November 15

Video Production For Beginners: A Three Step Process

Video Production Explained

The best way to understand video production is to think of it as a PROCESS.

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The process is always the same, whether you are producing a simple video or a complex one.

Here is a description of the process, step-by-step. It can be broken down into three phases.

  • Pre-production
  • Production
  • Post-production

That sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?  🙂

 

Pre-production is probably the most important because it can make the entire process run smoothly, or not.  Pre-production includes everything you do before you ever touch the camera.   Pre-production is all about planning and brainstorming.

First, think about what you want your finished video to be. Ask yourself these questions.

Who is your audience?
What does your audience need or want to hear?
What does the audience already know?
What style of video would appeal to your target audience?
What is your budget?
What resources do you have readily available?

The answer to these questions will determine most everything else.

Next, think about what you should actually go and get on video. Do you need to interview experts? Do you need footage of specific things that represent your subject? Where and how will you video these things? Plan it all out. Make phones calls. Schedule crews, etc.

Depending on what kind of video you are making, now might be when you write a first draft of the script.  A commercial or marketing video would be written out now.  A news story would wait until after everything is shot to write a script.

If you go ahead and write a script before shooting, nothing needs to be carved in stone.  A working script will help you collect all your thoughts and help a client envision what the final video will look like.  Video making is often a fluid process, but not always.

cue cards

What to Say?

Generally speaking, a good script should be conversational. Pretend you are explaining the subject to a friend. What would you say to them? Write that down and then modify it by using more colorful words and better descriptions.

Video scripts are best if they use simple, short sentences. Avoid long, complex words that will be tongue twisters. Read it aloud to test it. Have someone else listen to you and get their reaction.

Production Phase

There is not always a clear mark of delineation between pre-production and production, as in the timing of the script example.  With some projects, pre-production tasks will be revisited the entire length of the project.  Often, post-production editing will start as soon as any good footage is in the can.  So always keep in mind these three phases are shifting, overlapping and often simultaneous, but as a beginner, it helps to consider where any task will fit into the process.

The production phase includes gathering all of your raw materials. All your raw video and audio. This phase probably takes the most work and know-how, especially if you are shooting everything from scratch.

Production is usually the most time-consuming and expensive of the three phases.  When people think of movie making, they’re probably thinking of the production phase.  Production can be summed up in the famous phrase:  Lights, Camera, Action!

Post-Production

video editing

Post-production is the phase where you take all your raw materials and assemble them into a finished video.  In other words, post-production means video editing.

When most beginners think of editing, they assume the main purpose of editing is to correct mistakes.  This is not true.  The main purpose is to weave a story together out of all the storytelling elements that are going into the show.  Editing can make or break a show.  You can indeed correct mistakes, but hopefully, the production crew didn’t make any.  Production crews who get lazy in the filed might be tempted to say, “we’ll fix it in post,” but that is usually quite expensive and not considered a professional attitude.

There are many wonderful computer video editing programs that do a great job. Personally, I use Final Cut by Apple Computers. This is a relatively advanced program. FCPX, the current version, is simpler and more automated than the earlier versions and I don’t actually like it, but my high school students did.  I thought it was great for them.

The advanced programs allow you total control over every single aspect of your video. Even the tiniest of details is under your full control in an advanced program.  Honestly, most beginners would never want to fool with that much tedious detail. A beginner would be much better off with a simple program like iMovie. Simpler programs rely on pre-produced templates that make it much easier and less complex.  You can still control the big details, but whether your drop shadow is offset 3 degrees or 10 degrees is beyond your control.   That is no big deal for most projects.

I like to compare using a video editing program to driving a car.  If you can drive a putzer, you can drive a fancier car too.  Most video programs are more alike than they are different.  Like cars, they all have basic features and functions.  Most of the interface layout is similar, too.  The picture below is iMovie.

imovie video editing

Video editing is also a step-by-step process, and I have many free tutorials here on video production tips.com that will help you learn.  Video editing is an art unto itself.  Learning your program is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to editing.  Storytelling comes alive in the editing room, which is why it was usually my favorite phase.

Editing is where the final decisions are made.  I have seen projects make huge U-turns once they made it to the editing stage.  Like I said earlier, most of the videos I worked on were very fluid and new decisions were constantly being made.   That is not always the case.  Some productions can be rigid and everything is followed to a T.  Personally, I like fluidity in the creative process.

So there you have it, a brief description of the three-step process of video production.

If you have questions, drop me a line.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips!

Lorraine Grula

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

  • Name the 3 phases of video production.
  • If you are making phone calls to schedule interviews, what phase are you working in?
  • According to the article, why are the three phases NOT rigidly timed out and separate?
  • True or False?  The entire purpose of editing is to correct mistakes.  (FALSE!!  The purpose is to weave together a story.)

Tags

3 phases of videomaking, how to make video, post production, pre production, Video Editing, Video Production, video production techniques


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