There'sanoldsayinginproduction:good,fast,cheap—picktwo.

Mostclientshearitandtreatitaseitherajokeorahardballnegotiationtactic.It'sneither.It'sadescriptionofphysicalreality,likegravity.Ignoringitdoesn'tmakeitstopapplying.Itjustmeansyouexperienceitasaseriesofunpleasantsurprisesinsteadofaplanned-fortrade-off.

Theclientswhotakethetriangleseriouslymakebettervideosforlessmoneyinlesstimethantheclientswhodon't.Notbecausethey'relucky,butbecausetheymadeonechoiceconsciously,atthestart,insteadofthreechoicesaccidentallyoversixweeks.

Thisisthemostimportantconversationyou'llhaveaboutyourproject.Mostproductioncompanieswon'tpushyoutohaveitbecausepushingonitfeelsconfrontational.Soclientsarrivehavingimplicitlyaskedforallthree—andlearnthelessontheexpensiveway.Here'showtoskipthat.

Thetriangle,definedhonestly

Thecatchphrase"good,fast,cheap—picktwo"soundssimpleenoughthatmostpeoplenodandmoveon.Theyshouldn't,becauseeachaxismeanssomethingmorespecificinvideothanthecatchphraseimplies.

Goodisn'tavaguegestureatquality.Invideoproduction,"good"isthreethingsatonce:craft(howtheworklooksandsounds),scope(howambitioustheideais),andexecution(howwellit'sallpulledoff).Youcanhavehighcraftonalow-scopeidea—abeautifullyshotstaticinterviewis"good"inarealsense.Youcanalsohavelowcraftonahigh-scopeidea—adozenlocations,adozenactors,alllookingflatandrushed.The"good"axisistheentirecreativeceiling,notjustthepolishontop.

Fastismorethananumberonacalendar.Ashortertimelinemeansasmallerpoolofavailablecrew(thebestpeoplearebookedweeksout),anarrowerselectionoflocations(theonesthatdon'trequireapermittingcycle),lesspreptime(whichraisesthecostofeveryproblemyoudiscoveronset),andzeromarginforreshootsifsomethinggoeswrong.Theclockisn'tjustaboutadeliverydate.It'sabouttheentireuniverseofoptionsthatclosesasyoucompresstheschedule.

Cheapisalsomorethanadollarnumber.Thebudgetdetermineswhatcamerasyoucanafford—acreativedecision.Itdeterminescrewsize,whichdetermineswhatkindsofshotsarephysicallypossible.Itdetermineshowmanydaysyoucanshoot,whichdeterminescoverage.Itdetermineshowmuchpost-productiontimeyouhave,whichdetermineshowmuchrescueworktheeditorcandoforproblemsonset.Moneyisn'tjustapricetag.It'sthesubstrateeverycreativedecisionsitson.

Sothetriangleisn'treallygood/fast/cheap.It'screativeambition/timeavailable/resourcesavailable—threecoupledvariablesthatphysicallyconstraineachother.Pushone,theothersmove.Therearenoexceptionsandthereisnocleverworkaround.Thetriangleisthelaw.

Whateachcombinationactuallyproduces

Thereasonthetrianglemattersisthateachpairproducesaspecifickindofvideo.Knowingwhichkindyou'remakingisthemostusefulplanningdecisionyoucanmake.

Good+Fast(andthereforeexpensive)

Therushjobdonewell.Youhaveaharddeadline—aproductlaunch,atourannouncement,acampaigndate—andyoualsoneedittobeexcellent.Thetriangletellsyouexactlywhatthisrequires:moremoney,deployedtobuythethingsspeednormallytakesaway.Morecrew,somultiplethingshappeninparallel.Alargerlocationbudget,soyoucangetapermittedspacesame-week.Abiggerpostteam,soediting,color,andsoundrunconcurrentlyinsteadofsequentially.Thepremiumisn'tarbitrary.It'stheliteralcostofcompressingtimewithoutlosingquality.

Thisisalegitimatechoiceandsometimestherightone.Alabelwillpay1.5xtodeliveramusicvideothedayofreleaseratherthantwoweekslate.Abrandwillpaydoubletoshipacampaignbeforeacompetitor's.Thetriangleisn'ttellingyounottodoit.It'stellingyouwhatitcoststoactuallypullitoff.

Good+Cheap(andthereforeslow)

Thepatientproject.Frankly,theonethatproducesthebestworkmostoften.

Whenyouhavetime,youdon'tneedtothrowmoneyatproblems.Youcanwaitfortherightweather.Youcanshootovermultipledaysasopportunitiesemerge.Youcanrewritethetreatmentthreetimes.Youcanfindthelocationthroughactualscoutingratherthanrentals.Youcanedit,sitwiththecutforaweek,andrecut.

Most"iconic"musicvideosandshortfilmsweremadeonthisaxis.Notbecausethedirectorswerebroke,butbecausetheywerepatient.Theconstraintthatproducesthebestcraftisusuallytimeabundance,notmoneyabundance.Youcanfixalmostanythinginpost-productionexceptamissingperformance—andperformancescomefrompreparation,whichcomesfromtime.

Thetrade-off:youcannotpromiseadate.Ifyourreleaseplandependsonaspecificdeliverywindow,thisisn'tthelane.

Fast+Cheap(andthereforenotverygood)

Thedisposablecontentpiece.Nothingwrongwithitaslongasyoulabelitcorrectly.Socialcutdowns,behind-the-scenesreels,weeklycontentdrops—thesedon'tneedtobe"good"inthehigh-craftsense.Theyneedtobeappropriate:clear,on-brand,andshippedontime.

Themistakeclientsmakehereisaskingforafast-and-cheapdeliverablewhilequietlyexpectinggood-and-fastresults.That'swherethesystembreaks.Ateamcanmakecompetentfast-and-cheapcontentallday.Theycannotmakeabrandfilminaweekfor$5,000,andthemoreyoupushthemtotry,theworsetheresultwillbe—becausethey'llcutcornersonthethingsyoucan'tsee(prep,casting,sound,color)inordertodeliverthethingsyoucan(footage,length,fileformat).

Ifyougenuinelyneedfast-and-cheap,askforfast-and-cheapandrespecttheworkforwhatitis.Ifyouneedsomethingbetterthanthat,thetriangletellsyouexactlywhichotheraxishastogive.

Whyclientsignorethetriangle

Almosteveryonearrivesataprojecthavingimplicitlychosenallthree.Theywantthebrandfilmoftheirdreams,inthreeweeks,for$15,000.Theyaren'tlyingorbeingunreasonable.They'vejustneveractuallyexaminedwhatthey'reaskingfor,becausenoonemadethem.

Threereasonsthishappens.Beingawareofthemishalfthebattle.

Anchoringonexamples

Aclientseesamusicvideotheyloveandthinks,Iwantonelikethat.Theyhavenoideaittooksixmonthsandcost$400,000.Theyseetheresultandassumetheresultistheaskingprice.Thereferencethey'reusingisn'tacomparable.It'sanaspirationwiththebudgetinvisible.

Misunderstandingwhatproductionteamscanabsorb

Manyclientsbelieve—reasonablyenough—thatagoodproductioncompanyshouldbeableto"makeitwork."Thisistrueuptoapointanddangerouspastit.Askilledteamcanabsorba10%scopemismatchthroughgritandoverwork.Theycannotabsorba200%mismatch,andtryingproducesanexhaustedcrew,astrainedrelationship,andavideonobodyoneithersideisproudof.Askingtheproductionteamtoviolatethetriangleonyourbehalfisn'tafavor.It'ssettingthemuptodeliverworkthey'dnormallyrefusetoputtheirnameon.

Fearoftheconversation

Alotofclientssensethatthetriangleisrealbutavoidmakingthetrade-offexplicitbecauseitfeelslikeadmittingdefeat.They'dratherhopeitworksoutthannamewhatthey'resacrificing.Thisproducestheworstoutcomesofall.Thetrade-offhappensregardless—youjustdon'tgettochoosewhichaxistakesthehit.

Thehiddencostsofpretending

Whenclientstrytobreakthetriangle,thecostshowsupsomewhere.It'sworthknowingwhere,becausethedisplacementispredictable.

Coststhatgetdisplacedintopost

Whenpre-productionisrushedorunderfunded,theproblemsshowupintheedit.Badcoveragecansometimesberescuedwithcreativecutting.Badaudiocanbepatchedwithsounddesign.Badlightingcanbepartiallyfixedincolorgrade.Noneofthesepatchesarefree,andallofthemareworsethanshootingitright.Adayskippedinprepbecomesaweekaddedinpost.

Coststhatgetdisplacedintotherelationship

Ateambeingaskedtodeliverimpossibleworkabsorbsthedifferenceineveningsandweekends.Theywilldeliver,usually.Theywillalsoneverwanttoworkwithyouagain,andtheywilltellotherproductioncompaniesintheircirclethatyou'readifficultclient.Reputationeffectsintheproductionworldarestrongerthanpeoplerealize.ThecrewyoutreatwellonTuesdayrecommendsyoutoadirectoronFriday.

Coststhatgetdisplacedintotheworkitself

Whenthetriangleisviolatedandthere'snowhereelseforthecosttogo,itgetspaidbythevideo.Performancesaren'tdirectedbecausetherewasn'ttime.Thewronglocationisusedbecausetherightonecouldn'tbecleared.AB-tierDPishiredbecausetheA-tieronewasbooked.Theaudiencedoesn'tseeanyofthesedecisionsasdecisions.Theyjustexperiencetheresultasforgettablework.

Thisisthepartworthtakingseriously.Thetriangleisn'tabudgetexercise.It'sthedifferencebetweenavideopeoplerememberandavideopeoplescrollpast.

Whattakingthetriangleseriouslyactuallylookslike

Theclientswhogetgreatworkforfairmoneyandreasonabletimelinesaredoingsomethingspecific.Theyarepickingtheirtwoaxesconsciously,inthefirstconversation,beforeanytreatmentiswrittenoranyquoteissigned.

Itsoundslikethis:

WehaveaharddeadlineofApril15.Weneedthistobeexcellent—it'stheleadsingle.Weunderstandthatmeansweneedtoinvestatthetopofourrange.Telluswhatexcellentlookslikeatthattimelineandwhatbudgetthatrequires.

Orthis:

Wehaveaflexibletimeline—sixmonths—butourbudgetisfirmat$25,000.Wewantthebestpossiblevideowecanmakeatthatnumber.We'rewillingtowaitfortherightpiecestocometogether.

Orthis:

Weneedtenshortpiecesofcontentpermonthforourchannel.Weknowtheydon'thavetobecinematic.Theyhavetobeon-brandandon-time.Helpussetupasystemthatdeliversfastandcheapwithouttryingtobemorethanitis.

Eachoftheseisalegitimate,productivestartingpoint.Eachonetellstheproductionteamexactlywhichaxistheyhavepermissiontooptimizeforandwhichoneislocked.Eachoneproducesadifferentkindofproject,andallthreeofthemproducegoodwork—forthekindofworktheyare.

Whatdoesn'tworkisaskingforallthree.Whatalsodoesn'tworkisrefusingtocommittoapositionandforcingtheproductionteamtoguess.Thetriangleisgoingtogetitstributeonewayoranother.Theonlychoiceiswhetheryoumakethetrade-offintentionallyorhaveitmadeforyou.

Theclientswewanttoworkwithmostaretheoneswhounderstandthis.Notbecausethey'reeasy,butbecausetheyunderstandthemediumthey'recommissioning.Theyknowwhat'shard,theyknowwhatcostswhat,andtheyknowthataskingtherightquestionatthestartsavesamonthofpainlater.

Picktwo.Meanit.Buildtheprojectaroundit.

Everythinggoodfollowsfromthere.

TriptychStudiosworkswithartists,brands,andlabelsonvideoandfilmprojectsofallsizes.Ifyou'rescopingaprojectandwantasecondpairofeyesonwhichtwoaxesarerightforwhatyou'retryingtomake,getintouch.