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)

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.

Image via Wikipedia

Although we specialize in video production and website design, every so often we have the opportunity to branch out into other media as well. Take, for example, this case study from last year:

Southeast Urgent Care is a small, family medical clinic in Fultondale, AL. They approached us to see if we could work with them to write and produce a thirty-second radio commercial to advertise their grand opening on July 12, 2010. We had less than two weeks to conceptualize, write, produce, and deliver two radio spots to meet their deadline. Southeast Urgent Care prides itself on respecting the time of each patient, so we wrote a script focused on the idea that Dr. Paul Roberts doesn’t want the patient in his waiting room. He wants each patient back in the exam room as quickly as possible. A professional talent introduces the spot, followed by Dr. Roberts who provides information about the grand opening.

Click the link below to listen to the spot.

Waiting Room Expert_Grand Opening

Photo by Dan Hodgett

You want potential customers to buy from you and you want existing customers to come back for more. If you want to reach your target audience, you need to speak to them in terms they will understand. I’ve seen far too many websites and watched too many corporate videos that either use a lot of vague language or technical jargon. This often leaves a potential customer confused and they leave the website, or finish watching the video, without learning any answers to their questions. If you want to communicate effectively with your target market, the copy on your website and the script for your video needs to be…

1. CONVERSATIONAL – Write as if you were meeting with your audience one-on-one.
2. CLEAR – Avoid vague terminology that doesn’t specifically state your core values, mission, identity and services. Avoid generic, cliched words, like “synergy.”
3. CONCISE – When someone visits a website, he/she doesn’t want to read a book. They will scan the content. They won’t read everything thoroughly. Hit the highlights. When you are writing a script for your video, write sparingly. Let the visuals do the talking for you.
4. COMPREHENSIBLE – Make sure the benefits of your company’s services are well-defined. Tell potential customers why doing business with you will be a valuable experience for them. If you work for an accounting firm and you perform business valuations, don’t simply tell your audience that you can do business valuations. Tell them how that service affects them. Tell them why it’s important that they use a business valuation service. Tell them when they would need it.

When someone first lands on your website or watches your video, he/she should be able to grasp the basic information about your business quickly. Remember, there’s nothing more valuable than time. If you can hook a potential customer with engaging content, he or she will spend more time with your brand. And the more time they spend with you, the more likely they will be to buy from you.

What your video production doesn’t know can hurt you. Many people who have little experience working with video production companies usually feel a bit overwhelmed. They understand that they need to produce a video for their company, non-profit, school, etc. but beyond some basic generalities about the project, they aren’t sure what the video production company needs or needs to know. If the entire process is to run smoothly, you need to provide the video production company with some logistical details. A good producer or director will know to ask you these questions, but it’s still a good idea to have this information in-hand when you discuss the project with your video production company. Here are some details that need to be hammered out:

Project Overview

• What/Who the video is for
• The goals/objectives of the video
• The desired length of the video
• Where the final video will be shown (website, public event, seminar, trade show, in-house communication, sales meetings, etc.
• The deadline (Read this post regarding video production deadlines and how to schedule your video project accordingly.)

Technical Details About the Project

• The video format (standard-definition or high-definition)
• If standard definition – widescreen or standard 4:3
• If high-definition – 1080i or 720p?*

Responsibilities

• Script-writing responsibilities (will the video production company be required to conceptualize and write the script, or will your department handle that task?)
• On-camera talent (will the project require professional talent to be provided by the video production company, or will your company provide employees for the video?)
• Voice-over talent (will the production company need to provide this, or do you have someone available that you have used before?)

The Video Shoot (this will help the video production company determine how many shooting days are necessary)

• The amount of material that needs to be shot
• The specific people/places/products/etc. that needs to be shot
• The number of different locations
• The number of people that need to be interviewed
• The amount of archival footage, stock footage, and/or stills that will be needed

On Location Considerations

• Addresses and directions to all locations
• Contact person for each location
• Loading/Unloading zones
• Specific location protocol (security concerns, where to sign in, where the video production company can and cannot go while at the locaton)
• Staging area (an out-of-the-way place at the location where the video production company can store their gear)

I recommend taking the video production company representatives on a tech scout of each location before the shoot, so you can go over these details and clarify any unresolved issues. A good tech scout will catch potential problems before the shoot begins.

Clear, consistent communication between yourself and the video production company will be of enormous benefit when the shoot begins. Take the time to conduct thorough pre-production planning. Provide the video production company with everything they need. Your finished video will be a lot better because of it.

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*Don’t let the higher number – 1080 make you think that it’s better, or has a higher resolution that 720. Both are official high-definition formats. The difference is mainly in how the two formats record an image. The “i” in 1080i stands for “interlaced,” and the “p” in 720p stands for “progressive.” An interlaced image is created by breaking the image you see on your screen into two separate “fields” – upper and lower. Scan lines reproduce the image on the screen by scanning horizontally, top to bottom. On the first pass, the scan lines recreate every even line. On the second pass, the odd lines are recreated. The horizontal lines are interlaced to show you the complete picture. In HD video, there are 1080 horizontal scan lines. A progressive image is created by scanning the entire image in order, all at once, much like a single frame of film.