Opinions matter. They help us to make decisions about where to eat, what products to buy, and whose services to use. They help us to see certain issues from various perspectives so we can get a better understanding of cultural, societal, political, and world events. They can also help us to refine and improve our marketing and advertising messages, so that the products and services we offer can gain the most traction among our target audience. But after we gather and sort all of these various opinions, there comes a moment when we must formulate our own ideas and opinions about what direction to take.

When producing a marketing, sales, or promotional video, there are many different approaches one can take in terms of concept, script, tone, and visual style. Some might know instinctively how they want their video to look, while others may need to conduct extensive research and talk to others to uncover what they like. Some don’t need to show their video to anyone during the post-production process. Others may feel the need to pass the rough cuts around to various contacts to get initial feedback and suggestions for revisions.

If you are working with a video production company on a video project, don’t feel bad if you would like to show the rough cut to people you trust in order to get their opinions. After all, video production is a collaborative effort. Talk to your friends/colleagues about the video. Find out what they respond to. What worked for them? What didn’t? How can the video be improved? Also, talk to the video’s producer and director. Find out why he/she made certain aesthetic, or editing choices. Understanding the motivation(s) behind such decisions will help you gain a better understanding of the editing process.*

Take time to listen to the opinions received from friends and colleagues. Weigh those against the insights and professional experiences of the video producer/director. From that information, you can formulate your own opinion about how you want to revise the edit. Remember, when you start showing the video to different people, you will get a wide range of opinions. It won’t be possible to please everyone. You might make one revision to the edit that’s based on one friend’s opinion, only to disappoint another friend who wanted it done a different way. Changing the edit in an attempt to please everyone will only leave you (and the video’s editor) frustrated. Throughout the video production process, remember that this is your video. You hired a video production company because you value their experience and trust their capabilities to create a professional presentation for you. Ultimately, the purpose of the video is to market/advertise/promote you, your company, your people, your services and your products. Opinions do matter, but in the end, it’s your opinion that carries the most weight.

*Remember, I’m talking specifically about post-production; the point at which the final structure of the video is formed. Any changes to the concept, the script, or the way certain scenes were shot will almost certainly require re-writes and re-shoots.

A few months ago I was working on a video shoot for a client. As we moved our equipment inside and started setting up, my client said, “I had no idea this much was involved in producing a video.” This is a remark I often hear when producing videos. People will comment on the amount of gear we have to carry around with us and at the amount of time it takes to set up and shoot each scene. They talk about our attention to detail when it comes to lighting and blocking camera movements. They marvel at how much footage we shoot just for a thirty-second TV commercial or a three-minute corporate video. Producing high-quality videos is something we take great pride in, but it’s also something that demands a lot of our time and resources.

Even before we roll onto the location for the first day of shooting, our work has been going on, behind the scenes, for a few weeks. There is so much that has to be accomplished during pre-production to ensure that the actual shoot runs smoothly and efficiently. For articles on the importance of pre-production, you can browse through these articles, “Preparing for a Video Shoot,” “Scheduling Your Production,” and “If Only the Flux Capacitor Was Working.” Some of the tasks that demand our time and attention during pre-production include:

• Creative meetings with the client to go over conceptual ideas
• Writing a script
• Revising the script
• Scheduling the shoot
• Location scouting
• Securing locations
• Casting (if necessary)
• Hiring the crew
• Prepping and loading the gear

Depending on the size and complexity of the project, our time spent in pre-production may last as little as five hours, all the way up to forty hours. Once the shooting date arrives and we arrive on location, we have to:

• Unload the gear
• Conduct one final walk-through
• Move furniture to make room for the gear
• Set up and light
• Set up the camera
• Block camera movements
• Tweak background elements that are in each shot
• Direct the talent
• Prep the talent for audio
• Slate, shoot, and log each take

And this process will repeat itself for every location. Again, our time in production will vary depending on the size and scope of each video project. We might spend as little as 1/2 day on location, but we might spend as much as five to seven days to capture all the footage necessary for the final video.

Once the shoot wraps, we take all the assets back to our office to begin editing. This is a process that largely goes unnoticed, but here are some action items that we must accomplish throughout post-production:

• Transfer all footage from tapes or external hard drive to the editing system
• Set up the project and import all assets
• Go through all the raw footage, shot by shot, and make notes on what’s happening in each scene
• Mark shots as usable or unusable
• Begin rough assembly of the video to formulate the narrative structure
• Record a scratch track of the voice-over to be used temporarily throughout this initial phase
• Listen to any and all on-camera interviews for relevant and usable sound bites; mark these for use later
• Insert the interview segments and compile them with the b-roll segments
• Present the rough edit to the client for notes
• Make revisions; tighten the edit
• Make music selections
• Insert the music
• Direct the voice-over talent during the recording session
• Insert the voice-over
• Mix all audio
• Create and insert all graphics and titles
• Present to the client for notes
• Make additional revisions if necessary
• Color correct every shot to ensure optimum quality and color accuracy
• Render and export the final video
• Deliver to the client

Post-production can, by far, be the most time-consuming aspect of the production process. It’s not uncommon to spend as much as 40 hours on a 3-5 minute video for a client. To date, I believe, the most we have spent in post-production on a project has been 80 hours for a 7-minute promotional video.

I believe that video production is an artistic medium, and, as with all art, doing it well requires a certain amount of time and effort. So, the next time you want to work with a professional video production company, just know that the cameras, the lights, and the familiar call of “Action!” is only the tip of the iceberg.

Related articles

• Top Ten Tips for Creating a Cinematic Style Video (prweb.com)

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File-based work flows in video production have presented an incredible amount of benefits to the overall production process, but they have also demanded that video producers/directors reshape the way they move from production into post-production, and finally, to delivery. One of the key members of a tapeless video crew is the DIT, or Digital Imaging Technician. This individual, depending on the size of the shoot, is responsible for many things, but in my opinion, the most important function of the DIT is managing all of the assets while on location. This means taking the memory cards from the DP or camera assistant and transferring them over to hard drives. Once on the hard drives, a DIT will usually back up those files to a redundant drive and ensure that everything transferred correctly before re-formatting the cards for use again on the set. In addition, a DIT will prep each file for use in post-production and will prepare dailies for the director and the client to review.
For projects with smaller budgets, it may be tempting to forego the services of a DIT and simply let the director, DP, or a production assistant handle the duties of a DIT. Although this approach works, consider the side effects of this approach:

• Using the director and/or DP to handle this job could slow down the pace of the shoot considerably. Once the cards are full, the director or DP must stop work, start transferring footage, wait for that footage to be transferred, confirm the transfer, reformat the cards, then return to the set. A DIT can handle all of this while the director and/or DP continue their work of shooting, setting up for the next shot, or working with the client and/or talent. This maintains a good work flow throughout the day and ensures that everything stays on schedule.
• Using a production assistant as a DIT means assigning a less experienced person to do the job. An experienced DIT knows the equipment, knows exactly what he/she is doing, and can properly communicate with the director/DP.

So, even for those shoots that have smaller crews, a good DIT is a valuable asset to the team. However, with the ever-increasing capacity of memory cards, and the ever-decreasing cost of those memory cards, it will become easier for small ENG crews to spend an entire day shooting to memory cards, without ever having the need to transfer and reformat. All of the cards can simply be stored until the end of the day, then transferred at night, and used again the following day. But if the production turn-around is extremely tight, it may be in the producer’s best interest to hire a DIT and allow him/her to transfer all the footage during the course of the day, start prepping for post, and begin work on a rough edit. This will save a lot of time and will allow the producer to get the final video out to the client much quicker.

Ultimately, the use of the DIT depends on the situation, but don’t underestimate the value of that position in the ever-increasing world of tapeless video production.

On April 20 I had an opportunity to give a guest lecture at Samford University to a group of public relations students. The professor invited me to speak because his class was learning about the video production process. He had already covered the topic of producing VNR’s (Video News Releases), and asked me to teach on the subject of commercials and marketing videos. During the class, I covered a general overview of video production. We discussed current marketing and advertising trends, the process of formulating and scripting ideas, common mistakes to avoid, how to work with and respond to clients, and the process of shooting and editing video. The slides from my presentation are embedded below.

In April 2009, we started production on a short film, tentatively titled “If Only.” The production itself was set back several times due to bad weather and some issues with locations, but we finally wrapped in early July 2009. If you would like to see some production stills, click here. Since that time we have been trying to finish post-production and it has been a long process. One reason for the delay has been our conflicting schedules. It has been difficult for the editor and me to sit down and hammer out the cut. Another reason has been our approach to the story. When I first wrote the script, I had a certain structure in mind for the film. However, as the editor and producer looked through all the footage, they had a different take on how we should construct the story. We had several discussions on how we would approach the edit and I am very pleased with the approach we took. We have now completed the edit and currently the film is in the hands of our music composer who will score the film. Once we have the music in place we will due a final audio mix and some color correction before we submit it to this year’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. The film has been officially renamed, “A Changed Man,” and centers around an emotionally distraught woman who struggles to put her past behind her and regain control of her life.