How are marketing videos made? Unpacking the video production process.

Lights. Camera. Action! Your video strategy has been meticulously thought out, the creative direction planned. Now it’s time to produce your marketing video, but you aren’t sure how the process even works. What all goes into a video production?

There’s a lot that goes into the creation of effective video, but things can be summarized into three main categories:

• Pre-Production
• Production
• Post-Production

Below you can see an excerpt of Blue Key Media’s complete video process that specifically focuses on the 3 sections listed above.

Let’s unpack each one and see how it all fits together.

Pre-Production

The phrase, “pre-production,” encompasses everything that happens before the camera rolls. It’s all of the planning, scheduling, casting, and everything in between that happens to bring a video to life. Pre-production is arguably the most important part of the entire video process because it sets everything else up for success. Think of it like building a house. Pre-production is the foundation, production is the framing, and editing is where it all comes together. Without a solid foundation, the entire production will crumble.

In the Blue Key Media process, our pre-production starts after a strategy/creative direction has been established and a script has been agreed upon. It’s beginning to execute the script and bring together all the pieces necessary for telling the story. Do we need actors? Start the casting. What locations are required? Send a location scout to secure permits and plan for shoot day. Here’s a list of everything that might happen during pre-production:

• Hire Crew
• Rent Equipment
• Art design and direction
• Storyboarding
• Location Scouting
• Secure voice over talent
• Cast actors & actresses
• Organize travel
• Communicate between all parties

Don’t skimp on this crucial step! Your video will thank you later if you give planning the proper attention.

Production

After you’ve spent plenty of time laying the foundation of your video, it’s time to see your efforts come to life through filming, otherwise referred to as ‘production.’

The Timeline
Every shoot will be structured differently depending on the elements and requirements of the video. Filming is typically broken into either a half day (up to 5 hours) or full day (up to 10 hours) of production. Every shoot day will consist of some setup and teardown time; lunch and/or dinner breaks; recording; and potentially traveling between productions. Sometimes the majority of the production will be straight recording, but other shoots may be primarily setting up shots, changing scenes, and all the work that goes into a composition before you hit record.

The Roles

Depending on the project, the roles you see on-set may look different. For small-scale videos, there may only be a few people present. There will always be a Director of Photography, (DP). They are in charge of creating the shot. Choosing the lighting, figuring out the right lens, the camera movement, and operating the camera are all things the DP will handle. There is usually a Director/Producer on-set as well, directing talent, conducting interviews, and ensuring all components of the video are captured according to the plan.

There may also be production assistants, or PAs, that help with setting up and tearing down equipment, moving gear, and helping with any of the small tasks that need to be done.

As the productions get larger, more and more roles will be introduced to bring your vision to life. Productions will also get larger the less time you have on-set. If you are only able to film one day but have a lot to get through, having more people on set will increase the crews capacity to accomplish more.

Post-Production

“That’s a wrap!” you hear the director say. The crew begins to tear down the lighting while the director walks over to you saying, “Wow! We got a ton of great footage. I can’t wait to start editing the project.” You smile and nod, agreeing. But in your mind, you’re not entirely sure what all happens in the editing room. What’s the process look like?

Post-Production refers to everything that happens after your project has been filmed. It includes editing, visual effects, animations, color grading, sound design, and audio mastering. Your video will go through many stages of editing during the post-production process to bring your project to life.

At Blue Key, we start working on editing your video right after we finish filming so it is fresh in our minds. Our team begins by creating a first rough edit for you to view. This first edit will have the full storyline laid out in the way it would be in the final edit, but it will be in barebones form – meaning it will not include the detailed edits like visual effects, color grading, and audio mastering. The goal of the first edit feedback is to review the overall direction and story arc of the video before the technical editing is done.

After your feedback is provided on the first draft pertaining to the video’s overall story, an updated version will be created. We’ll collaborate alongside with you until a story lock is confirmed. This means that no more changes to the overall story structure can be made after this point. The reason for this is changes to the overall story will affect everything that happens in the next stage of the post-production process. One little change could mean redoing hours worth of work, so we want to try our best to avoid it!

Once we agree on the story’s direction, mastering of the final video will begin. This includes color correction, visual effects, audio mastering, and other little details to put the finishing touches on your video. You’ll receive a link to provide nit-picky feedback, pointing out errors and little changes to be made. Once feedback is complete and the final version is agreed on, your video is rendered out and delivered.

And that’s it! Your video has gone from pre-production to post and is now ready to be published.

Have questions about the video production process? Reach out and schedule a free consultation where we will walk you through the entire process and see how video can incorporate into your marketing strategy.