Quality Checks

When you think you’re done with a video, you need to stop and check it again. You can literally blink and miss a mistake in your video (like a split-second gap that causes a black flash frame). The reality is that it’s best to watch your video a few times with a fresh set of eyes (and maybe even a few trusted outside opinions) (Figure 12.1).

Figure 12.1. Letting others you trust view your work is part of the creative process. Heeding a little criticism can often make a good video great. Photo by iStockphoto.

What You Want to Check

It’s important that you have specific goals in mind during your quality check. You and any others you invite to review the video should be checking for the same things. Although all feedback is helpful, you should target feedback to certain objectives so you can take action when it comes in. Critiques on your shooting location or subject matter won’t help much if you actually want feedback on pacing and audio. I’m a big fan of soliciting feedback throughout the creative process rather than getting it all at the completion of the project.