If you are planning to make a business video, you might be wondering—what is involved in video production? There are five key phases in the corporate video production process. We’ll explain how they work and provide some tips to ensure each step goes smoothly.
Here are the five key stages in any video production:
- Developing a concept or story
- Pre-production (preparing to shoot)
- Production (the actual filming process)
- Post-production (editing and graphics)
- Distribution
Developing your Video Production Concept
The best videos serve a well-defined purpose. This purpose should focus on the viewer and their needs. You could produce an impressive video about your company and its achievements, but if there is no benefit for the audience, you risk losing their attention. When developing a proposal for a business video, consider these points:
Identify the need. What is the problem you are hoping to address with this video?
Define your audience. Who will watch your video, and what are their expectations?
Research the topic. Is there existing content? What resources are available?
Pre-Production – the Planning Stage
Once you’ve got your video concept sorted, now is an excellent time to approach a video production company like Offing Media to begin the production process. We can help you refine your ideas into a workable shooting script, with advice and suggestions on how to film the content. Some of the decisions made during the pre-production phase include:
- Finalising a budget for the shoot and post-production
- Creating a shooting schedule
- Finding the filming locations and on-screen talent
- Putting a crew together
Getting the pre-production phase right will set you up for an efficient, successful shoot. We have years of experience in the unique requirements of location filming and can troubleshoot challenges before they become an issue. Factors to consider when planning a shoot include:
- Where will the sun be at the time of day you wish to shoot?
- Will there be any noise issues at the location (e.g. nearby construction sites)?
- Do you need special filming permission at the chosen location?
Production – the Filming Stage
Once the shooting schedule is finalised, crew and talent booked, and locations arranged—you can begin to shoot. You may need to pencil in one or two backup filming days for poor weather if you’re planning to film outside. This allowance for extra filming time is a sensible precaution, as you may encounter problems due to someone falling ill or other unforeseen delays. Film crews can sometimes be quite large and can seem unnecessarily costly to an outsider. Yet a well-crewed video shoot is actually much more efficient, as everyone has a specific role and the work gets done quickly.
Post-Production – the editing Stage
Once the filming is complete, the shots are edited together and combined with music, sound effects and other elements such as motion graphics. Careful pre-production and a well-scheduled shoot will pay dividends here, giving the editor exactly what they need to produce the final video. Sometimes the first edit of a video will highlight the need for additional shots, and this is quite common, even on feature film shoots.
The Final Stage – Distribution
Distribution is essentially a decision about where and how your business video will be made available to your audience. Will it be on your staff intranet or company website? On a social media channel? Even though distribution is the final stage in the process, it should be factored into your planning right from the early concept stages. Each platform has it’s own requirements and knowing where your video will play can help you fine-tune your content to suit the target audience.
At Offing Media, we aim to make corporate video production an enjoyable and satisfying experience for everyone involved. Like any worthwhile project, video production is about the journey as well as the destination. Many of our clients find the film-making process reveals new insights into their business that they wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.
We hope this information has been useful, and we would welcome the opportunity to take that journey with you on your next video project.