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What is involved with video production?

 

Pre-production

Pre-production is the most important component of a successful media project.

 

Once you have your ideas clarified, we will meet with you in a first pre-production meeting. Here we will review the scope of the project by discussing your ideas in more detail, collaborating on detailed planning, scheduling required resources and confirming any legalities involved.

 

Planning your video

To ensure the production process goes as smoothly as possible, you can make best use of our time and we get exactly what you require it is worthwhile spending time planning you video and creating documentation as described below:

Outline – essentially a project brief. This includes the purpose, what is involved in the video, contributors, events, what you need to film, and how you want to film it. Much of this information can be taken from your submitted Media Production Request.

Treatment – an expanded outline.  The treatment will include things such as what you are making, who your audience is, what key messages you wish to deliver and what the audience will see and hear. It is useful to include an introductory synopsis and a detailed description of each section of the production with names, locations, descriptions, and actions. Then outline the structure (beginning, middle and end), describe the key learning/information points and show how you plan to tell your story. Will you use an on-screen presenter, a voice-over, use interview clips, or a combination of all three to tell your story – or use a non-verbal, visual approach? We will help you to construct this with information we take during the first pre-production meeting

Scripting – It is normal practice to split your script into columns – use one to describe the action, graphics, images and captions, and another to write the narration and/or dialogue, music, sound effects and to list interview questions and expected responses.   Not all things however can be scripted (e.g. interviews) but you can still prepare information (e.g. questions) in advance. This is something you will be expected to produce ahead of filming.

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Download a template script.
(61.5 kB, MSWORD)

 

Planning the filming

Once you have the above documents, we can work out what needs to be done, who will do what and when things need to happen. We will identify and discuss thing such as:

  • Recce of proposed filming locations (the crew will do this to assess suitability)
  • Booking of resources including crew, studio and filming locations for filming
  • Identifying 3rd party resource requirements and how we go about obtaining them (e.g. images & graphics – do they require copyright clearance?) and whether any additional equipment or resource is required
  • Finalising your script

 

Scheduling resources

Once you know what we are going to film, we will work with you to create a schedule. This will be mainly dictated by your deadline and the availability of resources. Some things to bear in mind include:

  • Could the filming be affected by the weather? If so, we will need contingency plan
  • Does everything need to be filmed in one go?
  • Factor in time for meetings / script writing / research
  • When are the crew/location/contributors available?
  • Editing time will vary hugely from project to project based on the complexity what you want to achieve. We will be able to give a rough idea once we know more about the project – but you need to be available to review footage and feedback at each stage.

 

Considering legalities

For everything you film, you need to consider legalities. For someone to appear on camera we will need to get a signed consent form, known as a release form. You need to make sure that they are aware of the extent of their contribution, and also the context of the video. It may help to send questions in advance for interviews, although this is not a legal requirement.

Other areas that need further thought include work with minors or vulnerable people, permission to film on location, use of company logos and use of music. You also need to consider the privacy of people that your contributors may refer to, and any defamatory comments made.

Please note that filming in a public location can raise a lot of legal concerns – permission from members of the public, filming outside shops, music playing in background, company logos etc. This all needs to be taken into consideration well ahead of any filming day.

Once we have considered the above and created a structured plan we can then commence the next step which is production/filming.