in a nodding image, by two different graphics playing directly one after the other.
In this video style, it would not be feasible to give feedback to characters. This would go beyond the scope described above.
Four Eyes See More Than Two and Six Eyes See More Than Four.
Everyone knows the moment. After several checks of a task, (for example, reading through a text) you are sure- the text is error-free! Until the first colleague in the second sentence notices an almost banal trifle that needs to be corrected.
Have your formulated feedback for your video agency checked by one or two other people. Does everyone really understand the same thing? This way you can prevent misunderstandings in the implementation of your feedback, and at the same time, get a better feeling for the diversity of interpretation scope in a video production.
References for Your Video Agency.
When it comes to the implementation of a certain idea of your video production, references are particularly suitable to meet these as precisely as possible. If you exchange ideas with your video agency, or if you basically deal with the topic of video, you will usually, inevitably, stumble across different video formats and styles.
Send your video agency references, which they can use as a basis for the production of your video. References can be quite different in nature- be it visually, from the dramaturgy, or from the way of storytelling. References help and give a meaningful orientation.
The implementation possibilities are manifold! Trim Suite presents their concept in an individual explainer video style.
Video Agency Feedback Tools.
Some tools make it easier to give targeted feedback. In this article we present two such tools:
Filestage.
Filestage allows you to comment on digital content directly in your browser. Feedback can be placed in video, PDF, audio, or graphics.
Imagine you are watching a video from your video agency directly in the browser window (such as a YouTube video). The comment function not only allows you to leave a comment in a column (as you already know it from other websites) but also directly at the point in the video that you want to change.
Giving feedback on digital content: Works easily with Filestage.
Let's say you'd like to replace a "thumbs up" icon with a "thumbs down" icon. In this case, you would click on the "thumbs up" icon, comment "replace with thumbs down,” and then finish your edit. Filestage will then display the comment including the corresponding time and position in the video.
Filestage is suitable for both internal and external communication – for example, to exchange videos, give feedback, and discuss the content with your colleagues as well as with the video agency.
Vimeo Review Page.
The Vimeo Review funktion works basically like the Filestage Feedback Tool. However, it focuses on the medium video. Here, you can comment precisely on the corresponding timecode and discuss comments in the team or with customers.
. Focus on the medium video: The Vimeo Review function.
At the end, the works can be shared in a presentation. Since Vimeo, like YouTube, is a streaming platform, finalized videos can be published directly there (for example, via the company's own account). A user-defined integration of common tools, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Adobe Premiere Pro, is also possible.
Principles of a Feedback Culture.
Up to this moment, we have placed the focus of feedback transfer on the medium video. However, even though the article focuses on the interaction with a video agency, it is helpful to take basic feedback advice to heart.
The "How" is Crucial.
Start your feedback first with a positive statement. Then, go into the point to be improved and conclude with a positive remark in the best case.
"I like the visualizations, and I would have imagined scene 2 a bit more detailed, but, overall, the content was well packaged in the video."
Take Wind Out of Sails with the "I-Perspective”.
Criticism and/or feedback can be formulated from the "you" or the "I" perspective. With "you," a certain reproach resonates, even if unintentionally.
"You didn't fulfill the performance," almost sounds like a personal attack.
"I had hoped that you could deliver even more in scene 4.”
The "I" perspective" makes the wording sound less harsh to a certain extent and paves the way for an objective and constructive dialogue.
Change of Perspective.
At the end of the feedback, the video agency can be asked about their perspective regarding the feedback. Often the creative focus has film-specific characteristics or pursues an overarching design concept.
In order to overcome a possible discrepancy between the client and the "video agency,” ask the question, "Why did you design the video this way?" or "What background thoughts did you have with the animation?”
The best ideas are created through mutual exchange. The change of perspective enhances the quality of the feedback.
A new way of implementing the feedback can be found in the dialogue, which possibly retains the basic idea of the original intention of the video agency, as well as incorporates and takes into account the feedback of the company.
Bring Ideas to Life.
Films have to comply with company-specific design specifications and integrate them into the developed design concept. In addition, there may be special feedback on which companies already have very concrete ideas regarding implementation.
Developing ideas in a team: Share your suggestions with the video agency..
In such cases, companies can include ideas in the feedback so that the revision will always lead to a satisfactory result. Of course, the video agency should be given trust and creative freedom. If, however, it is certain that certain internal specifications or very concrete ideas of the client must be applied, it is worthwhile to present them as precisely as possible.
Your Video Agency is Waiting for Feedback!
A film production thrives on a critical and open exchange between client and video agency. Feedback plays a central role here. Surely, in many cases, you already act as described in this article, but maybe you could take some new impulses with you into the future cooperation with your video agency.
If both parties listen to each other and engage in a constructive and goal-oriented dialogue, nothing stands in the way of a successful video production!
Want to learn more about working with a video agency? Feel free to ask us any question you like »
