I love movies – watching movies, going to the movie theater and, perhaps most of all, quoting movie lines. There’s nothing like a relevant movie quote to sum up any situation. Nearly every question can be answered with a line from Forrest Gump, The Godfather or Elf. You know, the classics.
Movie fanatics around the world are developing more creative ways when looking to access blocked sites providing such content. One method they frequently use is through a Pirate proxy which will allow them to download the files they want. Meanwhile, most people will likely want to go about watching such things in the normal way but simply knowing about such sites, at least, can’t hurt.
Digital asset management (DAM) is no exception. So many DAM tips and concepts can be summed up with a great movie line. For example, a DAM makes it easy for your team members and stakeholders to find the right photo or video for a project because every asset is accessible in one centralized place. In the words of Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
DAM lets you say goodbye to all those piled up hard drives.
And the time to invest in DAM is now – if you put off getting organized, the problem will only continue to grow (what our CEO Andrew Fingerman calls, the visual content apocalypse).
Still not convinced there’s a movie line for every DAM situation?
That’s why I’ve put together this list of the best DAM movie lines – the best movie lines to talk you through how to improve your brand’s workflow with digital asset management. Grab the popcorn, cue the Cinema Paradiso soundtrack and enjoy the show!
“Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.” – Chinatown
This classic line from Roman Polanski’s Chinatown might sum up how you’re feeling if your team doesn’t have a system for managing photos and videos. If your visual assets are spread out across personal computers, hard drives and the depths of email inboxes, it’s easy to throw your hands up helplessly and say to yourself, “forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.”
But, getting organized is easier than you might think, and it’s well worth the investment. Let’s get started.
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” – Jaws
Storing your visual assets across all of these platforms isn’t sustainable. Your team needs a better platform to store, organize and share your visual assets. If you’re going to solve your visual asset management problems, “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
“I’ll have what she’s having.” – When Harry Met Sally
One of the first steps to selecting a digital asset management platform is to read reviews and testimonials by your peers so you can find a system that works for your team.
As you read success stories of other brands using visual asset management to get more from their photos and videos, you might feel like that woman who sat next to Meg Ryan’s character at Katz’s Deli in When Harry Met Sally.
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” – Casablanca
Next, try out some DAM systems to get a feel for how they work for your team. Here at PhotShelter, we have a two week free trial so you can test out the system and see if it’s a fit. Take full advantage of the trial, and treat it as a head start. The right DAM for you should fit seamlessly into your workflow and solve your challenges. Then, you and your DAM can walk off into a new beginning together like Rick and Louis in Casablanca.
“Help me help you” & “Show me the money!” – Jerry Maguire
The last step is convincing your team or your boss to support you in investing in a digital asset management platform. For tips, check out our post, How to Convince Your Team to Get a DAM, and remember that the key to this conversation is to focus on results. Show everyone who doubts the value of a DAM how it could save them time and effort. “Help me help you.”
Highlight how a DAM can cut back on wasted costs, help staff members across departments save time, and empower your team members to get more return on investment from every photo and video in your visual media library. “Show me the money!
“There’s no crying in baseball.” – A League of Their Own
Once you’ve got your DAM platform and you’re ready to get started, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You’ve got a lot of assets to wrangle, and it can be a lot of pressure. That’s why DAM expert Peter Krogh’s first tip for getting started with your visual media library is, “Don’t Panic.” So, if you get overwhelmed, pick yourself up, because “there’s no crying in baseball,” or in digital asset management.
“Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” – The Godfather
Peter’s next tip for getting started with your visual media library is to start with your most valuable material so you can make the project manageable and show value early on. Prioritize. In other words, “leave the gun, take the cannoli.”
“I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” – Gone with the Wind
Once you have your library running smoothly, you can go back and start to fill in your archive material. But don’t let that bog you down now. To paraphrase Scarlett O’Hara, you don’t have to think about that today, you can think about that tomorrow.
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” – Back to the Future
Doc Brown’s final line in Back to the Future hints at the limitless potential of your visual media library.
With a cloud-based DAM, you don’t have to abide by the same rules and restrictions of server systems and hard drives. Platforms like PhotoShelter allow you to make virtual copies of an image – to store it in multiple galleries without taking up more storage space. This flexible method of organizing your content lets you tailor your library structure to any way your team might browse your galleries and collections.
“You’re a wizard, Harry.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
When you start to use your library and begin to understand the power of digital asset management, you might feel like you’re looking up at Hagrid and he’s telling you that you’re actually a wizard (and yes, I know this is technically a line from a book, then a movie).
A DAM lets you recall relevant images with a simple keyword search, like the summoning charm, “accio.” But every wizard needs a wand, and with DAM, your wand is metadata. Check out Everything You Need to Know About Metadata for Your Visual Media Library to learn about the different types of metadata and get Peter Krogh’s 7 tips for tagging your images. Then, see why custom metadata is a powerful trick for your team when you need to sort through images in a flash.
“On Wednesdays, we wear pink.” – Mean Girls
While a DAM opens the door to flexibility, it is good to have some ground rules, like “always tag images with location,” or “mark sports images with jersey color,” or “on Wednesdays, we wear pink.”
A metadata policy can keep everyone who’s adding and editing metadata to images in your library on the same page. Plus, it ensures easy searching in the future. Download a sample metadata policy document here so you can build a policy that works for your team.
“If you build it, they will come.” – Field of Dreams
Translated literally, this iconic line from Field of Dreams might mean, if you build a visual media library, your team will use it. But, I’d have to amend this one to say, “If you build it with them in mind, they will come.”
Your library needs to be set up for easy search (with metadata and a metadata policy) and intuitive browsing. Check out Peter Krogh’s tips for how to create a library structure that works for your team in How to Build Your Brand’s Photo and Video Library.
“Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.” – It’s a Wonderful Life
When it comes to rolling your new visual media library out to the rest of your team and stakeholders, take it from Clarence, the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life. His advice to George Bailey, written in a copy of Tom Sawyer, is, “Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.”
Your new system needs champions in order to succeed. Find a small group of people to test out your library structure and metadata policy first, and tweak the system based on their feedback. Then, when you’re ready to share it with the rest of the team, this small group will be your ring leaders and encourage their peers to use the new system.
“You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” – The Jazz Singer
In the first ever “talkie,” The Jazz Singer, Al Jolson rang in a new era in cinema with a song and the famous words, “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” The 1927 film showed audiences what a groundbreaking new medium could do, then reminded them, this is just the beginning.
When you’re rolling your DAM system out to your team members, focus on what will wow them. Think about how the DAM could make their lives easier, and show them features that will streamline their workflows. Remember, different features may wow different teams, so think about how you can tailor your explanation to each audience.
“It’s alive! It’s alive!” – Frankenstein
Now that your visual media library is up and running, you might feel like Dr. Frankenstein shouting, “It’s alive! It’s alive!”
And it’s important to remember just that – this system isn’t static, it’s alive. You’re adding new images and videos to your visual media library all the time, and your library should change and adapt based on the assets in it and the needs of the people who use it. Being able to change your library structure, create new galleries and collections, and grant permissions access to new people are major advantages of an adaptable DAM system.
“To infinity and beyond!” – Toy Story
Now it’s time to reap the benefits! With a powerful DAM, you can streamline workflow across teams (like Bates College), improve stakeholder access to your imagery (like Visit Greenland) and get more from every image in your library (like the Sacramento Kings). In a recent survey, the majority of Libris users said the primary benefit is that Libris empowers teams to maximize their visual media libraries.
Having easy access to your photos and videos empowers your team to take your visual assets “to infinity and beyond!”
“May the Force be with you.” – Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope
As you work on your visual media library, we hope you’ll check in here to see tips from DAM expert Peter Krogh or case studies with with brands that are seeing success with DAM. Best of luck, and “may the force be with you.”
“Now, are there any DAM questions?” – National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation
Up Next: Introducing the Fastest “Visual First” Creative Workflow from Creation to Publish
