Enter the wonderful world of video production. Here, you can
make your dreams a reality, put your visions into practice, and let your voice
be heard. Whether your goal is corporate, consumer, or entertainment in nature,
video production is the key to your success.
Before getting too excited and jumping into any video
production, it’s important for you to understand that the process is quite
extensive. In order for a video production to succeed, a long list of steps must
be followed. These steps largely fall into one of three categories:
pre-production, production and post-production.
While each step is an
important part of the video production process, pre-production can make or
break a project. In a nutshell, pre-production is the planning stage. Pre-production
is where the brunt of the work takes place: from conceptualizing and location
scouting, to casting, making shot sheets, storyboarding, filing for permits,
gathering crew, and gathering props. Pre-production is especially important as
just about every production throws you a curve ball. However, while my College
Professor, Dr Don Dexter, once said, "There is no thing as a perfect
production,” pre-production provides a means to preparing for and managing the uncertainties that pop up during a video
production. In fact, the more you plan in the pre-production stage, the easier
the next two steps will be.
When most people think/hear the word "video production,"
the production step is what comes to mind. Production is where you see all the
glitz of the video production process: being on location, playing with cameras
and lights, engaging with the talent, and watching all of the hard work in
pre-production pay off. However, this step should be the shortest step out of
the three. In other words, the more time you put into pre-production means less
time you spend on production, and less
money you have to spend on cast, crew, locations, and whatever other necessities
the project requires. It’s on that note that my motto is “get in, get the shot,
get out.” Believe me, absolutely no one likes to sit around on set bored for
hours. The sooner you can get into
post-production, the better.
This brings us to the last and final step: post-production.
This is where the magic, per se, happens. While most people think of
post-production as special effects, this is only part of a much larger picture.
Post-production, though including special effects, also encompasses everything
else after production. This could be anything from logging the footage, to getting a rough cut,
to audio soundscaping, color grading, adding motion graphics, and rendering. This sounds like a lot, and
rightfully so. With all these things to do, it’s hard to imagine how anyone keeps
track of what needs to happen. Well, as I’ve emphasized early on, the answer is
pre-production. If you did your pre-production correctly, then you have a manual
to your final product. By utilizing your shot sheet, storyboard, and script created
during the first step, you can easily find your way through the project.
Although each step in the video production process requires a ton of
work, I cannot stress enough how valuable and important pre-production is to
the success of a production. Video production
is fun and all the tools needed are at your fingertips. With that in mind, get
out there and film ( or hire a production house that will do it all for you)!
By: Eyal "Fill" Filkovsky
Producer/Director
EFillF Productions, LLC
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