You can get stuck in a sort of bubble when you’re working especially when you’re working by yourself or with the same couple people. It’s easy to get comfortable; to compliment and boost each others egos. Which feels good but it doesn’t help you step up your game.

You’re not going to get better unless you ask for feedback on your work. Everyone isn’t going to give you feedback or give you feedback that you want to hear. When it’s good and constructive criticism it can be an incredible motivator in helping you to improve. I know I want to do the best work I can and I’m sure everyone else wants that too. I doubt any of us really want to do mediocre work. So when we’re given advice on how we can improve the quality of our work, it is typically embraced because its a motivating force that can only make us do better.

Whether the feedback is good or bad, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Even when it’s bad, it only stings for a minute.

So, go ahead, ask for feedback and use it as an opportunity to get better!

I’m sure we’ve all sent a rough cut to a client before and the feedback we’ve received hasn’t been the best. “What is this?” or “This isn’t What We Expected,” are never words you want to hear. At LooseKeys  our clients are often people who run businesses or startups and not people necessarily familiar with all that goes into the creation of a video. 

 People who work in video or film, tend to toss around phrases that aren’t always widely known outside of our industry; terms like rough cut, styleframes, and codecs. People outside our circle might not be familiar with them. I know I’m not familiar with banker terms like M&A, LBO and below the bar. 

As creative people, we tend to get upset when others, especially clients don’t understand our vision or process. You have to take the time to educate and inform them on what they are seeing, otherwise you’re going to work yourself up and out of frustration end up freaking out on the client. 

So what’s a rough cut?

A rough cut is one of the first steps in putting together a video, this is the first phase where the project starts to resemble a real video and not just a bunch of random pieces. Typically rough cuts will still undergo many changes before the final. If you’re working with video, assembling a rough cut is a time consuming process; you have to go through all the footage trying to figure out what is the best and in what general sequence it should all go in. You typically go through many versions of rough cuts before you get to the fine cut and are near completing the video. A rough cut is really just the first step in the editorial process, there are many more changes that can and will be made.

Since most of the videos at LooseKeys are animated, our rough cuts are typically very advanced animatics. All the movements of the characters might not be in place but the pieces are there to make sure the scenes are working and flowing together. 

No matter what you show the client, make sure you’re happy with it and assume that they are looking at this video like it is the final. If there are changes that need to be made let your client know. Give them a list of things you’ll be fixing or doing. It helps to signal to them that this isn’t the final cut and you’re still working on it.  If you get bad feedback on a rough cut, remember to breathe and take a moment and try to understand that sometimes it will take a while before the client understands that this is a process. 

There is nothing worse than nearing the completion of a project and then having the client say it’s all wrong. This recently happened to me and had me bummed for a couple days. I thought my concept was spot on, they were approving elements along the way and seemed to like where it was headed. Then just as I was getting close to wrapping the whole project up I started to get some odd feedback and it all came down to them not liking what I had done.

There are a couple ways to handle something like this; you can either say this is what you approved and this is what I did, now pay me. Or you can suck it up and try to make the client happy, figure out what went wrong and re-do the work.

Most people will tell you that the client was wrong and that they need to pay to have this video re-done. They were the ones who approved the video at every stage and it’s their fault for not communicating any issues they had, they should of said something sooner. It’s easy to be on that side when it’s not your project and not your client. 

Instead I’ve gone with option two here. Setting my pride aside and realizing that maybe this was my fault; I was pushing for a concept and style that wasn’t right for them from the beginning. There is a chance that I was ignoring thoughts and concerns from the client all along because I felt that I knew best. I’ve been doing explainer videos for years, of course I know what’s right and there is no way the client has any idea of what will work. I’ve put countless hours into this creative approach and there is no way this isn’t working. What’s funny is this has happened before and I told myself to make sure I try to stay positive when getting this sort of negative feedback. 

So here I go now re-doing a video, doing twice the amount of work. There is no sense in burning the bridge here. The client isn’t unreasonable and isn’t a hell client by any means, we just weren’t on the same page. So I can eat the extra cost and time involved on this one. I’d rather have the client walk away with a video they love and want to show off instead of one that they never use and would rather work with Satan than me and my team again. I’m putting aside the pride on this one and I know that what we put together now is only going to be that much better. 

Just because someone is envious of you, disagrees with you or doesn’t like what you do, does not necessarily mean that their views are wrong and that you can’t learn anything from them. No one likes being told what they’re doing sucks or that their ideas are no good. At the same time, you don’t want a bunch of yes men hanging around you all the time saying how great you are. If everyone is just there saying how great you are then how are you going to get better? You need someone to give you feedback and to be critical of what you’re doing. I can’t make everyone happy but I want to be told if there is a way I could be doing something better or differently to make something look its best. I don’t know all the answers and I’m more then happy to take feedback, no matter how harsh it might be.

That’s why I always try to listen to the people who are criticizing what I’m doing. I might not agree, but I’m listening.

There are a lot of people out there that for no good reason, maybe jealousy or unhappiness who are out to get you, put you down or hold you back. There’s a fine line between feedback and hating. Sometimes you just have to try to sift through people’s envy and bad intentions toward you for the valuable criticism. The truth is, haters are good at pointing out our weaknesses precisely because they are being critical, unlike our supporters. As much as we don’t want to admit it, sometimes the haters are right.

Take the criticisms where you can but don’t let it knock you down, come back stronger and better.

Openness has become an important way I work and live. I share a lot about what I’m working on and where I’m working at. Since I am often working on projects alone it’s great to use the community online to get feedback on designs or ideas I might be struggling with. Being able to share allows me to get feedback quickly to see if this idea is working and what’s not. What I might think is a great and new idea might be dumb and a copy of something else out there. You need an outside point of view to critique and make sure you’re creating the best work possible. If someone is able to point this out to me before I spend too much time with it, I’m able to adjust before too much time and energy was spent on a bad idea. When an idea or style gets positive feedback, it can feel good knowing that I’m on to something and on the right path. Of course whatever I share I make sure never to give out much sensitive information on projects; a client wouldn’t like all their secrets exposed. Instead I share just enough to give a tease and get some initial feedback. With the speed at which work is watched and copied. Why not share early to make sure you’re creating the best work for the client?

I’ve had my fair share of phone calls with clients in which I feel frustrated or upset and even some who make me want to yell. When I hang up the phone, I take some time to cool down and then tackle the changes. Maybe blowing off some steam by yelling or by venting to someone can help make you feel better but most of the time it just gets me more frustrated about the project. That’s wasted energy that could’ve been used in just dealing with what needed to get done. Certainly I can have my own thoughts on if the comments were right or wrong but those quick knee jerk reactions will only lead to more problems with the client and the project. Bruce Lee said “a quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.” After a rough call with a client, take a minute and breathe. If you give it a few moments and give those comments some time to set in, you’ll be better equipped to deal with what needs to get done. In business you need adapt with what your clients and customers toss at you and try to learn to keep your feelings in check, no matter how right you might be.