What are the most common mistakes to avoid when adopting new film production trends and innovations?

Obviously doing your homework is key but so is treading lightly. I was employed by a company that loved playing with new toys but sometimes they bit off more than any of us could chew. Instead of buying one unit to test out they just went ahead and bought a small fleet. Well the equipment was not user friendly and they were trying to adapt it to do things it wasn't directly designed for. It was a massive headache and made us look incompetent to clients.

As stated in my contribution above, testing before buying is so important. Assumptions are very dangerous and expensive when you get it wrong. Test everything, put the device in a real world situation and see what happens. Do the smart thing and ask as many questions to cover yourself and to help you make the ultimate decision.

Bench testing is very important, a step not to be skipped. Testing helps to unveil flaws, inadequacies and potential problems beforehand. Bench testing takes time but in the end saves time, disappointment, embarrassment and budget.

For me it would have to be not considering the audience. I think the adaption of what new trends to apply for your client depends heavily on their target audience. For example would a fast paced glitchy stomp opener work for a corporate law firm? Certainly not. Conversely though a 3 minute stand alone everygreen piece wouldn't work as well for personal chef who only wanted to focus on ads and socials, they would do better with 12 x 15 second vertical videos for Reels/Stories/Shorts. So depending on what stage of the funnel the client wants to cater for, top, middle or end there's a solution that will best them them regardless of the trends and changes in video.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. You should be inspired by other work, but find ways to add or subtract from it to make it your own. Not much is original these days so don't sweat taking little things you like from multiple different sources to make your own vision.

Not putting enough effort in pre-production The most important thing is the script, that's the sales pitch, and when you're not putting enough effort into it, you'll lose your chances to convert clients.

Not Hiring the right Film Crew There is nothing that beats the joy that comes with being in alignment with your crew. A producer can get away with almost anything With the right crew on set. For every film production style there are specialists and passionate people devoted to that type of production, it is healthy and wise to recruit film crew that understands the particular trend style you are about to embark on. It can only take a creative recruiter and agency to know who can play in that new trend. Crewfinderng can assist you in putting together a list for your shoot in Nigeria.

Sometimes its better to not be the guinea pig. Wait and see what catches on. If you have the funds then fine have fun with the trial and error method and maybe you'll end up with upper hand. But sometimes especially when on a tight budget, the smart thing is to see what has survived to the other end and now you know its a safe bet.