Too Much Content. Not Enuff Editing

There is a goldmine of content that is stored in the memories of your phone. The candle lit date on the water, vacation in Mexico at the all inclusive resort, or that over priced gym that you try to make it to. All might be places you have captured a unique memory. Then why are these golden memories being limited with the audience who you share it with? Simply put, people don’t really care. Your mom, your co-worker your bestie are going to care but the rest of us don’t because you are not telling a great story.

In 2024 we are all amateur filmmakers/photographers with the possibility of becoming pros. The video/photography quality of our phone’s paired with the accessibility that we have to create content gives all of us an opportunity to become highly efficient filmmakers and photographer’s. Your understanding of how to construct a compelling story is what will always separate your content from the next creator.

One simple clear message. This candle lit date on the water was awful, let me explain why. Vacationing in Mexico gave me the reset I needed. I’m not sure if this gym is worth the money I’m spending. When my message is clear then I’m able to build content that only supports that message.

Beginnings will always be the hardest. Come to accept this, love this and most importantly embrace this. After I film for a client, the first thing I do is look through all the footage and take my time. This is pretty tedious at times but an extremely important part of the process of finding that golden gem. As I’m looking through everything…I am listening to what may stick out, what my audience may find interesting. What is the one simple message I want to deliver. For example, I worked with a Juice company and the owner said something that really stuck out to me. He said “I’m a juice doctor” the moment I heard that I knew I had the introduction of the story. Now I have a single focus on the footage that I’m looking through and everything I edit will be in support of my client looking like a Juice Doctor.

Patiently go through all your footage with an open mind, when you find that piece of content that you feel your audience will be drawn to then build a simple clear concise message around that. Keep mining that gold that is buried in your phone but don’t forget to create a practice of editing that gold with a simple clear message.