Guides for pre-production and shooting
Step by step, from location list to sign-off.
- Write a video briefA brief that pins down problem, audience and one message carries every later phase. What…
- Write a treatmentThe treatment sells the film before it exists: idea, tone, look and a scope the budget can…
- Respond to a video RFPRFP responses are scored, not read. How to qualify a video tender, mirror its structure…
- Run a kickoff meetingA kickoff is the cheapest moment to change anything about a video project. Agenda, attendees…
- Define video objectivesThree stakeholders, three ideas of what the film is for — that is the default. How to define…
- Plan a video budgetVideo budgets fail at the edges: usage rights, versioning, post, reserve. How to build a…
- Estimate shoot daysDay rates are known; the number of days is the argument. How to estimate shoot days from…
- Break down a scriptThe script breakdown is bookkeeping, and skipping it is how props go missing on shoot day…
- Create a shot listOn set the shot list is the only document open all day. Method and order: sizes, setups…
- Plan coverageCoverage decides whether the edit has options or excuses. How to plan masters, coverage and…
- Build a storyboardNot every scene needs frames, and no frame needs to be art. Which scenes to board, how to…
- Build a moodboardA moodboard fixes the look before anyone lights a set: references for light, color, framing…
- Plan a stripboard scheduleThe stripboard turns scenes into shootable days: sorted by location, INT/EXT, day and night…
- Schedule a multi-day shootMulti-day shoots are won in the sequence: location clusters, rest periods, travel days and…
- Plan around golden hourGolden hour is short, moves fast and forgives nothing. How to schedule backwards from the…
- Scout a locationA location that looks right can still sink a shoot day. What to check on a scout: light…
- Run a tech recceThe tech recce walks every setup with the heads of department before the trucks roll. Who…
- Get a filming permitFilming permits hinge on ownership, authority and lead time. How to find out who decides…
- Plan a company moveA company move is the most underpriced item in a shoot day: pack, drive, unload, re-rig. How…
- Cast on-camera talentCasting decides how a brand looks on camera for years. Profile, sourcing, recorded auditions…
- Brief non-actorsReal employees beat actors at being themselves — until a film set scares it out of them. How…
- Book a film crewBook the key roles first and the rest half books itself: how to crew a shoot, hold dates, fix…
- Choose a camera packageThe camera package follows the deliverables, not the wishlist: codecs, lenses, workflow and a…
- Build an equipment listAn equipment list built by department catches what memory drops: support, power, expendables…
- Plan lighting for interviewsInterview lighting is planned against the room, not in it: key, contrast ratio, background…
- Plan sound recordingSound is planned per situation, not per day: mic redundancy, wireless checks, room tone and…
- Plan a drone shootA drone shoot is a regulated aviation operation with a camera attached. Categories, airspace…
- Arrange film insuranceEquipment, liability and production cover answer different risks, and rental houses want…
- Create a call sheetOne page answers what a tired crew asks at six in the morning: where, when, who, and what…
- Plan catering and logisticsFood, water, toilets and parking shape the mood of a shoot day more reliably than the camera…
- Plan a weather contingencyRain rarely cancels a shoot; an undecided crew does. How to build weather cover into the…
- Write a risk assessmentA risk assessment is a working document, not a formality: hazards, who is exposed, what…
- Plan data managementFootage exists once until it is copied twice. Card handling, verified copies, the 3-2-1 rule…
- Prepare interview questionsGood interviews are written before the camera arrives: order, self-contained answers…
- Storyboard for social formatsSocial boards are decided in the first frames, and interface elements eat the edges. How to…
- Plan vertical videoVertical is a composition, not a crop. What changes on set at 9:16 — blocking, lens choice…
- Adapt a concept for cutdownsCutdowns fail when they are extracted afterwards. How to design a concept so the short…
- Get client signoff before the shootApproval after the shoot is expensive; before it, approval is a signature. What to get signed…
- Manage stakeholder feedbackSix people commenting in four channels is noise, not feedback. How to structure rounds…
- Plan a remote video shootDirecting from another city works when the local crew has more than a shot list. Comms…
- Plan a multi-city shootSeveral cities mean travel days, changing crews and footage that still has to cut together…
- Work with a production serviceA local service company buys access, permits and crew — and needs a brief that survives…
- Plan a studio shootA studio removes weather and noise but charges by the hour. What to check before booking, how…
- Plan an office shootOffices look easy and shoot hard: noise, glass, ceiling lights and people who still have to…
- Prepare a shoot in winterWinter shortens the day and drains the batteries. How to schedule around limited daylight…
- Run a shoot dayHow to run a shoot day from crew call to wrap: the morning briefing, keeping setups on the…
- Lead a set as producerWhat a producer actually does on set: guard budget and clock, manage the client, clear…
- Run a video interviewPrepare topics instead of scripts, settle a nervous subject, listen for the edit, and leave…
- Film B-roll that cutsB-roll fails as a pile of pretty shots and works as sequences: three sizes per action…
- Direct non-actors on setEmployees and founders freeze when a lens points at them. Give tasks instead of lines, clear…
- Record clean location soundBad sound sinks films that great pictures cannot save. Scouting with your ears, silencing…
- Light an interview fastA workable interview look in minutes: choose the seat by background and ambient light, shape…
- Shoot a walking shotWalk-and-talks look effortless and fail on focus, footsteps and pacing. Scout the path, pick…
- Shoot in low lightEvening events, factory floors, moody interiors: how to expose properly when light is scarce…
- Manage continuitySmall crews shoot out of order with no script supervisor — and the coffee cup jumps hands…
- Slate and log takesTake logging feels bureaucratic on set and priceless in the edit: naming that maps to the…
- Back up footage on setShot material is the only thing a production cannot buy again. Checksummed copies, the 3-2-1…
- Run a DIT workflowDIT is not a luxury role but a set of duties: offload station, folder schema, verified…
- Handle a weather dayRain on the exterior day is a planning event, not bad luck: cover sets built in prep, a…
- Recover a slipping scheduleEvery set falls behind; the difference is who notices at 11 a.m. versus 4 p.m. Measure the…
- Avoid overtimeOvertime is rarely an accident — it is a planning debt collected at the worst hour. Realistic…
- Wrap a locationThe last hour at a location decides whether you can ever come back: baseline photos, an…
- Write a wrap reportThe daily wrap report is the shoot's memory: what was shot versus planned, hours, incidents…
- Organize an editEditing speed is decided before editing starts: verified media, a fixed project structure, a…
- Brief an editorThe distance between rough cut and expectation is set by the briefing: the film's job in one…
- Review a rough cutWhat to look for in a first assembly: does the structure hold, where does attention leave…
- Give usable edit feedbackA usable note carries a timecode, an observation and an intent — and never a solution. How to…
- Collect stakeholder feedbackSix departments, six opinions, one edit. How to gather input from legal, marketing and…
- Run a client reviewA review is a working session, not a screening. Set the frame, watch once without pausing…
- Manage revision roundsWhat counts as a round, how many the price includes, and when a wish becomes a change order…
- Brief color gradingReferences, a locked picture and clean source files: what a colorist needs to deliver the…
- Brief a sound mixDialogue first, music underneath, loudness checked against the target spec: how to brief a…
- License music for videoWhich rights a film actually needs, what a stock licence does and does not cover, and why the…
- Record a voiceoverCasting, a script written for the ear, a room that does not ring, and direction that stays…
- Create subtitlesReading speed, line breaks, burned in or as a sidecar file: how to turn an automatic…
- Localize a videoText grows, graphics break, claims stop being legal. What to prepare during the edit so a…
- Produce cutdownsA short version is not a trimmed long one. Each length needs a single message, its own…
- Version for platformsAspect ratios, safe areas and sound-off legibility: how to adapt one edit to vertical, square…
- Export delivery mastersOne high-quality master, everything else derived from it: codecs, frame rate, colour space…
- Check a final masterThe last pass before delivery: sync, black frames, spelling, logo version, loudness…
- Prepare files for socialNaming, cover frames, caption files and post copy in one folder: the handover package that…
- Archive a productionWhat to keep, what to delete and how to name it: camera originals, project files, masters…
- Measure video performanceViews prove distribution, not effect. Which numbers to define before publishing, how to read…
- Plan a video relaunchA film has aged: what still holds, what has to go, and whether a re-edit with a short pickup…
- Repurpose event footageConferences and trade fairs deliver testimonials, atmosphere and expert statements in one day…
- Turn webinars into clipsA long recording holds a handful of strong minutes. How to find them, make them work without…
- Build a video content pipelineFixed formats, named roles, templates and one approval path: the structure that turns…
- Run monthly video productionThe recurring calendar behind a retainer: one batch shoot day, standing review slots, a…
- Hand over to a new agencyProject files, camera originals, licences, fonts and account access: what actually has to…