What happens after you’ve decided to invest in video—and what does the pre-production stage even mean?
So you’ve decided to start working with a video production agency to create videos for your company. Great! But now what? And what does all this production speak mean? The reason you’re coming to us in the first place is because we are the experts, so let us help you break down some of the film terminology you may encounter along the way, and review what to expect once you’ve made that initial decision.
First things first: whenever someone decides to invest in video for their company, whether you’ve reached out through email, submitted a contact form, or scrolled through our website, we always set up a call. No hardball pitches here, no gimmicky sales tactics. We just have an open conversation. This call is usually when we learn what you are looking for in a video service and why you want one in the first place.
Following your initial call, we set up another call or video conference, sometimes meeting in person (for locals, in a pre-COVID world) to talk about expectations, discuss what type of videos will be the best for your business and get more information about the heart of your brand. We call this the kick off call. We’ve already browsed your company’s web site and brainstormed some ideas, but this is our chance to establish a deeper relationship and find out what it is you want.
After the kick off call, our senior copywriter, creative director and creative producer get to work on concepts for the video, a storyboard and a script. No matter what service our client has asked for—whether that’s a product video or an online commercial or something else entirely— we have much the same creative process, which all relates back to how we want to use your brand’s story to resonate on video. We believe this is the key to successful video production and have had positive results with this.
Once we get a solid grasp on our client’s business and brand, we write an initial script and schedule a second video conference to work through this script together. This allows our clients a chance to give their feedback, and generally leads to some fun brainstorming by both teams. After the review process, the script is perfected and approved by both the client and creative director.
This entire process is an important part of what we call the pre-production stage—but it’s not the only part. Pre-pro is also when we set all the little details in motion for filming: where and when we are going to shoot and initiate the casting process if we need to hire actors or a host. Our Vice President of Production and Operations is the point person on all these logistical elements, while our editors, animators, and producers are prepping for the technical aspects of the shoot, such as reviewing the script to create a shot list and lighting set up. Our animation team starts to draw up the animation design if there will be animation in the video.
Pre-production is a fun and fascinating part of the process and hopefully you’ve got slightly more insight into it. If you have an idea but need help taking it to the next-level – explore our Corporate Video Services
