All the Stages of the Video Production Process Explained

We often see the final video product whether it’s a movie, a TV commercial or YouTube video, but it can be tough to imagine all of the factors that go into making these pieces of media possible. What we don’t see is the planning, the challenges overcome and the actual production.

Before jumping into making a video, learn from our past mistakes, ask yourself some fundamental questions about the project:

• What is the goal of the project? (eg: Drive leads, engage audience on website longer, develop brand presence)
• Do you already have concept or vision for the video project? Are there already examples of what you want to have created?
• Who is the audience? What do you want the audience to do after watching (limit this to one thing)?
• Let’s maximize the production process — are there any other videos that can also be created? How can we make sure the video stands the test of time? (eg: remove irrelevant dates, years of experience)
• Do we have a deadline, a goal date for the rough and final drafts?

It is not possible to dive into all the aspects of producing a video in one article, but we will aim to review a brief overview of the production process. To make things easier we’ve broken the process into 3 parts: pre-production, production, post-production. Each of these links go into greater detail, let’s begin.

Pre-Production

In creating a strong piece of video content, it is important to map things out on paper, physically or digitally. The pre-production is the time to let ideas flow and begin dreaming of what an ideal project could look like. There is bound to be some tweaks along the way, but it is always best to get the ideas from your head to some kind of format for everyone to be able to review and process.

The first stage begins as a conversation about the project with someone from our team who has the expertise to process your ideas and provide insights into different possibilities. This can be done over a cup of coffee, virtual meeting (typically Zoom) or phone call. During this phase we will ask you a variety of questions to gain clarity and draw out the essence of your idea, as well as anything unique that we can highlight about your business. After collecting this information then determine the appropriate kind of video to create and will place all of these details into the creative brief. If you are unsure of what kind of video to make here is an article explaining the different types of videos that can be created.

The Creative Brief

A creative brief outlines all of the details of the project such as the scope of the project, important links, dates, etc. We like to make sure that everyone is on the same page before getting started. Within the brief you will often find:

• Outline of Deliverables
• Project Goals
• Project Overview (Description of the project)
• Video Length
• Filming Location
• Timeline for filming, first draft and publish date
• Distribution strategy
• Next Steps
• Quote
• Reference Links
• Ideas for Future Projects

What Will Be Said: Scripting

Outlining the speaking portions or voice over of your project can easily be accomplished with the outlining of a script. Scripting the project is important to making sure that all of the key points that you want to convey get expressed. Some scripts are more of an outline with bullet points, others are more detailed. It depends upon your industry, audience and video objectives that determine how scripted a video needs to be. For example the financial services and legal industries may need to make sure the script is within compliance standards, while a lifestyle business or coach might do better with some general bullet points. One thing for certain is to practice saying your script out loud, as often the way that we speak is much different than how we write. Unsure of how to script, we can help you, we have some talented go-to people in the industry that can get your company message crafted to perfection.

What Will it Look Like: Storyboarding

Storyboarding may seem like something that only Pixar or Disney might do. But you can do it too, but on a much smaller scale. Though our design skills are not as sophisticated as these larger businesses, we can still in essence give you a rough overview of what the frames of your project might look like. This saves time and provides insights into the project without spending a lot of production resources. A storyboard is helpful in visualizing your project, who will say what, when, and how it will be portrayed. Do keep in mind however, that the addition of storyboarding is more time intensive in the planning process and is an additional to the budget.

Tip: The more work you put in ahead of time, the less headache, troubleshooting and problem solving you will need to do while filming or in post-production.

Production

“Camera rolling, action.” This is the common phrase spoken right before recording on the day of your video shoot. This lets everyone know that the cameras are live and that is the green light to begin your lines. The production is where all of the hard work in the planning phase pays off. Some considerations for your production include:

• Travel to video shoot location
• Equipment set up and break down time (30 minutes)
• Tips for being on camera
• On-camera coaching and feedback

One of the unique factors of working with a small video production company is that we can provide added insight and brand messaging. We recently had a client with a new product who was uncertain about the phrasing and explanation of their software product. We were happy to be able to assist in drafting ideas for this as our production company had experience from a past interview with them understanding their vision, and so I was able to provide some helpful direction. A videographer can not only support in video capture efforts, but is able to help coach and guide you along the production journey.

We are happy to provide ideation support along the way and can help explain concepts and identify your brand perception. As a videographer we have a unique look into a business as we get to gather company stories and have a firm pulse on the intention and mood of an organization.

Post-Production

Keep in mind that great things take time. Expect a video to take about 3–4 weeks to turn around a project depending on the scope and other factors.

• Organize footage
• Editing (color, audio, sequencing)
• Music sourcing
• Two rounds of complimentary revisions.* (*Subject to change as we continue to grow and learn from projects)

You’ll have time to review the video and provide feedback on anything we may have missed.

When you’ve provided all of your feedback, then your video is done! Not quite. It’s important to finish strong by getting the video to the right locations to be seen by your audience. Distributing your video to the right platforms in a timely manner allows time for the video to take hold and begin to get traction with your audience (Article link about where your video can go).

Supplemental Elements

The best video in the world is useless unless people can find it, and secondly, feel compelled emotionally to click on it. To help with the search-ability of your video it is important to put effort into the:

• Title
• Thumbnail
• Description

Having a quality title is important because it briefly explains the hook or appeal of your video to get the audience to decide if it is worth their time to click on. We recommend to our clients to use tools like Keywords or SEMrush to gain an understanding of what your customers are likely to be searching. For example if you were a company that sold rubber ducks, it would be important to make sure you have a video addressing best bath toys, top rubber ducks, safe bath tub toys, ect.

Many people overlook the importance of having a high quality image to entice your audience to click on your video. Creating the best video in the world means nothing without a quality thumbnail, something that will stand out among other videos and emotionally capture the attention of the audience to engage with the video. Also, having a good description for your video will allow Google rank your video more efficiently. Have you considered transcribing the audio from your video? This text can be essential to embed into the description, as well as for possible blog post opportunities.

Another big overlooked aspect in the video production process is the importance of having a strong description. Using the keyword tools we mentioned earlier and taking a moment to write a few sentences as well as providing backlinks to your website is helpful in providing more context for Google to be able to better rank your videos.

Considerations: The Two Biggest Challenges to Video

For most of this article we have been outlining the logistics that go into creating a video, however it wouldn’t be fair to fail to mention the possible setbacks. The two factors that many have a challenging time understanding is that a quality video takes time and there is an amount of uncertainty and flexibility that takes place during the creative process.

Amazing things take time, please keep in mind that we are a small video production company with limited resources. Who wants to rush greatness anyway? We always ensure that we do our best work, and to do this, having a few weeks to dial everything in is essential. Also, it’s important to allocate time for the revision process as there is often some back and forth that needs to take place before nailing the optimal project.

The creative process is a winding road. Often we work with individuals who come from the corporate and financial industries, we get asked often to outline and create a clear picture of how and what the final product is going to look like. This is a challenge because there are many fluctuating factors that go into the creation process such as script changes, moved locations and lighting adjustments.

What gets said on camera usually always changes as scripts are typically written in our head voice, rather than how people speak, as we’ve mentioned previously. Also, what has been storyboarded may be subject to change as the location may be different from what was originally drafted, as well we may adjust the set up depending on variables such as optimizing sound and lighting. For example, for one of our big name clients who we won’t mention here, we scouted out 3 different locations before deciding on the final set. The original concept was to film in their lobby, but we decided to change this as we felt that the new location better reflected their brand with some iconic materials in the background. Reflecting the customer’s brand and best interest is always top of mind for us.

Distribution

Have you thought about where your video is going to live? Today, we have a lot of platforms to choose from including: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, to list some of the popular ones. We won’t go over each platform in this article, but keep in mind that for each platform it is best to find out what are the optimal dimensions for your video (eg: 1080x1080 for Instagram), and often it is a best practice to upload directly to the platform rather than sharing a link to allow for auto-play and increased engagement.

It Doesn’t Have to End with Video

Creating a video is just the tip of the content iceberg. A video lends itself to many other types of content such as shorter videos, supplemental blog posts, taking the audio and making it into a podcast, and if you have design capabilities, an infographic can create strong engagement.

Summary

Congratulations, now that you understand the pre-production, production and post-production aspects of video production you have a huge advantage to when it comes to working with your next video production vendor. With your new understanding about video production we hope that you not only have a new appreciation for the video content that you see, but have a better grasp of the different elements that go into making a successful project. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or if you need help developing a video strategy for your personal brand or are looking to enhance your business.

About the Author:

Bryan Cargill is the host of the VidMark Podcast, with over 7 years of video marketing experience making productions for corporate clients. Bryan’s digital video concepts allow him to take complex ideas and turn them into educational and entertaining video content. Visit www.tactusmedia.com to learn more!