I Was Hired as a Videographer for a Day… And I Messed It Up
Here’s what I learned…
I am 19, at the time, and have never been out of my house for working or anything. met the Founder 1 and the Founder 2,
Founder 2 had connected me with Founder 1 for this gig.
Founder 2 Interviewed me and I aced it! He asked about branding and stuff, Ghuma phira ke question to understand the depth of my knowledge and I am consuming this stuff for breakfast so easy peezy!
look at me,
I’m 5 feet 3,
Tall, Brown and handsome,
Extrovertedness ki kami
The Brief: What Was I Supposed to Do?
I was hired to guide the recording of event footage and create content from it afterward. Simple enough, right? I thought so, too.
So, like any responsible creator/human being, I reached out to a few friends — a content writer, a strategist, and some experienced folks — to get their input on how to prepare and what to do. Their advice? “Go with the flow.”
That is the worst advice ever
Anyways
Then the day came, went to Vile Parle (where the class was and from there they booked a cab to Navi Mumbai. It was a cute and beautiful ride, still I was on the job so……. recorded the journey, took some photos in the car (I had an idea of VLOG type reel for Instagram)
The Execution: Where Things Went South
Session was starting, armed with an iPhone (provided by the client), I started recording without a proper plan. I am a fan and I wanted to make reels like that, so I started recording like that, but the session had a presentation.
- The main session was a lecture-style talk, but recording from the back made the speaker and presentation seem far away. Moving to the middle meant blocking students’ views.
- The iPhone’s camera quality was not great, so it probably needed tweaking, but I had never seen an iPhone after iPhone 10 had released, let alone using its camera.
- The battery was low, so I had to switch to my Android (which, surprisingly, performed better!). For obvious reasons! {I have been using Android for quite a while now}
- The event started with a Pooja, and there was no engaging backstage content or exciting pre-event buzz.
- The practical session was decent, but all the projects looked identical, making the footage repetitive and uninspiring.
- It was a session on robotics, and half the session was confused students sticking the wrong wires into the wrong holes. Most were successful in the end, but there wasn’t much to record. I, being a professional, took every chance to record everything, and it was mostly repetitive (at least I gave my best)
At the time, I just kept shooting, assuming “I would figure it out in Post Production”, thought every Video Editor ever!
The Aftermath: Delivering a Half-Baked Reel
When I got home and reviewed the footage, I realized I had no strong narrative to work with.
I somehow managed to stitch together a reel, but it lacked impact. The client wasn’t happy, and ultimately, they canceled the project. Ouch!
I am just happy that the client (Founder 1) or Founder 2 weren’t rude about this
Looking back, here’s what I should have done:
- Student Testimonials: Capturing reactions and experiences would have given the video an emotional angle.
- Slow-Mo Shots of Teaching Moments: Highlighting teachers guiding students could have added depth.
[People are making shrimp edits nowadays, I could have just done something with it (Ref: )]
- Behind-the-Scenes/Vlog-Style Content: The half-baked reel I did (pat on my back)
- Better Research on Social Media Trends: Understanding how similar events are covered would have given me a clearer vision.
- Clarified My Role: I initially thought I was just guiding someone else to record. Turns out, I was the one supposed to do it all. Thankfully, I brought my tripod, which ended up being a lifesaver.
(This happens a lot, people convey something, I understand something else, and I have full focus at the time, and I am listening, still this thing happens a lot, any idea how to fix this?)
PS. Now I can’t reshare this article on LinkedIn lol, Imagine HR reading this and be like “Okay, now we know, who is not the right candidate, thanks for letting us know”. 😂😂
Final Thoughts: Lessons Learned
This experience was a reality check. Even if you have the right gear and some experience, winging it is never the best approach — especially when creating professional content.
Lesson learned: Always plan, always research, and never assume things will “just work out.”
Please have some clue “I didn’t know how to research, cause I researched as well but didn’t find much, seek clarity, communicate! for example maybe in my case, I should have asked the client about competitors and expectations.
Would I take on a similar project again? Absolutely. But next time, I’ll make sure I know exactly what I’m getting into.
