After producing commercial video for luxury brands, shooting behind-the-scenes content for the Miami Dolphins, filming celebrity portraits, and accidentally creating a viral video with over 50 million views, I have accumulated a set of production principles that I apply to every project at Biricik Media. These are not theoretical. They come from thousands of production days.
Tip 1: Scout Your Location for Light, Not Aesthetics
Most videographers scout a location to assess whether it looks good. I scout locations to understand how light moves through them. A beautiful space with terrible light will produce mediocre video. An ordinary space with extraordinary light will produce cinema.
When I scouted the Versace Mansion for our fashion editorial, I spent an entire day observing how sunlight moved through the courtyard, how it reflected off the mosaic tile, how the shadows shifted hour by hour. The resulting production schedule was built entirely around light conditions, not convenience.
Practical Application
Visit your location at the same time of day you plan to shoot. Bring a camera and capture test footage at 15-minute intervals. Study how shadows move, where hotspots appear, and when the natural light flatters the space most. Build your production schedule around those windows.
Tip 2: Treat Every Commercial as a Short Film
The most common mistake in commercial video production is treating the project as a recording rather than a film. Recordings document what is happening. Films tell a story about why it matters. The distinction is not about budget or runtime — it is about intention.
When I produce a 30-second brand spot, I approach it with the same narrative discipline I would bring to a documentary. Who is the character? What do they want? What is the emotional arc? Even if the viewer never consciously analyzes these elements, they feel the difference between content that has narrative structure and content that does not.
Tip 3: Keep Your Crew Small and Focused
At Biricik Media, production crews typically consist of three to five core members. This is deliberate. Small crews make faster creative decisions, move more efficiently between setups, and create an atmosphere of intimacy that produces more authentic performances from talent.
Large crews introduce coordination overhead, slow decision-making, and create a spectacle atmosphere on set that makes subjects self-conscious. Unless the technical requirements of the shoot demand additional personnel, lean crews produce better content.
Tip 4: Record Audio Even When You Think You Do Not Need It
Even on productions where the final deliverable is set to music or narration, I always capture ambient audio on set. Environmental sound creates a sense of presence that music alone cannot provide. The subtle sound of a fabric being arranged, footsteps on marble, wind through an open window — these details make video feel real in a way that perfectly mixed music tracks never can.
Practical Application
Always have a dedicated audio recorder or on-camera microphone capturing ambient sound. Even if it is not used in the primary edit, having the option to blend environmental audio into the final mix gives you creative flexibility in post-production.
Tip 5: Edit Ruthlessly
The difference between good video and great video is almost always what you remove, not what you add. Every second of screen time must justify its presence. If a shot does not advance the narrative, reveal character, or create an emotional response, it goes.
I personally oversee editing on every major Biricik Media production because pacing is the element most likely to be compromised when editing is delegated. The rhythm of cuts, the duration of holds, the transition between scenes — these are directorial decisions, not technical ones.
Tip 6: Color Grade for Emotion, Not Trend
Color grading trends come and go. Teal and orange. Desaturated moody. High-contrast noir. The problem with following trends is that your content will feel dated as soon as the trend passes. I color grade for the specific emotional tone of each project, using the color palette to reinforce the narrative rather than to signal stylistic currency.
Tip 7: Always Be Ready to Capture the Unexpected
My 50-million-view viral video was not planned. It happened because I was in the right mindset — camera ready, instincts engaged, attention fully present. The best production moments are often the ones that happen between setups, during breaks, or in transit. If your camera is packed away during those moments, you are missing your best material.
These principles guide every production at Biricik Media. For more insights, read about creating viral content or explore the evolution from photography to AI. Visit cemhanbiricik.com for my complete portfolio.