Written by According to Wikipedia “Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with images recorded digitally instead of on film stock. There are three stages of video production: pre-production, production, and post-production.”
This question of “What is Video Production?” is something we answer often and Wikipedia’s answer is close but not perfect. We do divide our processes into three parts: pre-production, production, and post-production. But video production could be a short film, a full-length movie, business marketing video, television commercial, social media videos, and even music videos. The options are endless as your imagination.
Overall creating any of these videos will require similar steps. And if you ask any marketing agency, they will tell you that video is ushering in a new era in marketing. According to Forbes by 2021, 85% of online content will be video.
As a consumer Video is easily remembered, shared, and directly informs purchase decisions. Because of this, you can see why companies are utilizing this trend more often. No longer do you have to tell people your message, you can show it. “Don’t tell, show.”
Our Golden Reel-Rule.
We work with business owners, agencies, and marketing professionals who are ready for real change. Are you ready to strategically use video to transform you, your business, and your life? Take a moment to imagine if there was one video that you could create which would drive new customers into your business … all day … every day … would you do it?
Yes? Then it’s time to invest in video production. We’d like to take a moment to walk you through our video production process. If video seems scary now, after working with us, you’ll be crushing it.
Table of Contents
The 3 Parts of Every Video Production Process
Pre-Production
Complimentary Video Consultation
Every video starts here. Sit down directly with the producer and director … no account rep, or salesman. Our office, your office … coffee shop … just let us know. Don’t blindly go into any production without a sense of comfort and confidence with your team. Complimentary Consultation = Comfort & Confidence
Goals
A clear goal is crucial to the success of your video. Because a social media video on Facebook is developed differently than a commercial for cable television. Goals are divided into three categories: time, money, and relationships. And each one requires its specific strategy.
Research & Development
We enjoy taking a deep dive into your company and competition. It is easier to take a look at the outside of your building when you aren’t on the inside. Finding out your brand’s unique selling points is required. However, getting to know who you are, what your brand’s voice is, and how you are different gives us another perspective.
Video Concepting
Concepting for video production is like brainstorming on steroids. It’s an opportunity to flex creative muscles. Absolutely, no spitballing opinions out here. You have to uncover a unique balance between the goals and creative ideas. Without goals, the creative has no backbone, and without the creative, your message won’t be successful.
Scripting
So you have flung all the concepts to the window to see what sticks. It’s time to flush out the one that did. Scriptwriting is where the story is developed and is essential if you want your video to achieve its goals. Scripting for video production is a text-based description of what will happen in your video. Typically the instructions or “script” fall into two categories: visual and audio. Visual is what is shown on the screen and audio is what we hear. This is where you have to take the Trolley to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Pretending you are King Friday XIII in his glorious castle.
Storyboarding, Shot Listing & Scouting
Once you have tightened up your script. Then it’s time to create a storyboard and shot list. We create storyboards for video production because they save time when we reach the filming stage. Filming is one of the most expensive portions of any production, and this preparation will save our clients money. So during this process, we scout the locations needed and prepare the blocking which firms up the movement of any actors. Finally, we select the camera lenses, and lighting is necessary for every position and every shot.
Crewing & Casting
Now on to the booking. Where you begin to visualize how everything up to this point is leading the video production to your goals. This is where our production team brings together the location and the cast. Sometimes it will be you, or actors … and sometimes just extras who have no lines. Other times the script will call for voice-over work. We start working with talent agencies to view images, videos, and audio to find the right person to meet your goals.
Oh, my. You’ve made it this far, and we still haven’t even started talking about filming? What is video production if it isn’t filming, right?
Production
Occasionally we find this is the day you, our client is most stressed about. But to us, this is the part of every video production we don’t get stressed over. All the pre-production planning makes the production seem “easy, breezy, beautiful … Cover CutBoard Studio”.
We like to think of video production as a team sport. This holds true when it comes to filming day. Your project may require a crew of people with specialized skills, from camera operator to a makeup artist, all working toward a common goal … your goal. CutBoard’s base team comprises of a director (Tanya) and a producer (Aaron) but can include additional production assistants, designers, camera operators, audio mixers, grips, and gaffers.
On filming day we break out the cases and get to work. Lots and lots of cases. Some contain lights, stands, mics, tripods, and even cameras. Because of the scripting, storyboarding, and shot list we can efficiently plan on what to bring. No need to drag out and prepare a drone if it isn’t on the list.
Post-production
Ingesting
No, it was only you that had indigestion during that last step. This one is ingesting. During this step, we start by copying everything from the filming stage onto the computer is otherwise known as offline editing. We lay everything on a timeline and clean up any shots that were bad, out of focus, and any garbage footage before we called “action.”
Assembly
Then selected shots are moved from the order they are filmed in into the approximate order they will appear in the final cut based on the script and storyboard. At this stage there can be multiple takes of the same shot, nothing is eliminated yet.
Rough Cut
This is where everything starts coming together. We start making final shot selections and dialing in the rough trimming. Often dialogue and sound effects will be incomplete and unfinished and will still require editing. Color enhancement and altering are not done. Because shots can be taken at different times of the day and at various locations these shots are untreated, unmatched, and generally unpleasant.
Once the rough cut is put together, it’s your first time to take a peek behind our curtain. We will discuss titles, graphics, and effects at this stage.
Second Cut
For the second cut, we start making the final cuts by dialing in the transitions and effects to aid in the flow of the video. After this stage of editing, you get to see the graphics and hear the sound and any effects applied to the video. The color grading is done to the selected shots, and all the audio and music have been dialed in.
By working with CutBoard on your video, you will find that nothing is a surprise to you at this stage of the video production process. Typically we see the only real tweaks to your video are in the graphics and titles … so this is the last chance before we move into the final cut for changes.
Final Cut
We take all the final comments and suggestions into the final cut of every video we produce. Most of the time we are looking at split-second frame tweaks and dialing in the graphic placements and making sure the background music and audio overlay have a perfect balance.
Cutdowns
Many times a cutdown is needed for videos. Because not every platform is perfect for the same length of a video. We prepare for these in the scripting and storyboarding phases. This way we make sure that after creating a two-minute video that it can be used for a 60-second video and even a 30-second commercial.
So we begin at the top of the post-production again with a rough cut and work our way back to the final cut of the cutdown versions of the video.
Release
After all variations of your video are created you are ready to release. We provide all our clients the exact file type needed for every platform specified when we talked about goals.
Sometimes you may want a square video for Facebook and Instagram, and a high res one to post on your Youtube or Vimeo account, and even one that you can be embedded on your website. We also work with the TV stations to deliver precisely the files they need for a commercial.
As you can see for video production to be successful, there has to be much more behind it than just a guy or girl with a camera.
If you don’t have the expertise, resources, or time to produce video content in-house, look externally. Find the right production company for you and let them guide you through the process.
A big thank you for your blog. Really looking forward to reading more. Awesome.
Thanks, Damaris! Glad you are enjoying it. More to come…