The Production Process

The production process can be broken down into the following stages:

• Pre-production (planning)
• Production (lights, camera, action)
• Post-production (editing)
• Delivery

Planning is all. It will save you time, money and heartache. It will also allow you the confidence to improvise and remain adaptable during the production process.

As part of your planning always ensure your cast and crew are well fed.

To help you plan, a variety of tools and techniques are available.

The Script

EDTeC recommends the two column form of script layout. The left column contains the visual elements of the script and the right column contains the audio elements of the script in line with the relevant vision. As the reader reads down the page he/she can see how the vision and audio components of the script inter-relate.

The Storyboard

The storyboard is a shot by shot breakdown of the visual elements of the script with accompanying notes on the audio component of the script written under each shot. The storyboard is an excellent way to refine the visual approach to your material and plan for how much coverage you will need to illustrate your material effectively (more about that later).

The Shooting Schedule

The shooting schedule is really what happens when and who is involved. It is a word document which tells everyone involved in the production when they will be needed and for approximately how long. It spans the entire length of the production phase of your project.

Call Sheets

Call sheets are a refinement of the shooting schedule in that they span a day at a time. In the same way that a story board refines the scripting process, the call sheet articulates who is needed when on any particular day of the production. It has personnel, time and location details for each cast and crew member.

Additional handy hints

A list of props and extra components required for specific scenes in your production will further help you organise daily logistics for your project. Finally, an equipment checklist will ensure you have all the production equipment you need for your video shoot.

Remember, the whole point of the pre-production process is to adequately prepare for the chaos of the production phase of your project.