by Sean Carr4 reasons why pre-production is important
Video projects are very exciting and some of our business clients across Norfolk are so ready to jump in and start filming straight away. However, if left poorly planned, it could leave you with badly executed video content, frustration and potentially a more expensive project than what was initially considered. Pre-production is the development of a concept, script, storyboard and running order for the day of production that forms the foundation for the entire project.
So ultimately, the more time spent in pre-production, the smoother the production will be.
This isn’t to hinder the process, more to provide everyone with the vision you have for the project. Everything that happens in the production and post-production stages refers back to the work set out in pre-production planning stage.
Top 4 reasons why video pre-production will help you:
- Realise your vision. From the scripting and storyboarding, you can get a much better understanding of how the project is going to look and feel. This will help you see what shots and scenes are planned, its much quicker to add and amend these before filming commences.
- Higher production value. When we plan your content it shows in the finished video. Instead of winging it on the day, everyone will already know the tone, audience they’re trying to reach, lighting, the lens to use and so on. This brings every cog of the video’s production together and it shines through on the finished video.
- Saving your time and money. Putting together a plan enables everyone to see what needs to be achieved, and saves everyone from making potential costly errors. It also reduces the delays to the production of the video. Having a call sheet (or running order) for the production day, saves everyone asking the same question, and is tailored to the information required for each individual, such as times they need to be there, scenes they will need to be involved in and so on.
- Cuts down the stress. Most people get concerned, worried and stressed out with things that are beyond their control or don’t understand. Planning the video project before helps everyone feel at ease and they all know what they need to do, when to do it and how to do it.
So what can you do to ensure you are doing everything you can in pre-production?
- Visualise the finished project. Ask yourself, ‘after the viewer has watched this video, what will they know? What action will they take? How will they feel?’ Once you know the answer to these questions, send them to the production team, they will brainstorm ideas on how to achieve this.
- Is this your first time with video production? Speak to your production team and ask questions, there may be limitations to what you want to achieve, or better yet another approach you may not have considered. This will help you make some better decisions with the project.
- Create a budget. This will help you stay on track financially. Allocating a budget for the production will not only help keep your idea grounded but it’ll also keep you on track with the rest of your marketing campaign.
- Avoid too many cooks in the kitchen. Specifically choose the right people as key stakeholders for this project, and keep this team small, having too many people making these key business and creative decisions can make things confusing and can cause delays in areas of the project. Having the business owner or marketing manager with one other helps keep things on track and running smoothly.
By following this, you will be well on your way to create a successful video pre-production plan that will set you up for success.