Planning Ahead Matters
Planning ahead is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective video production. Whether the time frame is a few days or a few months, it’s important to think ahead in order to get the best and most effective results from your video. Investing in a video is an important part of your business and marketing strategy.
Here are a few factors that you might need to consider when planning your video.
Plan Plan Plan
Planning ahead means that you will have enough time to put together the right video for your needs. In some instances, it’s ok to put an idea into reality within a short time frame – however, the more time and creative thinking that goes into your video, the better the outcome will generally be.
The pre-production process is the unseen, yet most important part of creating a great video. This will often determine exactly how long the entire process will take.
By planning well we can avoid the need to “fix it in post production”.
Fixing things in post-production just isn’t always possible – and if it can be fixed, it can work out to be a time and money expensive process! Plan well and get it done right the first time. It’s a bit like the old builder’s adage, “measure twice, cut once”.
Time of Year
Something that we consider to be important is filming at the right time of year!
This one seems to be a bit of a trick for new players. It's not uncommon that we've been asked to film a summer holiday promotion during the cool winter months! Nothing is less convincing than a video trying to promote a gorgeous summer destination - with bare trees in the background, and an obviously icy chill in the air.
If you’re promoting an event or product that revolves around weather – it is important to be planning as far ahead as is possible. If you are promoting a range of snow sporting equipment, the best shots will show the gear being used in a beautiful snowy environment. Late planning might mean having to shoot with little or no snow – or too late in the season to be effective for the current year.
We operate our planning calendar a year or more in advance to make sure we are always thinking ahead. Want a promo video for next summer – lets film it this summer!
Timeframes
Ensure there is enough time for each stage of the process.
Production will probably take longer than you expect. The general industry rule of thumb is 1 hour of footage equates to 1 minute of edited footage. It might take much longer to capture 1 hour's worth of footage - depending on the project.
Interview preparation
Asking the right questions means that your video will be much more effective in reaching it’s target audience and ensuring the right messages are being communicated through the video.
We put preparation into how our questions are framed so as to draw out the real “gold”.
Special Requirements
Some videos achieve their effectiveness through the type of equipment that is used or a special type of environment. Using drones for aerial footage might require some forward planning – especially if permissions are required for legal purposes.
Remember, there can be a lot of pieces to put together in a video. We have recently filmed a new series of videos for an outdoor equipment provider. This has been months in the planning in order to get the best scenario. Some of the factors that all had to come together were:
the weather
travel
talent (actors)
special equipment
location availability
staff requirements
It’s not always easy to pull these factors together at the right time – but all the planning behind the scenes and before filming starts is what makes all the difference. It means that we can then be much more efficient and effective at “go time”.
If you’re thinking about using video – don’t be afraid to get the ball rolling early. Remember your video production starts long before your shoot day. As with anything, a little preparation goes a long way.
