You’ve made the decision and you’re absolutely set on doing a video. Where do you start? How do you manage it? What kit do you use? Where should you shoot it? All common questions that you will no doubt be asking yourself. Or you could always ask us…
Managing your video project well is crucial to creating that polished film that you have in your mindseye. In this guide we give you our 5 top tips on managing your next video project.
It all starts with an idea, you’ve got a concept in your head but you don’t know how to actually kick it all off. Well that leads us perfectly into tip1.
1. Write down and plan your video
Getting your idea down on paper (or in digital form – there’s tonnes of helpful software online now) will help to make your project real, it acts as a starting point to bring your ideas to life. Whether you write it down like a story or you bring together a full storyboard, getting it down will help you to visualize the final production.
Here at Standby we do both, everything is written down into a concept, creative treatment and then we storyboard everything incorporating visual and audio elements to ensure that the finished product has a professional flow and hooks the viewer. We plan everything down to the last detail, setting a feel and mood early on is crucial for a high quality film.
2. Set a start date
So many of us have a great idea but one of the biggest stumbling blocks is setting a date and getting started. So set a date and stick to it, you can start with an hour of your time where you might think of the location where you want to shoot and scope it out, or you might want to jump right in and get started, but lock in the shoot date or the final delivery date and work from there.
3. Location Location Location
The location of any shoot is important, it literally sets the scene, it tells your audience about who you or your brand might be and the type of vibe they will get from the rest of your video. Just imagine setting the scene in a trendy cafe, you immediately set a persona, but if you’re in a plain, empty room you give off no persona, so think carefully to get it right – to reflect your brand/business.. The background and location will also give a viewer an understanding of what the content might be or how it will come across so if we take the cafe, it will be relaxed, informal and cheery but the plain background might be more serious and make your viewer sit forwards to listen to something pressing.
4. Time to shoot
You’re there, you’re ready to start shooting, hit the record button and get on with your video. But hold on, where’s that memory card and that lens you were going to use? microphones? lights? Be sure you get together a kit list so that you can tick everything off in a systematic way. Removing risk of forgetting equipment will help to drastically improve your time while you’re shooting whilst also making the day feel like it has run smoother. We recommend planning this a few days in advance and running through what kit you need for each shot. Oh and don’t forget those extra batteries…
Who ever said making films was cheap, has got the wrong idea altogether friend!
5. The finish line is in sight
You’re close to completing your project, but not so fast you’ve got a whole film to edit so what software will you use? You could use Apple’s free software iMovie if you’re working from a Mac or maybe Davinci Resolve from Black Magic Design or you could go the whole hog and pay for Adobe Premiere Pro and include After Effects. No matter what software you choose we recommend you spend time going through all of your footage to see which shots and scenes have worked best, is it take 1 or take 3? Can you use a couple of cuts and intersperse B-roll to make it seamless. Be sure that the film flows and is in line with your story which you outlined at the very beginning.
5 ½ . Bonus tip – MUSIC
Your music choice says as much about your brand as your location, remember we were saying the location sets the scene? Well your music sets the mood, but you can’t just choose your favourite track from Ed Sheeran or The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. You need to make sure that you licence the music for commercial use from a trusted supplier. If you’re looking to make regular social media videos you can check out Epidemic Sound who work on a subscription basis.
We know that creating films can be daunting but if you dedicate time to the project it can be done. Or if you’d rather spend your time doing something else, get in touch with us and we will do all the hard work for you plus we are giving a 5% discount to new clients in January!