VIDEO PRODUCTION PROCESS

To ensure your film production is to the highest possible standard, we formalise the video production process to ensure nothing gets missed out:

• We create a film script that achieves the objectives of the production and, if necessary, will be able to be cleared for broadcast;
• We make the maximum use of your production budget by negotiating hard with the many suppliers we use;
• We ensure as far as possible that from start to finish the video doesn’t suffer from ‘mission creep’. We know this happens quite a lot with less experienced production companies;
• We retain overall quality, both technical and creative, throughout pre production, production and post-production.
• We prevent cost and time overruns. We’re the video production company that delivers what we promise with our productions – in terms of budget and timescale as well as creativity!

So let’s make a video …

Normally everything starts with writing a script. But actually working out how to write a script can be quite challenging.

Fortunately, we have many years scripting experience for you to call on; we understand how to start writing to make the most of your product or service.

But what is a script?  Well, it’s more than just the words people say. Professional script writing will involve every aspect of what’s seen and heard – the actors, the words they say and all the details of the scene, location and a lot more.

To illustrate the video script we often produce a storyboard. And if you want to have a go yourself, check out our Blog. Often, scribbling things on paper really helps the creative process.

So why not have a go? You don’t have to be able to draw;  stick-people are fine!

Storyboarding helps you solidify your thoughts. How to make a storyboard that works is something takes years of practice! But that’s where we can help with our storyboard service.

With a production of any reasonable size, the video director will write a ‘treatment’ – his or her vision of what the piece will be like, how it will staged and the ‘tone of voice’ it’ll have.

This document is the ‘style guide’ for the piece and will have a bearing on many factors – the type of style of lighting, the camera moves and framing, the art direction and so much more.

Essentially the treatment is a style and content guide for the piece as well as the director’s vision for it.

They say all the world’s a stage but finding the right people to act in your film can be a little more challenging.

But luckily for you, we’ll be able to call on the services of some the North’s best casting agents to help you with this.

We’ll also be able to find you a whole army of extras, if required. And as for voiceovers we can arrange for not just English but many other languages – common and obscure – for the commentary if you need ‘localised’ versions for other places.

Whether you want to film your production on location or in studio, the North has a wealth of facilities.

With its rich and varied land and cityscapes, many different film locations are available within a short drive. Our location scouts can turn up some amazing places! We’ve had some real successes with location scouting and have worked in some amazing video locations.

The North is also well equipped with movie production studios. Using film studios makes sense for certain types of productions. We can advise on studio hire and everything that goes with it, including set design and build.

Shooting in a studio, it’s likely that you’ll need a set design.

We work with some skilled art directors and production designers to ensure that the set works for the production and looks great.

From sourcing the right sort of chairs to designing a whole 1940’s development lab, we have the people with the right experience and the contacts to be able to deliver just what’s needed.

Does your film require authentic tropical clothing from the nineteenth century? 

Or a 1950s car for a period piece? 

We’ve had to source these and many more obscure props and costumes over the years so whatever you need we can organise the prop hire required.

A few days before we film, the Director will pull together a Shot List. Bear in mind that for speed we’ll generally shoot everything out of order, to minimise the amount of time spent moving the camera and lights around (as that takes up a lot of time!)

So the shot list will have all the scenes and all the camera angles in the order that they will be shot in.  This ensures that nothing is forgotten and different camera shots are missed out.

On some productions, this will be combined with a shooting script, with all the dialogue and action marked up.

Setting up lighting is a skilled job and a critical part of the production process. There’s more to it than meets the eye and an experienced Director of Photography (DoP) is essential for larger-scale productions, to allow other crew to concentrate on their own responsibilities.

However on smaller productions or for interviews/testimonials the camera operator normally does this job.

A DoP also needs to be able to work fast, as inevitably the video producer or director will be asking ‘how much longer?’ every five minutes!

A complex set may require quite a lot of dressing. We work with some great art directors who are experts.

But if we’re just shooting in an office it may be just a matter of tidying up and moving the plants around.

But rest assured, the video director will want to change things – perhaps several times. That’s par for the course … so just accept it!

Once we start shooting video, the director will work with the talent to get the best performance possible, often rehearsing sections first. This is known as ‘blocking’.

If YOU are the talent, we will normally have spent time with you in advance, preparing for this moment, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. But accept that someone may well powder your face or brush your hair all of a sudden!

We will work through the shot list until we ‘wrap’. Although it’s a high-pressure environment, we try to keep things as relaxed as possible  – it will deliver a better performance from cast and crew!

Often we will record the voiceover after filming but before the rest of post production. This allows us to sync the edit to the voiceover’s delivery.

Of course, changes can be made afterwards or even during the process if required.

Often the voice over recording takes place remotely. Especially for foreign languages when it’s essential to use native speakers, voiceovers are based throughout the world and we are used to ‘remote direction’ of them, using Skype or Zoom.

Sometimes we will cut to a ‘guide’ and record a voiceover once all the editing is completed.

Sometimes we’ll suggest that specially-composed music is used on your production.

Often this will take the form of a musical motif (something that adds to recognition of your logo) together with incidental music to be used in the rest of your productions.

We use some great composers for this – and composed music can really add to the overall impact of your films.

 Video editing is the next process taking place.

We have our state-of-the-art 4K-capable editing and grading facilities in-house but depending on the requirement sometimes work with an outside video editing company offering more specialised equipment.

We will often return to the edit later in the production process to prepare alternatively framed versions of your films for Social Media – in formats like 1:1 and 9:16, as opposed to the regular 16:9 format we shoot in.

 Decent sound is 50% of production values so it pays to get it right.

We spend a good deal of time (a lot more than many production companies) getting sound right because it pays!

The post production process of combining the music, sound effects, natural effects and voiceover is a skilled job and it needs to be right so everyone can hear what’s going on!

Often the difference between a movie and a corporate video is the skill and care taken to grade all the pictures.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here at SPL we take great care to grade all our pictures to get the very best out of them – and make them look awesome!

What is colour grading? The simple answer is that it’s a process that matches all the shots and creates an overall ‘look’ to your film – just like a movie!

 Different screen formats used will require us to re-edit your film if you want to make it look its best on Social Media, as most people watch in ‘portrait’ mode, so we’ll re-format for that.

Often we also edit much shorter versions adding subtitles as well to aid retention.

Adding subtitles to video is something we’re highly experienced in, using specialist transcribers and a custom-built system. How to add subtitles to a video is an art in itself, so ask us for more info!