How to Make the Most of Your Video and Photo Shoot

When organising your next content creation event it’s well worth building multi-purpose asset production into your overall strategy. In other words, ask yourself ‘How do I get the most content possible out of my next video or photo shoot?’

Answering that question is especially important for motorcycle marketers, given the expense of putting together shoots with bikes, both indoor and outdoor. It’s not all about quantity, it’s about getting the right shots for the right purpose and what works well on Instagram Stories is very different to what racks up the views on YouTube.

Video and photo shoots can quickly become costly affairs, so making the maximum use of the action once the cameras start rolling is the smart move for brand managers.

Even without the budget and reach of the big guns like Red Bull Motorsports all brands should be aiming to create engaging content. It pays dividends to carefully plan how to make your content relevant for several different channels, on your own social accounts and digital platforms, as well as those of your ambassadors, influencers and media partners.

Getting the most from your content is all about making practical decisions throughout the process, from pre-production, to production on the big day (or days) and in post-production.

Get Inspired!

The first stage of pre-production is all about getting creative, whether you’re taking inspiration from outside the motorcycle industry or you want to align your content strategy with the coolest trends you’ve seen from other bike brands and content creators.

Husqvarna's excellent story telling in the Making of the Norden 901 series, Ducati’s well-optimised, highly engaged video content on Instagram and Gray Pham’s killer social content are all excellent examples of what to aim for. The contrast between Fortnine’s quickfire TikTok content and their longer-form, beautifully produced YouTube videos is a solid example of how to create the right content for the right platform.

Pre-Production: Checklists, Shot Lists and Formats

Ahead of the shoot, in the pre-production phase, you can make creation of an expansive array of media assets a key part of your plan.

So when working through a standard pre-production checklist think about adding to that list to make the content produced go that bit further. Sprout Social keep this brilliant social media video specifications guide constantly up to date, so you can refer to it when planning the shots and cuts you want.

Write down a list of all the types of content you aim to create in terms of photos and video, from content you can produce on a mobile, to Ultra HD 4K video. Think about the equipment, videographers and photographers you’ll require in order to get what you need for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, web content, advertising assets and any additional content to send to media.

Working on a Tighter Budget?

If you’re working on a tighter budget you can still make these lists and cut your cloth accordingly in terms of filming on a mobile-only, or combining various shots from GoPro and higher quality cameras if they are part of your plan.

Even with just a smartphone (or two) you can create a big media archive from your shoot in terms of photos, GIFs, Reels, Stories, square/portrait/landscape aspect ratio content, longer videos, behind-the-scenes pieces and even interviews.

Lights, Camera, Action

When the day of filming arrives it’s good practice to make sure that everyone on set understands the production plan with a short meeting at the beginning of the shoot. It’s surprising how often this does not happen, but it’s important even if your on set crew is just two people.

If you have a large film crew present then line managers should ensure that everyone understands the plan of action for the day and how important it is to get all the key items on the shot list.

Let the Creators Create

If you are working with ambassadors or influencers give them the impetus to create content themselves, provided that doing so can be combined with the main shoot. Many influencers in the motorcycle industry are content creators themselves, so it’s productive to enable them to get the content they need for their channels to promote your brand.

If you're shooting with a rider such as Killian Moreno - a digital creator who collaborates with brands such Mosko Moto and Outback Motortek - it’s clear that he is more than competent at making his own content.

With a high-profile personality like Josh Hill - a Monster athlete and Fox Racing ambassador - he is vastly experienced at working with big production teams AND at producing his own content from large-scale shoots for major brands. When working with a rider like Hill production of multiple assets can be a really efficient two-way dynamic.

Allowing these kinds of riders some time on set for improvised shooting might give you material for several different social media publications.

Hands On or Hands Off

By contrast, if you were working with a young Moto3 rider who has never handled a camera before, you and your team would need to be in full control. If you have engaged with an agency to produce the content for you it’s important to let them work without intervening too much, provided you can see that they’ve read your brief and are working to get all the material required.

When combining content production with a media day for a new product, give your media guests controlled access for a specific period only and make arrangements for catering and editing off site so that the day is productive for you and them.

Helping Other Brands is an Investment

Part of your production process could be to produce similar shots with different partner or competitor brands being featured. Consider whether the shot needs to include or exclude specific brands, such as energy drinks, helmet manufacturers, clothing companies, tyre manufacturers and so on. If you make Monster Energy or one of their athletes look cool, they might share that content piece to their 8 million plus followers in Instagram.

The Magic of Behind-The-Scenes Content

It’s also good to allow some room for ‘natural’ content to be filmed on set, whether that’s with an additional, dedicated videographer or filmed on a mobile by approved crew members. Clearly it’s important that this does not interrupt your main production plan and often those ambient shots, b-roll, ‘the making of’ style content and the unscripted interactions that take place can hugely expand your asset library.

Deliver Content Conveniently to All Relevant Parties

Whether it’s on the day as you wrap things up, or as soon as possible after a shoot, delivering content to the relevant editors and collaborators on hard drives or through the cloud can make a big difference to the amount of material processed and then made available to publish.

The concept here is to make it as convenient and efficient as possible for your team, collaborators and contacts in the motorcycle media to review raw or edited content.

Make Post-Production Simple and Realistic

Whilst quick delivery of material can expand the timespan over which it can be published it’s also important to be realistic with post-production expectations. Forwarding cool mobile-filmed video through Telegram or WhatsApp ready for immediate social media publication is one thing, whereas content with higher quality production values takes time to create.

If you end up with a film like Meta’s beautiful Last Wilderness feature for Vahna, along with amazing photography and all the relevant teaser content they produced for social media, it’s well worth the effort.

As you can see, content creation can become an enormous project, but when resources are limited, you can make the most out of what's available.

If you need help with your video or photoshoot, or other content creation, don't hesitate to send us an email and discuss the possibilities.

Keep on reading...

Marketing Checklist for Launching Your Motorcycle Business

Marketing Checklist for Launching Your Motorcycle Business Starting a new motorcycle business is exciting-but launching without a marketing plan is like riding without a map. Whether you’re opening a new gear store, launching a motorcycle tour company, or starting a custom workshop, the success of your motorcycle business launch depends not just on your passion […]

Planning Your Winter Motorcycle Marketing Strategies

Planning Your Winter Motorcycle Marketing Strategies It might still feel like prime riding season, but now is the perfect time to start planning your winter content strategy. When the bikes go into storage and the temperatures drop, rider behaviour changes-and so should your marketing. In this blog, we’ll explore how to keep your brand relevant, […]

Motorcycle Advertising Ideas: How to Spark Creative Campaigns That Work

Motorcycle Advertising Ideas: How to Spark Creative Campaigns That Work When you’re trying to come up with great motorcycle advertising ideas, it can be tempting to jump straight into tactics: “Let’s run a Facebook ad” or “What if we made a YouTube video?” But here’s the thing-without the right thinking behind it, even the most […]