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Videography represents a wide variety of work, tasks and skill sets that need to be balanced to create unique projects and personalized results for each client or situation. This means that to succeed in the industry you need to be versatile, hard working and ready to try new things. As a videographer you will need to be entrepreneurial and attentive to the needs of your clients while still maintaining your creative vision and making use of your natural talents and knowledge.
What Does a Videographer Actually Do?
As a working videographer your job is fundamentally to create video footage for your clients. Videographers usually work in a small team or as solo freelancers. They cover every aspect of the video production, editing and often do the audio work as well. This makes the job a highly skilled and diverse career that is exciting and will certainly keep you on your toes!
There are many different ways in which you can earn a well paid living as a videographer and although you can choose to specialize in one specific genre many others decide to work in multiple fields of videography. The skills that you have are extremely transferable which means that you can work in multiple areas of videography; and although you may select to do this in most cases it’s more efficient to focus your efforts in a few areas of the industry at any one time.
The Types of Videography Jobs.
- Wedding Videographer: Every wedding is a unique, once in a lifetime celebration and as a videographer in this context your job is to capture the ceremony, highlights and main action of the day. If you’re recording footage at a wedding you will often be working in conjunction with a photographer although some freelancers conduct both of these roles throughout the day. Wedding videography is growing in popularity and so the demand for you will be high throughout the main wedding seasons of spring and summer.
- Events Videographer: Corporate events, private parties, team building days and much more all need videographers to create well edited footage of the people, venue and activities that made it a special day. You may need to work to a schedule which you have coordinated with the event manager to make sure that you get footage of the main speaker, a particular part of the day or even interviews with certain people. Each job is different so you’ll need to be able to think fast and consistently deliver above expectations. Following the event you’ll need to do some serious editing to create a seamless finished product for your clients.
- Aerial Videography: Aerial videography that uses a drone to create stunning footage is a booming genre on and off line. Once you have the right equipment and have mastered sweeps, pans and bird’s eye shots you can offer your services to a huge range of potential clients. Everyone from documentary makers to realtors require aerial photography! Corporate events, sporting events, tourist boards and even wedding organizers may wish to take on the services of an aerial videographer.
- Video Editing: Although videographers are usually expected to handle their own post production and editing work you can actually specialize in this area of the art form and provide editing services to other videographers. Many videographers find that they don’t have enough time to edit the footage they are filming for their clients and if this is your passion or area of expertise you can leverage a good salary working on this side of the process. You’ll need to work very closely with your clients to ensure that you deliver the type of final cut they are looking for but given that you can work remotely the potential client base is enormous for you.
- Motion Graphics: Motion graphics are an exciting type of videography which involves creating animated or moving digital footage. Motion graphics have exploded with the internet revolution and are now a regular feature in the daily viewing habits of people all over the world. There are serious opportunities available in the commercial, marketing and advertising world as well as with YouTube creators and other filmmakers. You’ll need some good software and a powerful imagination to deliver interesting and eye-catching results for your clients.
- Travel Videographer: If you love to travel and want to fund your adventures then you can work as a videographer on a freelance basis. You can work for travel blogs and websites, local travel boards, hotels, resorts and restaurants. To maximize your earnings you can also provide still shot photography with your travel videography so that you can deliver a complete visual package to your clients.
- Corporate Training and Induction Videos: It’s an often overlooked area of videography but almost all companies make use of training and induction videos in their human resources department to help to make the most of their staff’s skills and talents. You can provide videography services to help create these educational and informational videos and if you can also write basic scripts then you’ll be in high demand. You will need to study and become familiar with the company’s ethos and methods to provide value to your clients but the work is regular and once you have a few good referrals under your belt you can quickly become the ‘go to’ videographer in this field.
- High School and College Sports Footage and Highlights Reels: This is a very easy job which requires you to film the sport, usually football, from a side angle so that the coach can analyze the game afterwards. The coach needs to see how the players moved and go over their techniques with them afterwards to improve their future play. Another advantage of this work is that you won’t need to edit the video at all and can simply deliver a DVD or a digital copy to the coach. As well as this you can edit highlight reels for players who are applying for college scholarships in which case their parents will employ you to create something that really stands out from the rest!
- Animation: Animation is a fun and quirky job that you can do if you are a good videographer. You need access to top quality software and will need excellent script writing skills to make the animations come to life for the audiences. Animations are used in advertising and product promotion as well as in creative projects and short films. The competition is pretty tough so you’ll need to be at the top of your game to make a mark in this industry but once you have built a solid reputation and portfolio of sample work you can expect an attractive salary in return for your skills.
- Music Videographer: If you work in the music industry you can help bands record videos for their songs and albums as well as record live events and festivals. This is a dream job for many people and if you can provide incredible services you will have the chance for regular work, at festivals for example. The hours on set may be long and sometimes run late into the night but the benefits of being in the center of the action more than outweigh the costs!
- Real Estate Videographer: As technology has advanced and both customers and clients expect more from their realtor videography has become a must in the industry. Your job as a real estate videographer is to deliver footage of a walking tour of the property that highlights the best features and gives a potential buyer the ‘feel’ of the place. You can work in the residential or commercial property markets and be confident of regular well paid work.
- Documentary Videographer: Documentary films are one of the most popular genres in video. Working as a documentary videographer is a fantastic way to help creators show interesting new aspects of the world to their audiences. No two projects will be the same and you’ll be meeting unusual people and seeing strange places as part of your work! The work can be quite high pressure though because oftentimes there is only one chance to get the footage that you need for the final cut of the film.
Being Flexible and Versatile is Crucial to Succeeding as a Videographer.
When you are working as a videographer, particularly when you are starting out in the field, you will need to be able to take on a diverse selection of jobs. You may get plenty of wedding jobs during the spring and summer time but find that during the winter season the opportunities tail off. To overcome these problems and keep the money coming in to pay your bills you might do more editing work during the winter and then over the Christmas and New Years period focus on corporate events and parties!
However, once you have firmly established yourself in a particular field of videography and you can reliably get work throughout the year then you can choose to stick to what you know and really niche down in your chosen area.
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Videographer?
If you have a specialized degree in videography then you are in a great position to work as a freelancer or with any larger company in the field. However, as with many creative industries, the specific qualifications that you have are less important than the results you can actually deliver.
Obtaining a degree can be extremely expensive and so if you are looking for ways to stand out from the competition you can consider other types of education and tuition. Online courses provide you with flexible learning opportunities at a much lower cost where you can choose to specialize in almost any area of videography to develop new skills and improve your resume. Community colleges also offer a lower cost alternative to a full college degree while still providing you with a world class hands on learning experience.
Jobs in Videography are Exciting and Unique.
Working in Videography is one of the most rewarding and interesting careers that you could choose and although you’ll need to put in the time and effort to get to the top of the game you can expect a great salary and a fascinating journey through life. You will have to be creative, imaginative, have good attention to detail and be able to think on your feet; but if you’re passionate about videography then you can build a wonderful life for yourself while delivering unforgettable finished products for your clients.
Do you like photography or videography?
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