How to send a video update instead of booking a meeting

When is a video update better than a meeting?

A video update is better when you mainly need to show and tell, and people can answer in their own time.

• People are in different time zones, or just busy at different times.
• It's mostly information: progress, a change of plan or a handover.
• There's a lot to show visually: a timeline, a shot list or a plan is easier to follow on screen than in an email.
• They'll want to go back to it, like a brief before a shoot.
• Several people need the same update, and a meeting would cost each of them an hour.
• It's a prelude to a meeting. Send it first, so everyone arrives on the same page and the meeting itself is shorter.

In post-production, that might be a progress update for a client mid-edit, showing the scenes that are cut and what's next; a brief for a crew before a shoot, talking through the shot list and the locations; or a handover message before you go on leave. Outside it: a weekly team update, a project status for a client, or a decision explained to people who weren't in the room.

Book the meeting instead when you need a real back-and-forth, when the conversation is a sensitive one, or when it's your first conversation with a new client.

What should a video update cover?

A video update should cover four things, in this order, and stay short. Here's an outline you can adapt:

Where we are: the first half of the edit is cut, up to the market scene.

What's changed: we've dropped the hotel interview, because the story works better without it.

What's next: the second half this week, and a first full cut on Friday.

What I need from you: the logo files and the final music licence by Wednesday.

Put the last part, what you need and by when, in the description as well, so it's seen even by someone who doesn't watch to the end.

How do you record and send it?

How to record a video walkthrough covers every step in detail; this is the short version.

1. Open what you're updating them on: the timeline, the shot list or a plan.
2. In SceneNote, choose New project, then Record screen. Put the date in the title, like “Update, 29 October”.
3. Record the four parts. If it runs past a couple of minutes, add a chapter for each.
4. Write the description with your ask, turn comments on, and send the link.

How do people reply?

People reply by pausing and leaving a note at the moment they want to answer, and you reply under it. Nobody needs an account.

• Questions land on the moment. “Which logo files?” sits right on the bit where you asked for them.
• Everyone sees the same thread. One link works for the whole group, so people see each other's questions instead of asking the same one twice.
• You hear about new notes by email, and in the bell in SceneNote.
• They can answer by email. If they've switched on email alerts, replying to SceneNote's email puts their answer under the note.

On Pro, viewer activity shows who's watched it, so you know who's seen the update before you chase anyone.

What does this look like on a real project?

Bryn NorthFilmmaker and creative director, since 2013 · SceneNote team

I wanted to show a client a few ways we could take the edit. It wasn't a decision they could make on the spot in a call, so I recorded my screen instead. I was in the middle of editing, so I didn't have to wait for anyone. I did it while it was on my mind, and 30 minutes later I'd sent them the review link and carried on editing.

I showed my timeline with a few options for shots and directions for the story, which was much easier to do from inside my editor. They had time to watch it and talk it over before our next meeting, so by the time we met, we had answers and I could act on them straight away.

I also added a few polls in the review room, one for each decision, so they could vote on a direction. That's the beauty of a poll: instead of a blank canvas, I give them, say, three directions I know are actually doable, and they choose. It's easier for them, and I don't end up explaining why their idea isn't possible.

How to handle common problems

Nobody watches it

Keep it short, say your ask in the first few seconds, and put it in the description. A clear question (“Can you approve the music by Wednesday?”) gets watched sooner than “here's an update”.

It turns into a back-and-forth in the notes

That's a sign it needed a conversation. Book a short call to settle it, then post what you agreed as a note, so it's on record.

There's a new update every week

Record a new one each time, with the date in the title. On the free plan, each recording counts towards your 2 uploaded projects at a time, so delete older updates once nobody needs them.

FAQ

What's the simplest way to replace a status meeting with a video?

Record a few minutes covering where things are, what's changed, what's next and what you need, put the ask in the description, and send one link with comments on. People reply at the moment, in their own time.

Related guides

Bryn North

Filmmaker and creative director · part of the team behind SceneNote

Bryn North is a filmmaker and creative director who has been making films since 2013, mostly documentaries and travel films, with a soft spot for stories about cultural heritage. He has directed, shot and edited launch films for DJI, worked with brands like Audi and Samsung and with a number of tourism boards, and some of his personal travel films have had millions of views. Working with a new client almost every month, he found that most of the job was communication, and that every client gave feedback differently. SceneNote is his answer: one simple way for clients to leave detailed notes and talk them through.

More guides by Bryn →