The Ultimate Guide to Video Production: From Concept to Completion

Did you know that the very first video recording got produced  in 1888? Video technology has come a long way since then. Today, video production is useful for all sorts of industries and it plays an important part in advertising and distributing information. 

But there is a problem: creating a video, unfortunately, is not as easy as pressing a button and letting your camera do all the work. Whether you’re working with a video production company or on your own, there are many things that you need to consider and put together before you even record a single second of film. But where should you start?

Keep reading and learn more about the video production process and how you can get from a concept to a completed project.

Long before you even get near a camera or a script, you will need to get through the development phase. This phase is when corporate video production starts to take hold. For marketing videos, in particular, this is when you have the chance to think about your marketing goals. 

How do you want to market your product or service using a video format? Do you want to tell a narrative story or do you want to be more straightforward? Is the video you’re making isolated or is it part of a series?  

While these questions may all sound very minor, they actually play a big part in crafting and shaping the final product. After all, if you don’t have an idea of what the video should be about and how it should present itself, how can you expect the video to ever be a finished product in the first place?

During the development process, you will have the opportunity to think about certain marketing aspects that you won’t have a chance to go over again later in the video production process.

Video marketing and video production services can help you during this process if you need help. If not, these services can still help you later on in the production process. Getting help is not a bad thing when it comes to making marketing videos.

In fact, it can be very beneficial. After all, it isn’t very realistic to do all of the development, pre-production, post-production, and so on all by yourself. Hiring  professional video services to help you will take a lot of weight off of your shoulders. 

More than that, it will also help you focus more on other aspects of the video production process since you will have more time to work with. 

While you’re still in the development stage, there are a few questions you should ask to flesh out your future video. Questions about your target audience are particularly important because, after all, the target audience is who will be watching your videos. If you don’t cater to them, they won’t be interested in what you’re marketing and all your effort will be for nothing. 

What age is your target audience? What socioeconomic class are they? Can you connect with them better on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, or something else?

Your resulting video can go through a lot of changes depending on what kind of audience you’re targeting. For example, a video for a younger audience may benefit from being more colorful, fun, and even animated. On the other hand, a marketing video aimed at an older audience would benefit from being more mature and factual. 

The product you’re trying to market is also important. If you’re marketing some kind of software, you will want your video to look relatively professional. On the other hand, if you are making a video to advertise toys for children, you will want your video to be much more entertaining and catchy. 

At this point, you will also want to think of your campaign strategy. You will want to consider what you want your videos to accomplish. Do you want to entertain or inspire your audience?

Of course, you will also want to think about your limits. Understanding the limits of your budget is especially important. You might have an amazing video idea, but if it goes beyond your budget, you might have to substitute that idea for something more feasible. 

Once you’re mostly out of the development stage, you will want to start developing the script for your project. There is no more asking, “What is video production exactly?” Instead, you know exactly what video production is and you’re on your way to creating a video that thousands or even millions of people will watch. 

You can only start writing the script once you already understand your demographic, your limits, and your brand. Before writing the script, you will want to create an outline. This will help you determine what exactly you want to include in the final video. 

It will also help you to organize the video and determine which segments should come first. It will help you form the introduction, middle, and conclusion of the video as well. That way, you will have a sturdy foundation to work off of once it’s time to start writing the actual script. 

Once it’s time to start writing the script, you will have to be much more detailed than the outline. The script is all about how exactly things should be done and how they  should look once the camera starts rolling. Of course, the first draft of the script will not likely be the final draft.

Most of the time, a script will need to go through several revisions before you can reach the final product. Working with a professional video production company can help you sort all this out. It will also make the process much easier and much smoother than if you were to try to do it all on your own. 

Once the script is done, it’s time to get into the pre-production stage. By this point, the script will be in its final revision and it will be approved. The next step is to create a storyboard (or several of them). 

A storyboard will depict how the shots should look once the camera starts rolling. Besides that, pre-production will be a time for finding the right place to film. For example, if you want to film outside, you will have to find a good place to do it and you might have to get a permit as well.

If you are filming inside on a set, it will be much easier to set everything up because the environment is more controlled. Greenscreens in particular can make the process much easier because you can put whatever background you want on them. You will also need to find actors or voice actors during the pre-production stage. 

Finding the right actors for your video is of particular importance because they will deliver much of the video’s central message. If your target audience doesn’t like the actor or how the actor performs, the message of your video might not go over well. The same goes for choosing a voice actor.

If the voice actor doesn’t have an appealing voice, your target audience likely won’t be too enthralled by the video. 

During the pre-production process, you will also need to hire people to help you create the video. For example, you will need a director, an art director, someone for the hair and makeup, someone to control the audio, someone for the wardrobes, and so on. Once you have all of these people on your side, you will find that it will be much easier to start working and creating your marketing video. 

Of course, don’t forget to buy or rent video equipment. Once you have everything in place, you will be able to start producing the video. 

The production stage is the stage in which the camera actually starts rolling. As mentioned before in the pre-production stage, you will need to find a good place to start filming the video. Whether the location is outside or inside, the  production stage is when you need to start prepping the location. 

Prepping the location usually means that you will need to input some props to dress up the location a little bit. The props and furniture can make a big difference in how the location feels.

By adding a certain style of furniture, you can make the environment look cozy or cold, casual or corporate.

Besides the props, the lighting is of particular importance. If the lighting is too bright, no one will be able to see what’s going on when the video is finished because everything will be washed out. 

You will have the same problem if the lighting is too dark. 

Using natural light can be beneficial, but it’s hard (if not impossible) to control it, so you’ll have to be careful. You will also want to consider the camera movements once the camera starts rolling. During pre-production, the storyboards should have already clarified what direction the camera should point and where it should move to capture the scene. 

Once the camera  starts filming, there should be no guessing involved. Instead, everything should be planned out and you should know exactly what’s going to happen. Of course, you may need to make adjustments if some things don’t translate well from the storyboard to reality. 

Finally, the audio is very important. If the audio turns out badly, you’ll hardly be able to use it. And of course, if most of your video’s message is in audio form, this could be disastrous. 

To ensure that the audio turns out well, you will want to make sure that you’re using a good microphone. You’ll also want to ensure that the microphone is in a good position to pick up audio. 

Post-production doesn’t mean that the day is done and you can relax. Instead, there is still plenty of work that needs to be wrapped up. Editing is the main thing you will be doing during this stage. 

You should have all of  the film you need to work with by this point. All that’s left to do is go over it and make sure it’s polished. For example, this is when you will be able to cut out any parts of the video that don’t flow smoothly or don’t look as good as you wanted. 

If some important parts didn’t turn out well, you may have to refilm them. This is also the case with the audio. If some scenes look good but the audio turned out horribly, you will have to redo the audio. 

You may be able to do this by utilizing a voiceover. If not, you may still have to redo the whole scene. Color grading is also an important part of post-production.

Color grading allows you to achieve the perfect colors for the video so it is in its most attractive form. 

After your video is finally complete, you will need to market and distribute it. You will need to distribute it across different platforms and those platforms will depend on your target audience. After your video circulates for some time, you should soon see how successful it turned out to be. 

Video production is a very long process, but it can be very rewarding, especially for your brand. By using videos to market your brand and your brand’s products and services, you can reach a wide audience that will be interested in learning more about your business.

To learn more, check out the video production services we have to offer at Shields Films.