What do you do if the quality of a video production is subpar?

It's important to evaluate your content, but specifically before projects and in the planning stage, look to have some creative inspirations your client or audience resonates with, so if your video falls short, you can assess in what capacity compared to it. Cinematography? Editing? Acting?

Hard questions to ask yourself, but I have two. Are you the person who should be shooting and editing your content? Do you need to work harder and see it through? I think it's important to know and learn some of these skills. The video production space is not just full of shooter/editors. If it was we'd all be in trouble! We need writers, Directors, producers, etc. If you're particularly gifted in getting clients, then you may be the producer and maybe you need to hire the one who shoots and edits. Hard truth, but he sooner you adjust the faster you'll be happier with the quality of work you put out there.

You'd be surprised how well projects can be saved with some creative editing and thinking outside the box. We've worked on projects where clients aren't feeling the video, and it seems like it won't come together, but with some chatting about ideas and not getting overwhelmed, it can all come together nicely. Often, it's the first creative instinct that is best to try first.

I think sub-par will probably all come before you review the edit, if your planning was sub-par, if your production was sub-par, or if the team's technical knowledge is sub-par no amount of editing skill will save it. Often using "professional editing software" will make 0 difference. Saying this I would say do test projects if you want to try out this method, colour grade, or style. a paid project is rarely a time for experimentation. Go back to editing basics, take a break from the project, and seek feedback.

As the last step, editing can make of break a video. Not only that, it can take an ordinary video and make it extraordinary even before the client sees anything. Take advantage of this power. Also, if you get sufficient with editing tools and use them to cover up mistakes or less than ideal shots, you’ll have a new friends in the production department.

Feedback is essential. At the end of the day, video is subjective, but if you, your client or your target audience believes your video is subpar, gather opinions from different people and try not to be too sensitive about what they say. We all fall short occasionally, but if you don't address this with valuable input, you'll struggle to learn and adapt.

It's really important to have a trusted group that you can get honest feedback from. Having a trusted and diverse (in terms of skill set) group of friends gives you many different perspectives on your project.

If you get feedback from your client, learn to see above and beyond the note. Sometimes it can be tempting to implement a note exactly as it is described in order to check it off the list. But take a holistic view and make sure that all the rest of the portions of the video still work. If they don’t, make tweaks there as well.

In my experience this is one of the hardest actions to take. Missing the mark is hard on the psyche and you really can't let it affect you. The first step I've found to get the ball rolling is to schedule the reshoot. Otherwise you may dwell too long on the disappointment. Looking ahead to a scheduled date infuses optimism into the project and hope for a better shoot. Implementing this one simple change can reignite the project and get it moving in the right direction.

Really take the time to plan in advance and learn from any previous mistakes. For instance, if you've had lightning issues in the past, don't make the same mistake. Be honest, learn and adapt. With planning, have creative inspirations and without getting too caught up with them, try not too drift away from the level of quality you're aiming for. Work out what you like in other videos and ensure you don't drop the quality.