The whole concept of Internet is virtually tied to video. Every day millions of users are hungry for fresh, engaging, entertaining content, that makes it essential not to lose relevance with your customers. To communicate and motivate your customers, you have to be extremely active on creating fresh video content.
You’ve decided to make a promotional video for your company. It may be complicated, but don’t worry. Whether you are doing it yourself or you are hiring a video production team, you have to know the basic steps and phases of production.
VIDEO PRODUCTION PROCESS BREAKS DOWN INTO 5 PHASES
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
What is your Objective?
You’ll waste your time and money, if you skip this step. You have to send a clear call to action – what your viewers have to do after watching this video.
What is your Message?
There should be a specific problem and it’s solution you deliver to the viewer. They have to understand, get certain emotion, get hooked, and remember the message.
What is your Audience?
Go as descriptive as possible in psycho-graphic portrait of your customer: background, demographics, goals, interests, hobbies, challenges, challenges, world view, attitude, habits, etc. How can your product | service solve their problem or concern? How does it relate to them?
How are you going to reach your audience?
Video Length
How long do you need this video to be to get your point across? – Keeping it under 2 minutes is recommended, unless it’s a demo, explanatory, educational video.
Budget
The production quality of the video may depend on the money you are willing to spend. It can be highly polished studio vs. on-location, talking heads vs. professional actors, professional video production team vs. cellphone, more advanced tech equipment vs. one camera on tripod.
PRE – PRODUCTION
Script Writing
Your script has to do more than just tell viewers about product or service, it has to sell.
Take into consideration headlines with promises and opening scenes that raises curiosity of the viewer, proof of your product | service quality, an offer they can’t refuse.
Re-writing is a great exercise. Think how to grab and hold viewers’ attention, you have 5 seconds to interest them in continuing watching.
Storyboard
It’s time to visualize what you’ve written. Try not only to sketch the characters, but also enrich them with “colors”. Think cinematic: where the light comes from? What is set design? What props are in the scene? Is there any graphic appearing on screen? Is there any voice over, sound effects, music? Include as many details as possible, develop a theme and tone of the picture, make it logical and consistent.
Shot List
Now you need to think how to execute the shot from the storyboard with the proper lighting, camera equipment, actors. It’s a more detailed description of the shot that includes lens size, camera movement, light position, scene/shot number, location and description. If you work with the Video Production Team on this project, it’s crucial to discuss, negotiate, come to the agreement of the project during this phase, so you don’t get disappointed after the project completion.
Production Planning
To make a video production process easy and fun all the work has to be done in pre-production phase. it’s a lot of preparation and planning. Don’t be lazy!!! Don’t cast your talent by the picture on internet or rent a shooting space over the phone. A lot of places have to be visited and new people to be met.
Location
Scouting requires your physical presence to check all possible challenges on set. It can be as stupid as a barking dog of the neighbor or a frequently flying plane that will ruin your audio. Ask about all the permits and insurance necessary for the location.
Crew
Before contacting a video production crew, read reviews and view their projects. During pre-production meetings discuss all the details about the cost variations of the project, don’t be scared to ask questions. Sign contracts to protect yourself. Find out the amount of crew members, equipment, set up time. You will need these details for scheduling, equipment rentals, and catering.
Catering
How often? When and what will your team eat? Snacks and water are essential. Find out about alleges, preferences or VEGETARIAN/VEGAN to include it into your budget.
Talent
Arrange a casting call for the talent. Send out lines from your script for reading. During audition let them read with different emotion. Video taping will be useful for future decision making on a talent. Wardrobe, make-up, schedule availability (2 hours after the shoot for example in case production running late) have to be discussed. Rehearsals can never be too many. Develop relationship with the actor, share your vision on the project, fix any problematic scenes. Talent Release Forms need to be signed.
Video Production Scheduling
It’s made to keep track of the production process. It includes: scene, date and time, location, talent, contact info, equipment. The right schedule will save your budget and will protect from wasting someone’s time.
Call Sheet
This document you send in advance to the crew and talent. It answers 5 basic questions: When? Who? What? Where? Why?
Equipment Check
Check your equipment a few days in advance so you can be prepared. If you are renting, double-check all the items before you put your signature on the agreement.
PRODUCTION
Arriving On Location
Have a list of all necessary items involved in production. Make sure you have them on set. Arrive earlier than everyone else. Take into consideration traffic, passes, security points. It’s on you nothing gets stolen or damaged. Create the a friendly atmosphere for everyone involved. Coffee, water and snacks should be set before everyone gets to the location. You can send a Map Pin to in a group message to make it easy.
On Set
Predict the needs of your team whole they are on set. Check and set up audio, light, cameras. Rehearse with the talent. First Aid kid and Insurance should be present. Make notes. Don’t panic if something goes wrong. Try to keep up with the schedule. Inform everyone about the safety and important items that can’t be touched. Don’t micromanage people. They are all professional hired by you, let them do their job.
Leaving Location
Double-check the equipment, props, furniture not to forget anything. Be grateful and supportive not only to your team, but also to workers of the location. Clean after yourself.
POST – PRODUCTION
Stay organized. Label all the folders and sequences. After importing the footage, back it up. Back up Raw Footage as well as edited project. Always make a copy, if you make dramatic changes to the project – you need a to have a starting point to go back to.
Editing is layers. You start with basic footage, then you add music/sound effects, then graphics. Color correction is the last in the editing process. There are two types of color correction: Primary (individual clip) and Secondary (adjustment layer for the overall tone).
To review the project you can export it in a lower quality not to waste time on rendering.The final version may be shown to several people for a judgement. Opinions are so different!!! It’s up to you what to take into consideration and what not to take, but any way it will give you a chance to think, to re-arrange elements to improve the influence of the video.
DISTRIBUTION
Distribution is a separate topic. It will all depend where you are going to place your add – the promotional video you’ve created . Nowadays every social media offers advertisement option, where you set up your target audience, key words, topics, audience’s interests, demographics, etc. You decide how to invest into promotion: Cost Per Click (CPC) – you are paying if somebody clicks on your video, or Cost Per View (CPV) – you are paying for 30 sec of your video viewing.
In the conclusion, there is only one thing to say – video will be the future of internet medium.
Samples of video at https://www.olenazfilms.com
