What to Expect When Working With a Video Production Company
Working with a Video Production Company is an exciting time. There’s a lot of creativity and ideas flying around as the team plans how to create the best video ever, but there’s also a lot of pressure. However, it’s a great way to Bring Your Brand Story to Life as we revealed in a recent blog! You need to make sure that you are getting the most out of your budget and that you get a good ROI. That’s why, this week we’re here to take you through the process of how to best work with a video production company. Of course, every video project is unique but there are some standard business practices that can be helpful to know from the beginning and can put everyone at ease as you embark on your thrilling project. Let’s begin.
Day 1
It’s often standard business practice to take a deposit up front when a job is booked in. This means that the production company can secure the filming dates, book crew, book venues, hire film equipment, buy or hire props and arrange accommodation and transport, etc. To do that, they will need your registered company name, address and number, your VAT number (if applicable) and all contact details. In the beginning stages, it’s useful to share the ideas of what you are trying to achieve with the video, who your target audience is and what would be the best outcome from this video content.
Pre-Production
During this stage, all of the particulars of the shoot (filming venues, accommodation, transport, etc.) will be arranged and booked by the production company. Any scripts and storyboards will be created at this point too, so there can sometimes be a few meetings during this stage to help everyone clarify the deliverables and expectations of the shoot.
Filming
Depending on the nature of your film shoot (the type of shoot), you might have a clear storyboard as well as a script to work from on the day of the shoot, which will help everyone to have a really clear idea of what is expected of them on the day, and ensure everything is captured.
Your video production team will arrive with lots of equipment including cameras and usually large lighting setups, and depending on the scale of the shoot, they may also be arriving with a large crew too. This could include make up artists, hairdressers, stylists, runners, producers, sound technicians, lighting technicians (gaffers) as well as the usual camera operators and representatives from your company that you would expect to be in attendance.
As the crew will arrive with a large amount of equipment, there are a few things that you can do in advance to prepare for the shoot.
If your film crew is working at a location that you have arranged, you can ensure that all accessibility passes are granted in advance, all parking permission is granted and that any potential obstacles for people getting in and out of the building with kit on the day are removed. However, if your production team has arranged the location themselves, this will all be taken care of by them in advance.
When filming, your production company might request certain environmental conditions. For example, the crew will be creating their own cinematic lighting from scratch and the best way for them to do that is for the lighting in the room to be turned off, so that they can create the most flattering lighting with their own lighting equipment. This might mean speaking with the building manager to find out the best way to turn off the lights. If this is not possible, then don’t worry as the film crew can put up blackout flags to block some of the light. This is an important process to achieve the most cinematic look.
For the best sound quality, any extraneous noise needs to be kept to a minimum, so things like air conditioning systems need to be turned off in that room if possible (if they are noisy). If there’s any maintenance work nearby it needs to be paused ideally for that day. When filming in busy towns and city centres, it’s best that windows are kept closed so that urban noises are kept to a minimum. There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a great scene with a one take wonder on camera when a helicopter comes over head!
If the sound quality is really important to the shoot, then to get the best audio, a mixture of mics and boom might be used and there might well be a sound technician controlling it all.
Editing
During the editing stage, you can help your video production company by providing a clear brief of important shots to include in the edit. During the filming, the crew will typically film everything on the storyboard plus a few extra bonus shots, just incase they are useful. Editing is where the video comes to life and includes shot selection, music, sound effects, colour grading, special effects and animation.
In certain circumstances, it can also be arranged for you to come into the production office and work with the editor directly to ensure all of your favourite shots are used. This is a great way to enhance your experience as a client if you are interested in being involved in all aspects of the production. Otherwise, just sit back, relax and let us handle the rest!
Animation and Visual Effects
Animation can be a worthwhile and very beneficial addition to your video. There are a lot of different types of graphics and effects that can be added from text and motion graphics to retouching flaws and adding magical visual effects, like sparkles, for example.
Animation can be particularly helpful for viewers if they have a lot of information to take in. If you do decide that your video requires animation, then the first step is the production company supplying style frames. Giving clear instructions to your animator or animation team will rapidly speed up the process.
Amends
As the project reaches its conclusion, you can help get the deliverables over the finish line by giving clear and thorough feedback. Two rounds of amends are industry standard, so be sure to have considered all angles and to have spoken to all of the relevant people involved in the video project before feeding back to your video production company.
Finally, our top tip for getting the best from you video production company is to be flexible, know your outcomes, have good communication and to choose a great video production to work with!
To make Nomadic UK your go-to video production company, then call 01242 373942 or email them on hello@nomadic.uk
And don’t forget to check out our Instagram page to see what we’ve been up to this week!
Call producer Amy on 07806306802 or email us on hello@nomadic.uk Check out our latest Instagram post to see what we are working on this week.
In a while crocodile! Love The Nomads xoxo
