This is when we spend time & money on script development, casting, scouting locations and securing additional filming crew if required. But first, we delve into the client’s mind, understand and learn about their business. There’s a lot of talking in this stage, asking questions, establishing what’s required from the finished piece. What do you want your audience to think, feel and do as a result of your video? Once the video strategy is decided and objectives agreed, we move into the next stage of pre-production
This is something in our lives that never seems to end!
- Researching any crew, actors, presenters, engineers and seeking approval from the client
- Contracts to agree, disclaimers for crew, extras, passerby public
- Insurance to ensure all are covered
- There’s a storyboard to be drawn and re-drawn
- A call sheet which gets everyone organised and lets them know who is who on set
- A shooting schedule to make sure everyone knows what’s happening and when.
- Decide on equipment, cameras, sound equipment, lighting. This can be an endless list and it must be charged, tested and formatted.
- Locations need to be decided upon and permissions, perhaps from owners or local authority.
- And of course we have to take into account, our great friend – the British Weather
Production
Believe it or not, for us this is the easiest, if most exhausting part, providing of course the shoot has been properly organised. If it’s planned it will be fun and interesting for the client to watch, and easier to produce in post-production. If not, it will take longer, be more frustrating, more expensive and take longer.
Post-Production
This process can go on and on, it’s like gardening, the more you put into it the better it will look. You can go from good, to great, to epic!
There’s ingesting of all the rushes, the rough cut for the client to check, then the finished polished version. A good editor can take your production to a completely new level.
Imagine watching a movie or a series on the box, you could take two editors, ask them to do the exact same thing, using the same clips. One is likely to look better than the other, even though it’s the same and you couldn’t put your finger on the difference…that’s what makes a good editor.
