Video production is definitely not a one day job. There’s a lot of planning involved before and after the d- day which ensures the end video is, after all, what you have been working for all this while. The magic trick though, is always a rock solid pre-production.
Here are a few tricks we follow as a video production agency that helps us put a method to this beautiful madness that is creating a video film.
- Breaking down the screenplay.
When you are the writer of the script, you definitely know where and how everything goes. However, video production is a team work and you are nothing if not a team player. The screenplay you write will be read and interpreted by a bunch of people like the director, cinematographer, actors, production team, sound team and not to mention, the client. Especially when it comes to corporate clients and brands, break your screenplay down further into visual descriptions to make it easier to comprehend for all the teams involved.
- Visual mood board
You have mentioned your visualization of the video textually, but there are a number of ways to interpret it visually. Imagine every team involved in the production, and your client interpreting the text differently when it comes to visuals. That’s one scary imagination! You wouldn’t want that. This is exactly why you should prepare a moodboard to bring everyone on the same page. Get everyone on your ship before you start sailing it.
- Location Recce
Once the mood board is locked, the entire team knows what to work for. Everyone is working towards the same vision. Quickly schedule a location recce and go hunting for the right place to shoot your video. Even if you do not take your video camera every time you go location hunting, there are various apps available that can help you determine the lens, focal length and the ISO you can work to get the perfect output when you shoot.
- Master sheet
Now you have the location pictures, the mood board and the script breakdown. Every external factor is almost finalized. You need to make sure that the team working on the production day knows precisely what to do for each shot. At Tattletale productions, we follow a master sheet to ensure a smooth video production process. A sheet that’s a detailed breakdown of all the scenes including the location, shot description, camera movement and magnification, lens, actors, costume and property. Share this sheet with your respective teams before shoot day and you are good to go.
- Scheduling
Is the master sheet ready? Great! Here’s a surprise, it’s going to help you while scheduling as well. Let me put it this way, your master sheet is your bible. Everything you need is now broken down in the master sheet you have made (kudos!)
So give yourself a pat on the back and get working.
Have fun shooting!
