Why can't you like everything I make?
It's such a beautiful finger painting!
Ugh. There’s nothing worse than to pour your heart and soul into a piece of creative you care deeply about, only to see it ripped to shreds by those who ultimately view it. Now, I’m not a director who helms films with multi-million dollar budgets, so I can’t imagine the feelings that come with a big-budget flop, but even on a smaller scale (i.e. projects where millions of dollars are not at stake) it can really hurt when someone doesn’t like the video you’ve worked so hard to produce. I think we all want that kind of big positive reaction we received from mom or the kindergarten teacher when we proudly presented our finger painting, but that’s not how the real world works. Sooner or later you’ll receive that wake-up call.
I’ve written previously about my experiences with a client who absolutely hated the video I produced when I was first starting out:
It was an experience that crushed my self-esteem and led to a lot of anxiety, but I did learn some valuable lessons that still resonate with me today.
Now, I wish I could tell you that everything was clear sailing for me afterwards and that I never again experienced that kind of disappointment, but no…
Years later, when I finally felt more self-assured and had my feet underneath me, I landed some work with a repeat client who hired me to produce a series of promotional videos that were story-driven. It was a good opportunity to share the experiences of real-life people who benefited from my client’s services. I really started getting a sense of what my client liked and didn’t like after producing the first few videos in the series, so the process from start to finish grew easier and more efficient as time went on. It was like that feeling you get when you’re behind the wheel and you finally make it to the expansive open Interstate after being tangled up for hours in heavy traffic on unfamiliar roads.
“There’s no stopping me now!”
Or so you think.
Some time later I had just put the finishing touches on a new video for my client. Like every other project I work on, I invested many, many hours not only shooting b-roll and conducting interviews, but also on the post-production process; time spent carefully crafting a narrative arc, inserting footage that illustrates each point and helps move the story forward, creating a sound bed to bring viewers into the world, and finding the right music track to enhance the emotion.
I was proud of the work. It fit in nicely with all the other videos in the series and I was excited to show my client.
That’s when my metaphorical Interstate road trip (on which I was making great time, by the way) hit an unexpected traffic jam seemingly out of nowhere.
When I heard back from my client, he said the story was way too dark and too sad and he didn’t want to use it. My first reaction was, “Huh?”
Then I felt hurt
Then I got defensive
Then I started thinking, “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
The problem was, my client didn’t give me a lot of notes to go on; only that it was “too dark” and “too sad.” Sometimes a client responds negatively to a video but they can’t accurately explain why, so it’s up to you, the Producer, to figure it out (By the way, a while back I posted a video to my YouTube channel about best practices on critiquing marketing videos and how to provide your video production team with actionable items):
So, like a football coach the day after my underdog opponent pulled the upset, I reviewed the game footage to see what went wrong. I was left to my own devices to figure out how I could salvage this one and make my client happy.
From a story structure standpoint, the video in question was no different than all the others I produced for him.
Emotionally, I thought the video hit on all the right ups and downs and paralleled the emotional beats from previous videos. Sure, there were somber moments, but those emotional valleys only heightened the positive outcome at the end of the story.
Boy, this was a head-scratcher. I rewatched the video several times before it finally hit me: the issue wasn’t with the story or the emotional beats, but with the way in which the main interview subject told her story.
This individual told a personal story in a very matter-of-fact way, so any emotional sound bite I used in the piece didn’t feel authentic. For example, she would say she was happy, but her facial expressions, vocal tone, and body language didn’t convey it. She just never really got emotional in her interview, regardless of whether she was speaking about something negative or positive. It was the perceived inauthenticity of my main subject that created the issue.
To solve this problem, I went back through the edit and just let the interview subject tell the story without any editorial commentary about how she felt in the moment. I removed any sound bites that were editorial or emotional in nature. And you know what? It worked. The client changed his mind, loved what I did, I was willing to run with it.
The traffic jam had parted and I was back in business.
Yes, it can be difficult for creatives not to get defensive over their work when someone is critical.
“Is it too much to ask that everyone love every video I produce without any criticisms whatsoever?!”
Yes, that would make the job a lot easier, but that’s incredibly naive. Plus, I’ve learned over the years that criticism will help you become a stronger video producer. You will learn how to more objectively examine your own work and see things you might not have noticed before. Ultimately though, when it comes to works-for-hire, I think you have to be willing to let go of that feeling of ownership. Because it isn’t about you. It’s about what the client likes and what the client thinks is best for their needs. In those situations, if you’re willing to let go, you will free yourself (mostly) of frustration and can enjoy the road trip ahead, whatever traffic jams come your way.