3 Step Video Production Process

Whether you’re just starting in video production of any kind or it’s outside of your normal responsibilities but is something you’re trying, you find it a daunting and complicated. However, making videos is not nearly as complex as you may think, especially if you take the process and break it down.

So, if you’re a marketer who has never handled the production of a video before or this is your maiden voyage producing a video, you need to understand there are three basic parts to all video. No matter what it’s about, or even if it’s fictional, informational or something different, there are three main parts to the video production process and to help you understand them better, we’re going to discuss each part in this post.

The three parts in question are:

  • Pre-Production
  • Production
  • Post-Production

Pre-Production – Planning Things Out

From a marketing point of view, you could look at video in the same way as any other project. Before you can start any marketing campaign, it’s vital to have a purpose or goal and a strategy to achieve that goal.

So, if you decide to hire a professional company like From The Hip for your video production, the very first step would involve you communicating your needs from the video. It would involve a meeting, or possibly even several, where you would discuss with the video production team your target audience, the core message, timeframe and budget.

Following those meetings, the video production agency would draft up concepts and send them to you for approval. There normally would be one final meeting to discuss the creative aspects of the production and to finalise the storyboard.

Perhaps you’re not planning to hire an agency to handle the video production. Then you are going to have an even more hands-on and involved part in the pre-production. The process is always the same. Once a comprehensive and meticulous brief has been drawn up regarding the production, this is the what everyone involved in the video production will refer to and use for direction.

Obviously, if you’re taking the lead with the video production, you will need to think about the creative side and the content. The storyboards you create for the production will help to drive the second and third parts of the process and will feature elements as diverse and detailed as what happens in each scene, the narrative/dialogue, cast/characters, props, visuals, costumes, specific camera angles used and any special effects you are planning to add later.

The storyboards are conceived from the production brief.

Production – The Filming

The real fun begins once all the planning and preparation has been taken care of, with the production stage in the process. This, as you’d imagine is where you start filming or working on the animation (if it’s not a live action piece).

Taking the video production agency route would mean they will do most required in this stage, with your input behind the scenes, where required. For instance, you’ll be asked to approve the talent hired, the voice overs and filming locations. The video production team know what they’re doing, but want to ensure you, their client, get exactly what you need.

It’s different if you or an internal team are handling your video production inhouse, as this stage not only involves filming but, hiring equipment, voice artists, actors and scouting out locations. You also need a film crew, makeup artists, as well as props.

When you eventually start filming, it’s best to film as much as possible. The more footage you have to work with in the post-production stage, the better.

It’s also worth mentioning colour grade at this stage, because quality colour can make all the difference between just an average quality film and an extraordinary one. Colour grading can make quality video much more acceptable to the eye, and you can use a variety of grades to help determine the mood. Note that when you are using more than one camera, the grading and correction of colour need to be in tune with each other so they mesh nicely in post-production, which we’ll discuss below.

Post-Production – The Editing

The final stage in the video production process is post-production. Often referred to as editing, the term post-production is more of an umbrella that encompasses different tasks such as editing. At this stage all the hard work is brought together to complete your masterpiece.

All the shots and other elements are cut together to ensure the message you were trying to get across and the visual quality in the brief and storyboard are met. Any audio tracks, sound mixing, and special effects are added during post-production. You’ve probably heard of films being discussed as being in the post-production stage ahead of release. Post-production can often take just as long as the other parts in the process, or even longer in some cases, depending on how big the project is and how long the finish production will be.

Unless you have experience in video editing, this part in the process is best left to professionals, like the team here at From The Hip.

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