Red Orchid Productions offers “Creative Services” related to Video Production, Motion Graphics and Branding. We are based out of Kearney Nebraska and service the areas of Grand Island, Hastings, Lincoln, Omaha and beyond:)
What Are Creative Services?
“Creative Services” are a subsector of the creative industries, a part of the economy that creates wealth by offering creativity for hire to other businesses. – Wikipedia
The “Creative Industries” have been seen to become increasingly important to economic well-being, proponents suggesting that “human creativity is the ultimate economic resource,” (Florida 2002, p. xiii) and that “the industries of the twenty-first century will depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation,” (Landry & Bianchini 1995, p. 4). – Wikipedia
Creating unique and engaging content requires much more then technical knowledge of gear and software. The term Creative Services is helpful in understanding where value is created and what is being charged for. In film or video production this process is called Pre-Production but in reality this describes the activity that holds all of what we do together. It starts long before we start shooting, informs all of our actions and invades our dreams.
We hold up Creative Services to serve as a reminder that who we are is fundamentally a studio that adds value by being creative… as opposed to just completing a product.
What Creative Services Means For You?
We offer Creative Services that are related to Video / Film / Motion Graphics. This means that we are involved with many disciplines and crafts, but not all, and we do not encompass all of the creativity that may be needed for marketing or designing your project. However, we absolutely want to be involved in bringing all of these elements together. And where we need help we would love to be a part of the team that works out the creative problem.
This means that when you hire us you get more than a video camera and an editor. You get all our passion and artistry, and our help in creatively solving your branding or communication needs. Creativity does not live in a vacuum… graphic design needs to influence motion graphics and your videos can and many times should be influenced by your web design and vice versa. Video Production is often a place where all of these elements have to co exist so it is also a great opportunity to help push the creative to a new level in other areas as well.
It means quite frankly that we may challenge you to think differently about how your project looks or what you really need to be effective. This is because we view our job to be first and foremost to add value to the world around us through creativity, and not just to provide the service of video assembly.
It also means that we would love to be involved as early in the process as possible :) We want to be involved in the concept stage, perhaps before you even know how the project might need to look. When we work together to solve the problem we can come up with some wonderful ideas, and likely add value to the project that was not imagined before.
Picking a Creative Studio
Creativity is absolutely a process it involves communication and openness to change. It is often said that Creativity is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. So success involves the creative being willing to fight to have the time, energy and resources to do the job well. What causes that small, but oh so important, inspiration will change per project. And the road to the final iteration is often winding and may lead to many dead ends. Over time the “Creative Muscles” are strengthened. But still the fight for the creative is to push even harder for quality. Remember that our job is to add value through creativity and this, by definition, is a moving target.
The best creative service providers will challenge you. This is not the kind of industry that thrives by providing a set service over and over again. If that is what you want you will find many providers that will offer that. But a great Creative Services provider will likely challenge you to give them more time to work on the next project, or a bit more budget for the next video production. For us this is not about an “up-sell” or “cash-cow” this is about artistic excellence and adding value to our world trough creativity. If you expect this push, you can appreciate it for what it is and use it to your advantage ;)
The Value of Creative Services in Nebraska
By positioning our studio in Nebraska we feel that we can provide a unique value to both our friends and neighbors in Nebraska but also to anyone seeking our services. For Nebraska we can offer an eminent high level of production and creative that, in our opinion, has not been available to the area. This means more involved creative, being able to make iterations and changes much faster than getting feedback to a distant studio.
To all our clients our position in Nebraska means that our overhead and cost of operating are greatly reduced. To us this means that we can devote more of our budget to creativity and less to overhead… that is a win for everyone.
What Next?
Brainstorm:
We offer a brainstorm and presentation of options for free. So there is no obligation to find out what is possible. If you fill out a creative brief (which is just a form that gives us information about your needs and helps us understand how we can add value through creativity) we will get some ideas together of how we might help and present them to you. This will include general ideas of what the project would look like and how much it should cost. If you give us the green light and the retainer (the retainer is funding us through the creative process) we will start working on the next stage.
Pre-Production:
The next stage is where will work with you to refine the scope of the project and the creative solution. This is “Pre-Production” and is where much of the 99% perspiration happens in solving your problem. Let’s be honest here… as we work together the scope of the project might change. The projected cost might go up or down. Perhaps the whole concept will change. But don’t worry… as creative people we can get excited about possibilities, but if the reality needs to be on a smaller scale this is also the time to re-work to fit the budget. At the end of this stage we will agree on the final scope of project and as long as we do not agree later to change that scope – the final price is set. There will be no more expenses unless we do something outside the scope of this project.
Production:
When we enter Production we start the work of bringing into reality the ideas we have been working on. This might mean Video Production, Motion Graphics elements, Graphic Design. It may mean collaborating with other creative service providers or locations and talent. Changes in the creative product will still happen here but they will now be guided by all the work we did in Pre-Production.
Post-Production:
In Post-Production we polish the raw elements we gathered in preparation into the end result. Again changes in what exactly this looks like still will need to happen as the process of inspiration and perspiration continues but now this is supported or sparked by the creativity that has already happened.
Keeping Creative Services Agile
Hopefully it is clear why we want to be involved as soon as possible. These phases may seem separated but really it is just describing one interrelated process. This is a bit like a train building steam. It is extremely important to give it a start in the best direction possible. As the process continues it becomes harder and harder to change directions.
We believe that our experience in all of these phases is a great asset. Being a smaller studio means that we avoid the problems of departments not talking well together and the creative process remains more fluid and adaptable throughout the project. We are continually trying to tweak our process to get and give meaningful feedback faster so that we can adapt our course more quickly. This gives us maximum quality control and also maximum agility.
Check out our work:
There is no better test of a creative studio then to see their final product. Our portfolio is growing all the time with the creative solutions we have made for clients. Many of them include Case Studies where we explain some of the creative workflow that lead to the final product. This can give you some insight into the process and what it is like to work with us.
Of course, there is nothing like looking at your situation creatively. If you are ready to check out the possibilities please fill out a creative brief and let’s see where it goes :) Like we said we do not charge for this and it is a great way to both get a feel for the cost of a project and what we are like to work with in creative services. If you want to get to know us more first you can also check out our blog or read our bios:)
