Sometimes as media producers we get some rather ambiguous tasks. This applies equally well to a small youth promotional piece for your local meetings all the way up to major marketing schemes by multi-million dollar companies. In fact, while working with the media department of a major computer manufacturer, we were handed a spec sheet for the latest laptop with the instructions: Please Implement.
And so, over the past few months, I've found a slowly dwindling list of actual instructions coming from one of my clients. Frustrated, I sent them an email and asked which of the following they would like me to do:
1. Come up with what I think they should do?
2. Put together bits of what they already have that may work?
3. Write completely new material, and then see what I'd need to shoot?
I got back the reply: "Yes."
After discussing this further, I discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that they were happy to let me, as a professional, create their media for them and give feedback but not direction.
Armed with this new knowledge, I feel like I can move forward. I certainly don't want to step on people's toes, but I also don't want to sit around until someone tells me to jump.
And you will likely find yourself in this position at some point in time in your productions. Always probe deeper if you are confused about what someone wants of your or your final products. With that added clarity, you may be asked to move beyond your comfort zone. But that's okay. It means you're growing.
~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor
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