James Timpson's appointment as Prisons Minister this week was followed by a raft of other Government appointments of people who actually know stuff.

And it made me think….

I've always been a big fan of using experts to support me in my work - and that's been an enormous help recently.

Like everyone else setting out on the path of self-employment, I've learned new skills, and done things I never expected. As I've written before (Ploughing Your Own Furrow), it takes time to realise how many skills you bring into the world having worked in the media.

However, there's a limit - for all of us bar those irritating people who seem to be able to do everything. (Sorry if that's you - nothing personal).

When I was asked to do some video work recently, I knew what I could do - and what I couldn't - so I brought in the experts. I wanted them to do the things I find very difficult/impossible, and which they make look effortless.

The first project was a short film to highlight the unfair system of nursery funding in Scotland, working with a group of private nurseries, the 2020 Together Group. I had several meetings to understand what they wanted to say, and who would say it - and produced a framework script.

We then agreed who would be interviewed (and where) to get the material we needed. At that stage, I brought in Andrew Mulligan, a brilliant videographer (and top bloke to record the interviews and gather the additional material needed.

I had no clue just how much "additional material" (B-roll, as it's known in the biz) would be needed, but Andrew was all over it - drone shots, exteriors, conversations between staff, the 'walking shots' familiar from TV news and, of course, lots of images of children playing and interacting with nursery staff (all with the relevant permissions from the nurseries, of course).

My next job was to review the interviews and shape the best bits into a script, and to add in narrative where necessary. I shared this plan with Andrew and what came back really blew me away. He had edited the clips together with the B-roll in an incredibly skilful and professional way. The finished film is here if you want to watch.

2020 Together also wanted an online 'manifesto' based on the film, so I drafted some text and after a few changes here and there, asked web designer Ross Russell of redbloc.design to do his stuff - and again, it was braw.

A few weeks later, it was time for something completely different - a short film for forestry company Scottish Woodlands Ltd made at the Royal Highland Show.

Again, I worked with the client to find out what they wanted and drafted a rough script accordingly. We were looking at a very short film - not much over 90 seconds - to promote SWL's presence at the RHS,a s sponsor of the Forestry Arena. The idea was to film on Thursday (day 1) and release on Friday first thing.

This time, I worked with photographer and videographer Phil Wilkinson, a former Scotsman colleague who now has his own business. Phil gets brilliant pictures published in national papers and has also become a superb videographer.

I'd spoken to Phil in advance about what we were looking for in terms of interviews and general shots. There was lots to go at - pole climbing, axe throwing, chainsaw carving and more - and from the moment he arrived at the show, he was on it. Phil bobbed here and there, filmed this and that and collected some excellent footage. We then recorded two short interviews - and again, I was pretty wowed by the speed, skill and quality of the product. Watch it here.

I guess the moral of the story, if there is one, is that we can all shoot video and take pictures on our phone if we want to. But if we want to make something of genuinely high quality, bring in the experts.