Making Media Agile?

We make the same mistakes over and over when we produce media. Which is a pity, really.

In my experience most media projects suffer from a lack in the conceptual stage before the fun part begins with all its shiny transitions, effects and animations.

So I went on a bit of a search for ways that might help us producing media with fewer set-backs and less wasted time.

You guessed it, I came across agile methods. Obviously, I am not an expert, but just by using a few key artifacts, we can iterate fast in the planning stages of a media production, before we encounter the more traditional deliverables like scripts, storyboards and edits.

The following is heavily influenced by Kai Wittmann’s Bachelor Thesis on agile media production. He goes way more in depth about how to setup the processes for agile. But even by just implementing Film Vision, Film Statement and the scoping exercise, we can quickly improve the first steps of a production.

1. Film Vision (aka Mission statement)

The film vision or the mission statement (traditionally used with regard to brands) cements the who, what, and why of a project. With this artifact we answer the following questions:

1. What is the message of the film we are about to make?
2. Who are we making this film for? And who is making this film?
3. Why should these people care? What’s in it for them?

Usually, it is the project owner or our main stakeholder who will be able to provide answers to these questions. Obviously, at first you will hear things like “oh it’s for our users, but also prospects. Oh, and let’s not forget our partners.” You catch the drift. We are making a general-purpose video for pretty much everyone.

And indeed, we could just be content with making something that is not particularly disliked by anyone. But that defeats the purpose of most media productions. Usually you need to be specific, when it comes to messaging, targeting and your pay-off.

So you will get lots of answers to all three questions. This is an opportunity and the first iteration. Put all answers on post-its and have your stakeholders put dots on the most important ones. The answer with the most dots is your priority. Simple as that. And way more precise than “everybody”.

In the end you should bring your answers into a statement that is brief and answers all three questions. It will be used to help decision making further down the line, it will be our compass and our gauge for all creative decisions.

We, company X (2), want to create an ad that motivates people at schools and universities (2) to register (1) for our next webinar on the latest advancements in rocket science (1). They will want to register because we hint at how much they can learn from our experience (3).

Don’t archive your Film Vision. As I said, it will come in handy pretty soon.

2. Film Statements (aka User Stories)

Film Statements or User Stories describe from a user’s point of view, what they are experiencing while (hypothetically) viewing our production. User stories always follow a very simple pattern:

As a [PERSONA], I want to [DO STH], so that I can [DERIVE A REWARD].

Usually, there is not just one user story to be told about a specific production. Collect all stories you can think of. For instance:

As a person working for university X, I want to see what my competitors are working on, so that I can adjust our research accordingly.

As someone super interested in rocket science, I want to hear the science straight from the horse’s mouth.

As a potential employee of company X, I am intrigued by their bold claims and want to know what’s behind it, so that I can decide for or against an application.

As a stakeholder at company X, I want to show, how rocket modeling works using top notch visualizations, to impress and boost the image of company X.

…

There is no limit to the amount of user stories (theoretically). So do set a time limit when you are gathering these.

And be aware that you might not fulfill all expectations. This is why you write each user story on a piece of paper and have your stakeholders sort them by relevance.

Also, weed out user stories that are not congruent with your Film Statement. Here, the film statement defines a pretty clearcut audience. “potential employee” does not match the description and hence we can discard this user story.

You will start working on the remaining user story with the highest priority. But before you do: Play one more game with your stakeholders.

3. Let’s buy a car (aka Production Value)

At this stage you have a clear idea of what the overall goal of the project is and which stories you will need to favor in your production. But there is one remaining hurdle. You don’t know how much your client is willing to spend.

And usually, your client is not going to be able to gauge how much a super fancy visualization is realistically going to cost.

So you ask them: If this project were a car, which of the following would you buy:

1. A Lada
2. A Fiat
3. A Volkswagen
4. Or a RollsRoyce

If they tell you they would buy a Fiat, but insist on super fancy visualization, you know you will have some clarification to do as to the cost of “RollsRoyce” versus “Fiat” productions.

If on the other hand they are going for the Rolls and want the bells and whistles, you are good to go to the next level.

Go traditional

After this kick-off phase you go back to the traditional tool set of media production: Script, Storyboard, Edit.

Obviously, even at the edit stage, you can iterate in an agile way. But iterations are going to be slower than on a script level or even before, when working out user stories.

So, I would recommend to iterate fast in the beginning and then gradually slow iterations down, as the project progresses. Kai Wittmann interestingly proposes to go full agile even at the last production stages. In my experience you will not derive as much benefit and learn as much from a late iteration compared to iterating on the Film Vision. If you have the time and money to shoot early versions of a production, produce a “current edit”, and repeat in the next sprint, go for it.

Usually, I find it hard to stick to agile throughout the project, simply because especially with tiny productions you have deadlines and limited budgets, pushing you towards a more streamlined and linear process in the later stages. Obviously with the corresponding risks…

These are my thoughts on making media production better. What do you think? Any and all tips are welcome!