Depending on the needs of your client, you can make a variety of videos. There are many variables and expenses associated with creating a corporate video. The time and energy you put into preparing will determine how well your video production turns out. Production know-how is useless if you don’t have a great idea and strategy to back it up.
The most important part of making a video is the preparation work. It’s also the most difficult to justify financially. Equipment, crew, and editing time are very simple to price out, but how much does an idea cost? It’s a lot. There are essential steps that must be taken before an outside location shot if you want your project to be successful and profitable.
A Detailed Roadmap for Successful Pre-Production Preparation
Establish the Goals of the Production
You need to know exactly what your client wants from the video you’re making for them. Is the goal to get people to know about your customer or to set them apart from the competition? Every company goal ought to have a corresponding, quantifiable result, no matter how lofty the intention is. If you cannot precisely define your client’s goal, you are wasting their time as well as your own. Most videos bomb because their message is scattered. It is, therefore, vital that you understand the steps that the intended viewers would take after viewing the movie.
Recognise Your Intended Audience
Successful marketing campaigns focus on convincing potential buyers of a product or service’s worth. Success is more likely if the video is more specific. Therefore, you should investigate the concerns of your client’s customers and potential customers.
Develop Your Message
Knowing what has to be said is an essential first step in developing the message. One main message is best, but two or three supporting ones are acceptable if the customer has more ambitious goals in mind. Don’t overwhelm your audience with more than three messages, or none of them will stick.
Distribution Plans
Before making the video, you should inquire about the client’s distribution plans. You can use this information to plan your next move in the video creation process. Keep in mind that people watching on mobile devices, video apps, or professional business portals are very different from the broadcast audience. If the intended viewers can’t watch the video, it serves no use.
Draught a Plot Outline
A storyboard is a blueprint for the sequence of events in a film. It takes your concept and incorporates crucial elements like animation, tone, and voice-over to convey your message effectively. The video’s pace, tone, style, and length can all be set at this stage. It is important to document your goals for the video with the customer and anyone else who will be working on it, even if a comprehensive storyboard is not in the cards. This provides a methodical framework for learning from the video.
Schedule Meetings Before Production Begins
The number of individuals and meetings involved in video production is directly proportional to the size and complexity of the project. In the case of smaller projects and a willing customer, a simple video production brief may be sufficient to kick off the planning process. Story planning sessions with persons involved in larger projects are necessary to ensure that all important perspectives of the project are acquired.
Pick a Suitable Location
Find a suitable location for the filming. Several unique buildings, natural environments, metropolitan landscapes, historic places, and coastal settings are all possibilities as you analyse potential shooting locations in Dubai, for example. Ideally, you’ll pick a setting that works well with the kind of movie your customer wants to make.
However, places do change, so it’s a good idea to double-check your chosen spot a week or even hours before your scheduled shooting day. The suitability of a place might drastically shift according to external factors like traffic, bad weather, and the presence of tourists. You should also assess the degree of lighting to determine if you need to carry additional lighting devices.
Make sure you have enough room to spread out your equipment. When planning a shoot, a small shed may seem ideal until you realise there is nowhere to put all of your equipment. However, even if you’re in a large area, you may be confined to a certain area.
Acquire Necessary Permits
Permission from the appropriate authorities may be needed in some areas. Instead of having a video shoot interrupted by the police, it is preferable to acquire authorization in advance. It’s not easy to shoot a video. The complexity of video production implies that many different things can go wrong during the process. The above-mentioned measures, together with careful pre-production planning, will assist ensure that your outside location shot goes off without a hitch. Nonetheless, you should always keep an open mind and be flexible in case any unforeseen difficulties develop while filming.
Finding the Right People to Star in the Video
In the pre-production phase, you should also think about casting the right actors and actresses for your corporate film. It is important to carefully pick the people who will be doing the voiceovers, whether they are in-house employees, professional actors, or voiceover artists. The video’s message will resonate more or less strongly with viewers depending on who plays key roles in the production. Do they have the same range of customers as your client does? How well do they think they can perform the script? It’s possible that some coaching will be required to bring out the best in the non-professional performers you have on staff to create an engaging performance. Keep in mind that the people included in your video will represent your client’s brand, so make sure they’re a good fit.
The Importance of Good Audio
The value of video material cannot be overstated, but the value of high-quality audio cannot be ignored either. Even if your video is stunning to look at, you still risk losing viewers if the audio isn’t up to par. The use of lapel or boom mics may be required if the location of the shot has excessive background noise that cannot be muffled. The right score can do wonders for your video’s atmosphere and tone, so keep that in mind as well. To avoid copyright infringement, however, you must make sure you have the necessary licenses for any music used.
Stakeholder Involvement
To guarantee that your video is in line with the company’s vision and goals, you must involve key stakeholders regularly during the pre-production phase. Misunderstandings can be avoided and consensus can be reached more easily if updates are provided frequently and permission is sought before making big decisions. Some examples of such choices are the script, the actors, and the filming site. In addition to making everyone feel more heard and included, getting stakeholder input early on can help you avoid having to make expensive adjustments later. Although this may increase the amount of time spent on pre-production, it can help make sure that shooting and editing go off without a hitch, leading to a finished product that exceeds the client’s expectations.
To navigate the intricacies of video production, it’s crucial to utilize every available resource. Various online platforms can help streamline the process. For instance, cipro.co.za can help ensure that all necessary permits and legalities are addressed for filming locations.
Platforms such as dailylive.co.za keep you informed about the latest happenings and events around the city, which is beneficial when planning external location shoots to avoid disruptions.
Finally, post-production services, as offered by jupiter.co.za, provide that professional touch that can make your video stand out. They can bring your vision to life with high-quality editing and audio services.