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A Comprehensive Guide to Video Production Steps – for Live Action Productions

Do you have a captivating video idea brewing but need help figuring out where to begin? This guide to the steps involved in filmed video production clearly explains our streamlined video production process, ensuring high-quality films are delivered within budget and timeframe. 

Whether you require a single video or a full video series, we guide you from the initial concept to the polished final product. 

It’s important to note that throughout this video production process, we collaborate closely with you at each step, providing regular updates and opportunities for feedback, amends and refinement.

This thorough process and collaborative approach ensures the final video(s) aligns with your vision.

If you’d like a video production for your business or organisation, please get in touch.

A rigorous methodology where you're involved at every stage

Our filmed video production process

01.

Initial Meeting: Uncovering The Vision

The journey starts with understanding your vision and strategy with a kickoff call. We usually chat on a virtual call (Zoom or Teams, for example, as we work worldwide) to delve into your video project’s specifics: your desired outcomes, the target audience, and the overall tone and emotion you want to achieve.

We also analyse your existing brand materials, anything specific for the campaign, and company tone of voice to ensure seamless alignment. This initial dialogue lays the foundation for a collaborative journey, valuing your input at every stage. 

We also start to think about filming locations and some general logistics for the filming dates and capturing content. 

 

02.

Script or Questionnaire Development

We write a compelling story for a scripted video that a professional voiceover artist will read. We can lead the script stage with your supplied notes and ideas, or if you want to provide the foundations, we’re happy to work with that and often adapt a client script for video – making the language easier and more concise. We find both happen quite often and are really flexible.

If the video is an interview-led testimonial or case study, we create tailored questionnaires based on the video content we need to get and the interviewees themselves to capture every important detail.

When you don’t have a set script, these questionnaires serve as your video’s roadmap and will create the story, ensuring careful attention is paid to your strategy and expectations. We usually only need to film once, so reviewing these documents thoroughly is essential.

03.

Art Direction

Drawing from the insights collected during the initial meeting (S) and any relevant examples you show us, our experienced art director collaborates closely with you to translate your vision into a tangible style guide for filming and graphics. This guide will define the video’s aesthetic elements, including:

Colour palette: Setting the mood and tone, from vibrant tones for playful videos to sophisticated palettes for corporate stories.

Visual style: Defining the overall look and feel, from clean and minimalist to cinematic and dramatic.

Props and set design: Creating a visually appealing, immersive environment that aligns with your brand and message. If on location, we ensure the filming backdrop suits the message, and in a video studio, we create it to be filmed in situ or we film on green and do it in post.

04.

Content Development & Logistics

With a confirmed script, art direction and a clear understanding of your needs. We confirm the shoot date(s) logistics and we create a detailed shot list outlining filming locations, specific content to be captured, and any necessary dialogue to convey your message effectively. This shoot list effectively ensures nothing is missed on a busy filming day.

05.

Filming

Now it’s time for action! Our experienced team, usually including a director and camera operator, will direct the filming process and capture beautiful footage at each selected location.

We also work with Makeup artists and photographers on shoot days. We also often film in hired locations and green-screen video studios.

We utilise various filming techniques and professional high-end visual and audio equipment, from establishing wide angles (often including a drone) to close-ups that showcase your offering in the most captivating light. 

06.

Style Frames

Based on the style in the Art Direction stage, to enhance the visual appeal and maintain consistency, we go on to create style frames. These are still images that depict the look and feel of any graphics in the video. Here’s where we showcase the colour-grading look if it’s going to be pretty bold.

These frames serve as a guide, showcasing the intended tone, typography, colour palette, and motion graphics elements.

07.

Edit & Post-Production

This stage is where the raw footage transforms. Our skilled editors weave together the captured footage, graphics, and audio to create your narrative. We match the footage to a professionally recorded voiceover, to flow seamlessly. Or we edit down the filmed interviews, which is often up to an hour of initial content, into just the best few minutes.We then go onto post-production. Here’s a quick recap of what post production is:


Colour Grading: We adjust the video’s colour palette to establish a specific mood or aesthetic, like the vibrant hues of a playful brand video or the sophisticated tones of a corporate brand story.


Motion Graphics: We integrate animated elements like text overlays, infographics, or animation to enhance the video’s visual storytelling and engage viewers further, captions also aid memorability.


Sound Design: We balance all the recorded audio, and select high-quality music and sound effects to craft an immersive soundscape that perfectly complements the visuals and amplifies the video’s emotional impact.

08.

Final Edits

Our detailed and collaborative approach ensures your feedback is incorporated throughout the process, minimising the need for extensive changes in this final stage. However, we still dedicate time here for tweaks or adjustments to guarantee your satisfaction. We aim to exceed your expectations and deliver a polished video that shines.

09.

Ready to Share

Most commonly, we export your final video in HD MP4 format. If you specify square or vertical at the start, that will be the first version you see. Additionally, we can adapt horizontal videos into vertical formats for seamless viewing across various platforms, like social media.

We often cut down a 3-4 minute video to a shortened 1-minute vertical version for Instagram or TikTok with just the highlights from the script or the key phrases from interviewees.

We also provide English subtitles free of charge, as accessibility and inclusion are vital to us.

10.

Global Reach

This is optional, but we often localise videos into several languages. Last year, for example, we created videos in Bengali, French, Pashto, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic, and many more.

We can localise an English video in a few ways: We can translate and record the voiceover in the new language or dub any on-screen speakers. We’d also ensure that any on-screen captions are translated. 

The quicker version is to create professionally translated subtitles that you can add as an SRT to the video player online. 

Let us know as soon as possible if you think the video will be localised into a different language so we can prepare.

However, we can localise a video at any time after the English version is complete or provide professional foreign language subtitles.

Creating impactful live-action videos requires a robust methodology and a keen eye for detail. With our proven process and dedicated team, we’re your trusted partner, transforming your vision into a video that resonates with your audience. 

Contact us today, and let’s start on your next video production together!

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Please drop us a line If you have a project in mind and you’d like a quick quote. Or if just want to have a chat about what’s possible please send us a message and we’ll get right back to you.