You decided to order a video, but you don’t know how everything will be done? How to communicate with contractors? What is required from you? How does all this work?
This is normal. Not every driver knows how to replace a “wheel bearing” in the car. To do this, we simply go to the service station and entrust the work to specialists.
We are here to help you get high-quality video, instead of teaching you the deatils of video production. However, in order to dispel your fears of communicating with the video creators, we will explain the professional production studio terms, that you may need during the production of the video.
Read more about the stages of the work in the About Us section.
So what are the main steps in the video production?
- The preparatory period.
- The shooting period.
- The editing period.
What is pre-production?
The preparatory period (eng. pre-production).
This period can last from a week to a month. At this stage the most important things are born:
- Script: literary, directorial, storyboard – description of visualization.
- Storyboard – frame-by-frame storyboard with pictures. Animatic is an animated storyboard, that determines the timing of the entire video and individual scenes, as well as the composition of frames ..
- Casting actors – the selection of the actors who will play in the video.
- Search locations – in which rooms, places the video will be shooted. The artistic conformity to the task of the video takes into account: color palette, lighting, ceiling height, the ability to connect electrical appliances. Here are places that can be used: studios, premises, locations on nature, the street.
- Formation of a film crew. Depending on the task, genre, script, and scale of shooting, a film crew may consist out of two to several dozen specialists.
- Props and costumes. What will be in the frame, in which clothes will the characters or extras be? What the main picture will be, in which colors? And how will the details play into the overall concept of the video?
- Film planning. CPP – calendar production plan. A carefully designed shooting day schedule.
The preparatory period is the longest part of the video production. Sometimes, in order to plan 1 shooting day, you need to carefully prepare for a whole month. But comprehensive answers to all questions, during the preparatory period, will help to avoid mistakes on the set and speed up post-production.
What is production?
Production is the shooting video period. It is started only after a fully developed preparatory period.
The crew is formed. A storyboard, an animatic and a calendar production plan (CPP) are developed, a script printed in several copies. The selected actors at the casting have learned their cues, and are well versed in the script.
The film crew begins their work long before the first shout: “Shooting!” While the make-up artist is working on the images of the actors, and the decorator is working on the stage design, the cameraman, director and gaffer install equipment and light. Depending on the conception, this process can last from one to four hours.
Next, each scene is filmed step by step in accordance with the shooting schedule. The takes are shooted. More takes. Control take …. Meanwhile, the sound engineer with a long fishing rod and a fluffy microphone records sound from the stage. Often a fluffy microphone gets into the frame. Then the director, peering at the monitor, frowns and shouts: “Boom in the frame!” This phrase, as a rule, is repeated by several members of the crew: an assistant director, cameraman, clapperboard and sometimes even a make-up artist. A new take is being shooted.
Finally, the last scene was shot.
The director solemnly says: “The shooting is over. Thank you all!” And then – applause. Like in the theater. Or like on an airplane with a successful landing.
This is one of the coolest stages of video production. But also one of the most responsible. How easy video editor will work at post production, depends on how carefully the work at pre-production was structured, and how hard the director and cameraman were working while shooting.
What is post-production?
Post-production, or editing period (Eng. Post-production – literally after-production) – this is the final stage of video production.
Usually, post-production consists of four stages:
- Editing of footage (draft and finishing).
- Color correction.
- Work with audio: voice over, dubbing (recording of people’s voices), musical background, the imposition of sounds of nature, the city and other noises.
- Visual effects (VFX), 2D, 3D graphics, character animation; titles and text lettering, subtitles.
This is the stage when no one runs on the set or in search of locations. This is a thorough work on each frame, which requires focus and willpower to sit for hours on one episode, sometimes until late at night.
However, the editing director, video designer or video engineer do not remain alone with the editing machine. At Divaki Production, post-production is the teamwork. How exactly the video will be edited, the director with the cameraman, and the video engineer are thinking over at the pre-production. They always keep in touch when a picture, sound or video passes final polishing.
The completion of this stage brings a real pleasure from the work done. This is an incredible feeling when the customer thanks the team for the work done, words cannot convey.
