Curious what the video production process looks like? If you’ve never done a video for your organization before or simply want to learn more about how we do what we do, read on. Here’s what it looks like when BX creates a video from concept to completion.
The Strategy
Good videos entertain. Great videos move customers to action. To do the latter, you need a strategy that accounts for the many factors that make for a successful video that works hard for your brand. That’s why strategy sessions always come first.
Obviously we’ll want to know the ins and outs of your company and customers. But more importantly, we want to know the Big Problem you’re trying to solve. No company needs a video for video’s sake (unless you’re Apple and just want to give us money). Video is a powerful tool that helps solve real problems. So we look at your objectives, what action(s) you want your customers to make, and what metrics we’ll use to measure the success of the video.
The Script
Next we work toward a fantastic script that everybody loves. But to do that, we need concepts. Based on our strategy sessions with you, we dream up ideas for videos. The concepts aren’t the scripts, but we might script some out to give you a better understanding of how they’ll work. But no matter what, you’ll hear several distinct ways of telling your story, get an idea of video styles, and costs for making them happen. Once we’ve landed on a concept, we get to work scripting. Scripts include everything from the characters to the action to the words spoken by actors and narrators. We’ll go back and forth to make sure everything is airtight and on brand so we can move confidently into production.
The Plan
How do we take what’s on the page and make it real? A ton of pre-production planning behind the scenes. We hunt down the best locations for the script, provide you with multiple options for acting talent, come up with art direction for each scene, and review auditions for the narrator, among a whole lot of other stuff you never even thought about. As the client, your voice is critical for making the final calls on many of these pre-production decisions. But the brunt of the creative and logistical work is on us.
The Shoot
The whole process is our favorite part, but if we had to name our favorite favorite part of the process, this might be it. We have a lot of fun on shoot day while we choreograph a kajillion moving parts. Our team size adapts dynamically to each client and project to bring in the right expertise for each element of production, such as art direction, the right camera, the right person to operate that camera, lighting, sound, makeup, and more. Plus the actual on-screen talent of course. As the client, you can be on set as well, helping to make sure everything looks on-brand.
The Edit
Out of one shoot, multiple edits are possible. It’s our job to take the raw footage and tell the best story we can. We weave together the shots we captured earlier with audio engineering, graphics, animations, and the right coloring for each project. You’ll get a front row seat to whatever degree you want to be involved. Rather than presenting you with the finished product, you’ll get to see and add value to the iterations between the first draft and the final product. Just like the scripting process, we’ll go back and forth until you have a finished video you absolutely love.
That’s the 30,000 foot view of the process, but are you ready to see it up close and personal? We’d love to chat more about how we can work together to make you a stellar video.
