Don't skip the planning

The first step in any production is as important as it is unglamorous: planning. Before you even touch a camera, you need to consider the first three inter-related elements: budget, scope, and script. Which one of these you need to address first depends on your situation. In any case, the first step is to ask yourself what you want to accomplish with your video. You might want to shoot a simple talking head interview, or produce a 3-camera shoot on a set with an audience or on a sound stage. Just be sure you answer the question before proceeding. Throughout the project, you'll need to keep your goal in mind, and balance it against the amount of money and time you can spend.

The next step—with your budget, scope and goals in mind—is to write a script that both outlines the scenes, objects, characters and events that will appear in the video and includes all the dialogue or questions to be asked. Keep in mind that dialogue has to sound good, and not just read well. Will you need a teleprompter (or AutoCue)? Sometimes a storyboard might be helpful. This is developed from the script, and consists of a series of simple sketches that illustrate the production's most important visual elements.

This is the first point where the scope of your project dictates what you do. Do you need a big cast, or just a narrator? Can your venue be a "natural" location, or do you need a sound stage, props and the crew to handle them? How sophisticated does your lighting and sound need to be, and do you require gaffers and recordists? Remember while you write the script to call for a shooting environment that's within your budget.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law works overtime in video production. If something can go wrong, it will. Your only defense is planning. Planning will help you anticipate potential problems and solve them before you start shooting. Production can be a stressful endeavor especially when problems arise. Planning the shoot makes the production experience more enjoyable and less overwhelming. Planning frees the mind from the distractions of worrying during shooting so you can concentrate on the creative process. Plan schedules, transportation, personnel, equipment rentals, etc. Scout locations. Make sure there is enough power to handle your cameras and lights. Make sure everyone knows what to do, and when to do it. Make sure your speakers are fully briefed, know what to wear, and understand how to physically position themselves based on the type of shoot... broadcast, streaming, or both.

Pre-production phases

• Scope:  Determining the scope of your project will give you a clearer picture of what you should plan for. 1-, 2-, 3-camera shoot? Teleprompter? Location / Set? Internal crew or production company? Rental equipment? Streamed – live / on-demand, interactivity? Media output – tape, DVD, CD, stream? Duplication requirements?
• Schedule:  Make a schedule and put it on paper for everyone to see. It is essential that stakeholders know and agree with the plan. It also allows members of the group to help find gaps you may have missed when planning. Even if you plan everything out, production can still be a stressful experience. Having your schedule written out in front of you can help you stay focused.
• Budget:  It is crucial to determine a budget as early as possible. Your budget should include costs for yourself, your team, location fees, equipment rentals, catering, and anything else you can think of: videotape, batteries, duck tape, etc. Your budget will have a direct relation to your scope or vice versa. For corporate projects, this is primarily the cost of the production crew and their expenses, any equipment rental, post-production / streaming services, any media reproduction costs, and possible FedEx charges.
• Staff:  Assign staff for various responsibilities
  • Project Manager - ___________________
  • Communications Focal Point - ___________________
  • Streaming Media Producer - ___________________
  • Production Crew Contact - ___________________
  • Speaker(s) - ___________________
  • Speaker's Admin - ___________________
• Outline / Script / Storyboard:
  • Outline: No matter how "simple" you intend your project to be, begin with an outline. An outline helps you plan. Your outline will help you identify what materials you need to create, assemble, and / or acquire in order to get your project underway. You can also use your outline to plan the budget for your project.
  • Script: An outline may be enough for you to work from, or you may want a more formal script that includes dialogue, narration, notes about the locations or settings, action, lighting, camera angles and movements, edits, as well as the visual and sound effects. For corporate projects, this is primarily writing and obtaining clearance for interview questions.
  • Storyboard: You may also choose to do storyboards—sketches of key moments in the action, like a comic strip—labeled with notes about the action, sound, camera angles or motion, etc.
• Crew:  Shooting a professional video is generally not a one-man show; it usually requires a small team. It is important that the people working on the production are capable of setting up the various pieces of equipment and running the equipment before production occurs. It is also important to make sure everybody knows the whole plan and what their job is.
• Equipment:  Make reservations for rental equipment at least 10 days in advance. In addition, test your equipment before you start shooting, especially rental equipment you may not be familiar with. It may seem obvious, but many times equipment will somehow be broken the day of the shoot. Get familiar with the camera including white balancing cameras, turning off auto-focus and auto-iris, and setting audio levels.
• Location / Studio:  By visiting the sites where you will be taping, you can discover and solve inevitable problems inherent in those sites.
  • Available light – One of the first questions about a site is the lighting. If the site is already well lit with artificial lights, windows or skylights, you may not need to do much additional lighting. However, "available light" can introduce its own problems. Important - Close off all external sunlight by closing blinds, shades, etc.
  • Power – Many sets will require two, three or more lights. Typically, each light uses 1000 watts of electricity. That's about the same as a hair dryer. Most home or office outlet circuits are rated for 15 or 20 amps. Each 1000 watts takes 8.3 amps. So a 20 amp circuit can safely handle two 1000 watt lights. (8.3 amps times 2 equals 16.6 amps.) A 15 amp circuit could only handle one 1000 watt light. If each outlet were wired on its own circuit, you could safely plug one or two 1000 watt lights into each outlet. But this is rarely the case. Usually there are a number of outlets on each circuit. Knowing which outlets are on the same circuit helps you know where you can safely plug the lights. A professional cameraman avoids overloading circuits by running heavy duty extension cords to other circuits in other rooms. Europe is 250V so a 1000w lamp only consumes 4 amps. You could get three lights running off an extension lead with a standard 13 amp fuse.
  • Sound – Sound is another production problem to investigate during your location scouting. If you are recording live sound that's important to a scene, perhaps an interview, make sure you're filming in a quiet area. It's easy to overestimate how quiet an area is because we're used to ignoring much of what we hear. Take a moment and close your eyes. Listen carefully to all the different sounds you hear... air conditioning, a computer fan, birds chirping, a truck in the distance. Now imagine turning the volume up. If you were recording an interview, these magnified sounds would be permanently recorded along with the interview.
• Transportation:  It may sound obvious, but it can often be overlooked. Arrange transportation to / from airport for talent or crew. Lighting kits, tripods, props, cords, camera equipment and people can take up a lot of room. Make sure there is a vehicle(s) large enough to hold all of your equipment and personnel. That way you will be able to plan more than one trip if it is necessary. Arrange for carts or trolleys at your destination to move equipment.
• Logistics:  Complete various HSE documents if necessary.

Pre-production for streaming

Pre-production is a critical step in preparing content for streaming on the Web.

Some content formats stream more effectively than others. Take into consideration how the information will be used, what bandwidth parameters will be necessary, whether it was edited properly, and whether or not presenting the information in a streaming format will add value to the message. The content must be catered to the expected bandwidth. If a message is to be delivered over a corporate intranet with a fast Ethernet connection, full-motion video with high-quality audio may be delivered. On the other hand, if a message is to be delivered to an audience via a 28.8kbps modem, the presentation should be limited to streaming audio with a slide show -- still an effective web presentation.

Another important topic to discuss in pre-production is interactivity. Do you just want video played back in Media Player, or do you want an embedded page that provides interactivity such as synchronized slides / graphics / URLs, chapterization markers, related links / info, downloadables, polls, feedback, etc. How much control will users be provided over how they experience the presentation?

Streaming pre-production specifications to consider include:

Business Requirements

• Business case / purpose?
• Usability requirements?
• Live-live, scheduled live, on-demand, download?
• Audience size, concurrent users, reach?
• Bandwidth available?
• Concurrent user limit
• Use external CDN?

Assess Target Audience

• Platform > Windows Media 6.4 player, v8 codecs
• Connection speeds > Various
• Available bandwidth > 5 Mbps

Select Parameters

• Determine player interface controls > Status bar, Controls, Audio level
• Target bit rate(s) > Audio Only 23k, Low 33k, Med 100k
• Balancing audio / video bit rates > Importance put on audio
• Codecs > WMV v8, WMA v8 for music, ACELP.net for voice
• Metadata > Title, Author, Copyright, Description, Markers, Scripts
• Image size > Low 160x120 or 240x180, Med 240x180, Widescreen 320x180, and as appropriate to output requirements
• Frame rate > Low 10fps, Med 25fps
• Create Media Encoder profiles to store these parameters for repeated use

Media Output Requirements

• Tape
• Streams
• Downloads
• CD, DVD
• Determine interlacing requirements

Plan to keep it short

Preferably 3-10 minutes for attention span, retention, and viewer's schedules. For long-form video, consider including markers so users can pickup where they left off.

Manage expectations

Make sure everyone has the same objective—to put a specific video and / or audio production on the Web—for reasons that make sense and that everyone agrees to. Make sure everyone with a vested interest in your production knows what to expect in terms of the quality of the finished production.

This is a rough pre-production timeline for a typical corporate video shoot.

Determine Scope and Budget

• Discuss business case
• Define scope and budget

Schedule

• Contact assistant(s) for prospective dates / times
• Check film crew availability for prospective dates
• Canvass communications focal points for questions / heads-up on filming
• Confirm dates / times with assistants
• Book video crew
• Book room in which to tape
• Send introductory note to interviewee
• Copy in communications focal points in case coaching required before taping

Script

• Obtain clearance for questions
• Send detailed pre-brief to interviewee
• Send final questions to video crew

Logistics

• Book car to / from airport for crew and equipment
• Arrange trolley for internal move of equipment
• Arrange security passes for crew
• Complete HSE arrangements
• Assemble information pack for taping day