Whether you decide to hire a production company or produce your own content, there are three distinct stages of video production you should be aware of. Each phase will have its own challenges and will vary depending on the size of your project. Large scale productions in the television and film space will have dedicated teams working on each phase. Whether you are creating a short online video or larger sized project, the getting familiar with the three main stages below will enhance any video production.
Video Production Stages
Pre-Production – Scripting & Storyboard
The pre-production phase of a project is where all the planning takes place before the camera rolls. Whether its measured in minutes, hours or days, this planning phase sets the overall vision of the project. Pre-production also includes working out the shoot location and casting. You’re in pre-production mode the moment you start writing down a few points to cover in a video even if it is a short piece made for a blog. As your projects become more ambitious you can start to storyboard the project. Storyboards can really smooth out the post-production process when it’s time for editing. This will really be useful if there are multiple people working on the project.
Production
Production begins once the footage is recorded. This process will capture all the scenes and information captured in the pre-production process. During the production process you apply various the lighting requirements, framing and work on composition. Some projects will also shoot B-Roll during the production process. B-Roll is supplementary footage that can be included in the finished product.
Post-Production
The post production process begins after all the footage has been captured. This is actually one of my favourite parts of the video making process. Graphics can be added along with images, music, colour correction and special effects. If you are producing your own video content there will be a bit of a learning curve at first, but it will be really rewarding.Post-production is like putting the last coat of paint on in a room and it will be well worth the time to learn the basics. This is where your video project will really come to life.
If you are in charge of project editing and not sure where to start I’d recommend that you check out YouTube’s video editor, Movie Maker for the PC or iMovie for the Mac. All editors share some basic principles. If you need more advanced features you can always look at some of the pro-consumer video editors like PowerDirector available on www.cyberlink.com or a pro editor such as Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro X.
Best of luck with your online video making
