Creating a Good Video – The Production Process

1 – The client (you!) or your marketing agency, comes up with an idea to promote your business. You realise that photography just isn’t going to cut it. You need more. You need a story that can be shown and shared with just one click. Something you can put on your website, but could also be re-used on your social media platforms. What do you want for this? A video. 

2 – Depending on your experience in marketing you’ve either already got a very precise idea of what you want done, or you want assistance in developing your concept. And that’s ok, that’s what we’re here for. You start contacting video production agencies to get a feel for their style and to see whether you think you might be able to collaborate, because remember: video production requires collaboration between the client (or their marketing agency) and the video production team, so you want to make sure you choose the right video production agency. Based on your initial meetings and the video production’s pitch and initial estimate, you finally select a video production agency for the job – well done! This is a big decision!

3 – The next stages are concept development and script writing. The video concept development stage is when all the brainstorming happens. During this period you and the production team will liaise until you are 100% satisfied with the concept. This goes beyond just the concept though. Once you’re happy with the general concept and how we’re going to approach it, we’ll start writing a script. In the script you’ll find a description of each scene, notes on key shots, descriptions of actors and locations and anything else that will help you visualise the video. Writing a script requires the input of a script writer. Their job is to work out each scene and develop the message you want conveyed to your audience. 

4 – Upon approval of the final script, the rest of the production team jumps on board and starts working through their part of the job. The talent recruiter will find the actors, the location scout will find the locations for your shoot. In smaller businesses such as ours, this tends to be done by the Producer or Director, depending on their availabilities. We’ll also look at organising accessories, and hair and makeup (if appropriate). This part happens quite quickly, usually over the space of a week or two. Just before the shoot we’ll send you (and the rest of the crew) a callsheet. A callsheet is a document that gives everyone a clear schedule to follow on the shoot,  including everyone’s contact details, an equipment list, and anything else that is relevant to ensuring a smooth video shoot.

5 – Next, the fun bit – filming! Depending on the size of the job there will be 1 or more camera operators on the day. Sometimes you’ll have a sound or lighting specialist there too, but that tends to be unnecessary on small shoots. Camera operators, especially ours, are multitalented. They’re able record, light, and film your job. They’re usually also part of the pre-production process and will work through the script with the script writer (for example).There are never any “extra hands” on a shoot, everyone has a job and a role to play every second of the day. 

6 – Editing (otherwise called: post-production). Is a multi-layered process. Most video production agencies will provide you with 2 rounds of small revisions in their original quote. Editing can be outsourced, or can be done in-house, it all depends on the structure of the video production agency you choose. It’s a very long process when you don’t work in film it can be hard to understand just how much time is needed. Think about it this way, it’s like being presented with a novel and being told to select the best most pertinent 5 passages in it, and then being asked to create a summary of the story based on those passages. It takes hours to go through the material, select the best sections, and then piece it together to create a seamless storyline.

7 – You’ll probably get sent a first draft to review. You’ll have some feedback, send it back to the editor and they’ll rework it for you. It’s normal to go back and forth once or twice and there’s nothing wrong with letting us know which parts or sections you need changed. After all, you know your product/story best. It is extremely rare to need more than 2 rounds of changes. Once updates have been done, you will be provided with a final version of your video.

8 – Delivery depends on where the video will be used.

• If you’re just wanting the video for your own business website, or your social media space, that’s it! Job complete. We’ll send you your final video and you can use it as you see fit. You might pass it on to your marketing team to use, or you might be someone who does their own promotion and will share it on your various platforms.
• If it’s going to TV, we’ll need to send it to an advertising monitoring agency called CAD. They will review the video, make sure we’re not making any outrageous claims or saying anything inappropriate for TV and provide us with a rating (ads showing alcohol for example will only be authorised to be played after-hours). Once we have CAD approval, we can distribute your TVC (TV Commercial) to as many stations as you want (provided you have already discussed this with them and have a valid contract with them). Remember, if you think you want your video to be used on TV make sure we know this at the concept phase – it affects how we will shoot the video because social media platforms, websites, and TV stations all have very specific guidelines as to what is and is not considered acceptable.

That’s it. That’s how a video is made. As you can see, there are many stages to filming and it takes an experienced team to know how to effectively develop and create a good story.

If you want to ask us more questions about the production process, just send through an enquiry email and we’ll talk you through it. It’s a fascinating industry to be a part of and we’re always willing to share our knowledge.