If you are a lover of films like me, you must have experienced a situation where you watched one film or video and wished it never ended, only for you to watch another and wish you never did. Did you ever wonder why?
Well, it was so because one was shot with professionalism because the other was not!
When it comes to professional video production, be it advertorials, future films, or blockbusters, it takes more than just rolling out cameras and cast. A quality film or video production must take into account some pivotal steps and procedures. These steps include:
1. Development
Once the idea of producing a video is born, it takes many more steps until a finished video is created from the actual idea. This development stage is where you come up with a storyline, prepare a script by writing it by yourself, paying a writer or a team of writers to put together a script in line with your original idea. This stage is very crucial because one of the differences between expert video production and a poorly produced video is in the content of the production, especially if the video is an advertorial meant for brands.
Without unique and quality content, professional film and video production are incomplete.
Part of what an audience looks forward to in video production is the content and its quality. Content greatly influences the professionalism of a film and video production. Quality content should have a storyline that plays out in sequence, has a beginning, a middle, and an ending (the climax).
2. Pre-production
This stage comes just before the actual production. This is where all the planning takes place to ensure a successful production. Activities such as location and setting, casting, and schedule/budgeting are critically looked into at this point. It's a known fact that location plays a significant role in the portrayal of an idea or a theme hence, the production crew must ensure that the location is relevant to the storyline if professionalism must be achieved.
To pass the message to your audience, you should properly script and cast actors to enforce the script. A poorly acted script waters down even the most uniquely created content. This is why the casting process should be done by professionals and potential actors adequately auditioned.
3. The video production
This is where all the existing planning is implemented. From the creation of the schedule, it is now for the video production, the actual shooting. The shoot itself could be one of the shortest but also the most important steps in video production. Before the shoot, the entire team often meets with the lead character and the client to be able to go through certain details again and to get to know the location.
Recordings of the scenes are repeatedly checked by the producer with the help of, for example, picture reports. The responsibility for the sequence of the shooting lies with the producer. They structure the orders at the location and make changes to the shooting schedule if necessary. Also, while the shooting is still taking place, possible dates for marketing of the finished video production are already being made.
It is agreed on which video platforms and channels the video production is distributed on the web. Short versions of the entire video production are usually required for social media and video marketing.
4. Post-production
Once the video project has been shot, it is not yet in its final version. There is still post-production, also called editing.
During post-processing, the filmed video material is viewed again, brought into the correct chronological order and a usable collection of material is made. Then the cut takes place, in which individual recordings are put together in such a way that the video tells its planned story.
Once the post-processing has been completed, the video production goes through a change loop in which the client can once again influence the finished video.
At this phase too, color correction comes in to ensure coherence between scenes and lightning. Also, the audio editing takes place here.
5. Call to Action
A call to action is a call to take a step towards the growth of a brand. It could be a call to subscribe to a podcast, share an ad, buy a product, use a service, and other related actions. A call to action is usually made at the end of the video production, but it could also come in at any time in the video. This is common in advertorial video productions.
Professional Film and Video Production
All the above put together by a team of professionals is what leads to a professional film or video, the type that you watched and wish it never ended!