Sebastian's Note: Lee did a GiveGetWin deal a while back that was very popular, and people loved the advice on audience building. He graciously agreed to share more insights with us on making quality media, at my request.
How to Make Quality Media Online by Lee Schneider, creative director at Red Cup Agency and founder of Digital Fundraising School
If you want to be remembered a bit longer than today’s meme, your art will need to offer quality material and craft. In doing research on crowdfunding recently, I've noticed a lot of what stands out powerfully, and what does not.
Look at the videos made by Charity Water and you’ll see a consistently high level of quality, in conditions that are often pretty challenging for production. Dig a little deeper, and look into the work of Paul Pryor, who directs a lot of Charity Water’s videos. You’ll see passion, craft, and technical perfection in every one.
If your video has technical issues, like hard-to-see images or hard-to-hear audio, it’s going to make it hard for people to get with your program. After a couple of decades of documentary and film production experience, I can tell you that your viewers and listeners don’t understand why they dislike your material if the technical quality is poor. They will just say they didn’t like your video. They won’t know why.
I remember finishing up a large-scale documentary for A&E. We had spent months on it, scripting, shooting, editing. We hired a composer who created a score especially for the film. I screened the final cut and, proud as could be, asked everyone in the audience, ‘hey, what did you think of the music?’ They said, ‘What music?’ I asked them what they thought of the narration, because we had hired a well-known actor. They said, ‘What narration?’
I was even more proud after that.
It's a good place to reach -- where the technical elements didn’t stand out, and became part of the whole experience. Remember that the audience will experience your work holistically. That's a big piece of advice I'd give you: when aiming for timeless content, look to make it into an entire holistic experience where the details fade away.
Lee's Digital Fundraising School starts on September 18th. It teaches how to crowdfund projects successfully. The first session is free and Lee is an excellent and veteran teacher.