We have been doing a lot of video production lately, so our minds have been on video production and best practices for smooth sailing. Specifically, we want to discuss how important it is to stay organized.
It is important to be specific, concise, and to think about every angle in video production from the very first brainstorming session. Below is a list to help you stay more organized in your production, or at least to understand the process a little better when you hire a company.
- Brainstorming – This is the foundation of your video. During your first brainstorming session, look at samples of work you love, choose elements of those videos that you love and take note of those so that you can incorporate them into your final video. Start thinking of the individual shots that you will need and keep a list.
- Storyboarding – This is where you start to get more specific. With the initial shot list and favorite samples in mind, you will start to visualize the video and how that final product will look. This is a very detailed process in which you imagine what each frame will contain and, if you can sketch, you sketch it out. If not, a paragraph or notes will suffice. From this you can begin building a more detailed shot list as well.
- Equipment list – Now that you have a shot list, you’ll want to make sure you have the equipment you need to execute the shots you want. Again, be very specific and make sure to cover every single base. There’s nothing worse than realizing that you don’t have a key piece of equipment when you need it on the day of the shoot!
- Scheduling – Once you have your storyboard and detailed shot list complete, you can start scheduling your shooting days. The shot list will inform this scheduling. This is another place where being very organized and specific will help cut down on resources like time and travel. Make sure to leave time for retakes, breaks, and travel between locations.
- Organizing Files – Sometimes, you’ll be downloading files on location, so you’ll want to think about your folder structure before the shooting day. This will help you to be more agile when it’s time to download the files on the fly, but also, this will make post-production run more smoothly. You cannot be over-prepared for a video shoot.
- Editing – Another time where it is important to think the process through very carefully so that you can organize your files in a way that makes sense. You will refer back to your storyboard during editing to use that as a guide for your decisions about composition, sound, color correction, etc.
Video production is a creative endeavor, but it also requires a technical, organized mindset in order to execute it efficiently. Pinstripe Marketing offers full video production and animation, as well as consulting services to help your team create videos in house.
