Treatments, what they are and how they can help you

The scenario:?You have been asked, by an existing or new client, to submit a bid or estimate for a photography and/or a video project. The client has sent you a "Brief" about the project you are to bid on. Frequently the brief will have the creative direction stated. In other words they know what they are looking for in terms of look and feel. But I have also been asked to generate a creative direction as part of the bid.

A "Brief" is a document with facts about the job. This can include the location, the number of talent they want to use per look or scene in the case of video, the ethnic make up, all men, all women, a mix etc. The client knows what it wants and is asking you to bid on the job.

Example: The client says they want 10 videos, half of these will be "product" focused and half will be shot as lifestyle scenes with the product being seen. For the product videos, they want them to be under 5 minutes and they want the lifestyle to be 1 minute long. Plus they want each product video to be delivered full length and also they want a 1 minute version, a 30 second version and a 10 second version. And the lifestyle videos to be 1 minute plus a 30 second version and a 10 second version.

As part of the brief, the client may ask for a "Treatment" as part of the bid or estimate. This is a way for the client to see if you are the right person for the job and it is also the way to show?your?"Vision" for the project. Treatments are being asked for on a regular basis and are normal for any large project.

What "it" is: A?treatment?is a visual way to convey your vision of the project, and is included with the bid or estimate that a client has asked for. The treatment will have a written part and photographs showing the client the type of imagery you will create for them as part of the project. The photos can be something you have shot, either a photo or a single frame from a video, or photos/videos you found on the Internet or from books. It can also be a mix of your imagery and what you have found. The treatment is also helpful in showing the color palette you want to use for this client and for this project.

As a photographer and/or a director, a well executed Treatment will help "Sell You" to the client and give them some degree of comfort in your vision. As a client it will help you decide who to select for your project.

The written part is very important and can be a short outline or a highly detailed and stylized "script" to illustrate your point of view. The more in depth you go into your script the better a client can understand your thought process. However, I would avoid making it too long, so be sure to read this through and edit it down to a well constructed scene.

Most of my work is where a client contacts me, likes my work and wants me to "Do what I do". I am rarely asked to produce these,?so I'm not an expert in treatments, but I know enough to help you understand what they are and how to make them.

Below is one treatment I created for a project we were bidding on, I made several lifestyle treatments based on what I wanted to shoot for our client after reading the brief they sent to us, see below. For this example, I produced 2 similar ideas using 2 very different locations: A river and a lake with a dock. In looking at this example, I could have spent more time in the written part to make it more "Interesting and Inviting".

The treatment is?NOT?to be used to copy someone's else's work. It is just a visual guide to show how you are going to shoot the project "look and feel" wise.

The treatment can also serve as a guide, in this case for an on location food centric shoot, it will help the food stylist to understand what you are looking for food styling wise, the prop master to see and read what props you will need on set. Plus the person responsible for lighting the still/video set to show what lighting you will want to use for this part of the film, a scene or project, the wardrobe stylist and makeup & hair people.?This way the entire technical and styling crew are on the same page. Treatments have been used in feature film work for years.

In the presentation below, all of the fly fishing photos are mine and the photo of the mother & child on a dock is mine. All the rest are images I found on-line that fit the look I wanted. I then retouched and/or adjusted the color to match my style and color palette.

This next image has additional information about the shoot and helps the client understand how much work and prep is needed to get them the imagery they want. It covers wardrobe, props, food styling, a short list of image angles and types of talent action plus notes on other gear needed to produce the imagery and make everyone comfortable on set, like insect repellent.

This will help you decode my "Shorthand" above:

C/U - Close up

OOF - Out Of Focus

BG - Background

FG - Foreground

Batts - Batteries

This is the second location/idea, not shot on a river bank, but on a small lake dock.

You can Google "photo treatments, advertising" and see a lot more and the wide range of treatments produced.

Make sure you are?not?looking at treatments that you make in Photoshop as part of the retouching or finishing process, but proposals to a client, like an ad agency or an corporation's in house ad agency or graphics department.

A will done treatment will take many hours to make.

Direct link to this article on my website, feel free to share: stpvd.com/20/33

This is the link to this article on LinkedIn:

Other articles:

How to prep for a commercial photo shoot for your company:?stpvd.com/p17/11

How to find a great photographer Part 1:?stpvd.com/p17/12

How to find a great photographer Part 2:?stpvd.com/p17/14

"Normal" professional photographer terms and what they mean to lay people:?stp-v.com/p17/15/

"Normal" or Common photographic fees and what they are for:?stpvd.com/p18/14

#treatmentsforphotographers #treatmentsforadagencies #treatmentsforclients #treatmentsfordirectors #treatmentsfordps #thestevethornton #business

We are based in Atlanta, Georgia, New York City, USA & Milan, Italy, and serve the nation and travel worldwide for projects, both video and stills. On average we travel 175 days a year from all over the USA, to Singapore to Japan, Europe and the Middle East. We are normally in Europe 2 or 3 times a year, mostly Italy and Germany, shooting for clients there.

If you would like to use this image, or any of my images for mock or comp use, please just ask. There is never a charge for this service. Educational use is permitted without charge, unless published, but please ask first. All commercial use is available only with a limited copyright release prior to use from the copyright holder, Steve Thornton.?Thanks for looking!

#treatments #treatmentsforphotographers #treatmentsforclients #treatmentsfordps #treatmentsforphotographicproject #howto #treatmentsforvideoprojects #thestevethornton