Video is not only a source of entertainment. It is also a powerful marketing tool that helps engage consumers through video promotion, thus adding value to a company. Moreover, video is beneficial for learning about various topics or products that one wants to know about.
In a 2020 study by HubSpot, more than half of the interviewed customers (54 percent) admitted they’d love to see more videos from their trusted brands. The same report saw 83 percent of marketers cite video marketing as a crucial lead generation tool.
Today, customers find videos more engaging than other content types.
In this article, you will learn about the process and the three stages of production.
What is the Process of Video Production?
Videos are created for entertainment, as in movies, or commercial use, as in promotional content. Other times, creatives produce videos for educational or instructional purposes.
Thus, filmmaking is the process of planning a film, capturing it, and perfecting it for public consumption.
Production is a sophisticated process that involves:
- Preparing for the footage
- Shooting the film
- Editing/mastering for public use
In marketing, video production is a vital communication and conversion tool because today, audiences consume footage more than any other content type.
Nevertheless, most businesses find video making burdensome, complicated, and time-consuming. No wonder most of them outsource this task to a video production creative.
The Three Stages of Video Production
As hinted above, video production is a sophisticated 3-stage process that requires patience and a well-drafted plan.
The three stages of video production are:
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-Production
Each stage is divided further into multiple tasks that you must finish to create a video that your audience will love.
Pre-production
It is the process of deciding the video purpose, laying down the plan, and gathering the resources you need for video footage.
During this phase, you must accomplish these ten tasks:
1. Decide the video purpose
This first stage is to determine the video’s purpose. For business owners, the goal is to advertise and sometimes educate their audiences through instructional videos.
Every film begins with a goal or intent. Do you intend to advertise, educate or entertain?
Always start by deciding the video purpose. This will give you a sense of direction as you plan the film and determine your choices in the subsequent steps.
2. Who is your Target Audience?
Do you know your target audience? Are you aware of their tastes and preferences? What appeals to them, prompting them to engage?
If you already know who your target audience are, what they enjoy and how they tend to think, good for you. However, if you do not have a firm understand about them, it is time to conduct a thorough research.
Apart from learning about their demographics such as location, age, and gender, try gaining more insights into their everyday lives. What common problem do their share? Who do they consider as their influencers?
Conducting some interviews, searching on what the audience is enquiring online and looking at your social media pages followers while asking them relevant questions are a good way of learning more about your target market.
3. Determine the video message
Step 2 is deciding the message your video should convey to your audience. Ask yourself, “What am I telling my customers? What action do I expect from them after the video?”
Conveying the right message is essential in triggering the right action from your audience. For instance, if you’re creating a promotional video, your message should show concern towards customer problems and encourage them to buy a product or subscribe to a service.
Remember, the core message varies with the intent of the video. For instance, if you plan to educate customers about changes in service offerings, the message will be different from that of a marketing video.
4. Lay down the video plan
Your video strategy should weigh the investments versus the anticipated gains. It should also determine the budget and, if possible, detail the return on investment for the project.
This is also the time to determine the approach, i.e., Do you need 2D animations or human characters? What is the timeline for your campaign?
5. Write a production summary.
A production summary is a compilation of the info you have put together. It should keep you on track throughout the filming process.
Remember to include the following so that you keep track of everything:
- Project goals
- Focus group
- Video message
- Cost
- Completion timeline.
6. Build a storyline
Videos tend to tell stories. Therefore, you must pick a story that resonates with your audience’s problems and needs if you’re going to capture their attention.
When thinking of a storyline, start thinking of the right talent to play those scenes; this is the time to decide the characters for your film. Remember also to draw inspiration from different sources, e.g., previous videos, TV adverts, etc.
After building a storyline, you can proceed to create a script that tells your story.
7. Create a Script
Your storyline should help you determine the number of characters you need and the wording to use in your script.
When writing the video script, be sure to include crucial information like the setting, props, non-verbal cues, background music, etc., to give your team a clear picture of the desired scene.
8. Produce your Storyboard
Having a storyboard is not always necessary as a stage of video production. However, it is pretty helpful in visualizing how to shoot the video. It also helps to translate the information in the scripts into visual, tangible goals.
To learn more about a storyboard, click here.
9. Choose locations
Use your script to determine the right location for your video. Choosing an appropriate setting reinforces the video message, ensuring a relevant clip production for your target group.
Be reasonable when picking locations: you don’t want to break the bank just to shoot a video overseas.
10. Gather the resources
After deciding on a storyline and drafting a clever video script, you can determine the equipment and resources you need to see the campaign through.
Always prepare everything upfront to simplify your work down the road.
11. Handpick Talent
Whether you need screen actors, voice actors (or both) for the campaign, there’s plenty of talent out there for you to outsource the job.
For instance, you can search for creatives on freelance platforms like Bunny Studio. However, the freelancer you choose must fit the character in your storyline.
12. Draft a filming schedule
Your filming schedule is like drafting a timetable. It should detail the set of activities taken to complete the video. Moreover, it should specify the date, timeline, resources, and cost of each task.
Production
Filming or production in this stage is setting up the scene, directing actors through the script, and capturing the video.
Since you have planned everything, you should have a rough estimate of the timeline for each activity.
You will also need someone to act as the film director for the project. Nevertheless, recruiting a reputable video agency will aid in filling this spot effectively.
Directors help you get the most out of your actors and actresses. They also ensure you stick to the script and storyline.
Lastly, they can help you accomplish specific production tasks, likes:
i. Positioning the lights
Lighting impacts video clarity. Setting your equipment ensures proper, correct lighting, reducing the correction workload during post-production.
ii. Positioning the camera
The accuracy of the camera work during the shooting stage determines the quality of your film.
If possible, hire an expert for this process to help you choose the best angles for your clip based on intent.
iii. Supervising the actors
Your talent should convey the right message through words and non-verbal cues. A video director helps you supervise the talent and ensure the characters adhere to the script and storyline.
After shooting a film, you can proceed to the final stage of video production.
Post-Production
This phase involves correcting the video to eliminate errors (like poorly lit sections), grading it, and adding visual effects to prepare it for stream and broadcast.
Post-production involves:
a) Correcting the video
To correct a video, you eliminate all shooting errors like poor lighting to prepare it for coloring and grading.
b) Coloring the video
Coloring and grading add color to a clip to portray a certain mood, feeling, or atmosphere among viewers.
c) Adding background music
You can also add accompanying music to the footage. Music sets the mood, and video production specialists add accompanying tracks to reinforce the core message.
d) Adding closed captions
You can also add closed captions or relevant subtitles to make the video more accessible to a broader audience, i.e., the deaf and those with hard of hearing.
Subtitles also make your clips consumable even in public environments where viewers prefer to mute their devices or in noisy locations where hearing is compromised.
How Much Does it Take to Produce a 5-minute Video?
Video production costs vary depending on who you hire for the job and the resources you need for the project. You will spend less when you hire a freelancer than when you outsource to a filming company.
For example, creatives from Bunny Studio will charge anything from $760 to $17500 for a 5-minute video. These experts handle everything from Film Production to Animations, Motion Graphics, and 2D Character Animation.
Remember to ask whether this cost includes the resources you need to produce your video before committing to a deal.
Conclusion on the Stages of Video Production
In the era of social media, footages get more shares and likes than audios and written content. This increased viewership explains the increasing attention towards them.
Hiring a freelance expert for your video project offers peace of mind because they handle all the work making filmmaking tedious.
Before outsourcing the job to them, you should vet the person you hire for your project. Go through samples of the previous work to confirm whether the creative expert fits your needs. Also, don’t forget to check out customer reviews concerning the production agency or freelance firm in question.
Lastly, remember to be as detailed as possible when sharing the project instructions. Explaining what you need in detail will guide the professional and guarantee custom results.
Want a free quote? Submit your project details to Bunny Studio and hire a video producer expert for your marketing campaign.
