Media departments love gear.  They drool over catalogues filled with digital sound consoles, HD video cameras, editing software, LED stage lighting, 3D-ready projectors, etc.

Here at Creative Animation, we do the same thing.  We love it.

But while technology continues to advance, amaze and astound, the role of the storyteller continues to trump all, and it’s something that producers continually have to be reminded of.

From time to time, our video production teams will be involved with some kind of technology-driven event or video forum, and it is astounding at how top-heavy the conversations are.  They’re all about gear.   Which camera, with how many chips, using which compression, recording to which drive, edited by which software, exported with which codec and delivered on what kind of final media.

Almost no conversations revolve around the man or woman who manipulates all of these fancy toys.  Everyone is either too focused on frame rates and projector lumens, or they simply assume that anyone with a tool belt must obviously be an able carpenter.

I met a guy at a conference in Oklahoma City who was elated to inform us that he had shot his entire capital campaign video on an iPhone.  I’ll admit that I blanched at the notion, but in the months after that encounter, I found myself smiling.  Certainly, it’s nothing I would ever recommend for any kind of professional-level video production.  However, I’ve seen producers with $25,000 cameras shoot and edit projects that fail to capture the mind and heart, and I have seen novices with webcams put things on YouTube that go viral because they’re so compelling.

Certainly, we’re in the quality business.  But (call me jaded if you will), I’d take a talented, knowledgeable storyteller with a $500 consumer “rig” over a big money media team that is ham-handed with the nuances of editing, lighting, music and graphics.

The ticket is to incorporate the best elements of both – the painter and the brushes, the tools and the talent.  And when the catalogues come filled with the latest and greatest, you’ll have the most important asset – the storyteller – already in place.