Is there a video crew in the house? 

A quick guide to working with a corporate video production team and the steps in the video production process

Before you start… 

PRE-PRODUCTION is the stage where, between yourself and the video producer, everything is planned. What should happen is that: 

• A Script is written and agreed. This is essential unless this is purely a newsgathering exercise, for example a record of a conference or other event. 

• Casting: this is required if you are using actors for a drama. Often you can rely on the production company to find actors they have already used. If you need to audition, limit the number of actors you invite; shortlist from their CVs and photographs. Television experience is more useful than theatre.

• Presenter: if you need a front-of-camera presenter, they all have showreels, so you can make a choice based on seeing them perform. Fees range enormously from £500 up to £10,000, depending on celebrity and ego.

• Director’s recce. Someone from the video production company must visit the location in advance, to see what is practical and work out how the scenes are going to be shot. Otherwise something is almost certainly going to go wrong. Also this is a chance to meet key people at your end; video crews have often been thrown off a location because no-one thought to check with the union or the production director or the shopping centre management or whoever.

• Some form of coordinating document is produced to explain exactly how the shoot will run. This may be called a “call sheet”, “schedule” or even a “storyboard” (but don’t expect a cartoon strip treatment with pictures – this is usually only for tv commercials and feature films). What this document should include is: A list of all the key personnel and their contact details, both on the client and production company side. A timetable for the shoot, location by location, scene by scene. Details of performers, props, etc and when and where they are required.

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• Access: does everyone know the video crew is coming – especially Security, Senior Management, etc? 

• Unloading: is there somewhere near the shoot location to unload the camera and lighting kit? A trolley to move kit is always useful.

• Crew Base: a secure room to store equipment cases, charge batteries, sit actors to rehearse while they’re not wanted for a scene.

• Power: for interiors, is power available for the crew’s lighting? 13-amp 240-volt is normal for video kit. Does your company safety policy require an electrician to check the kit on the day of the shoot?  Does the kit need to be 110 volt?

• Availability: have you checked that machines to be filmed will be running, no building work going on, etc, etc.? Remember also that daylight fails around 3pm in midwinter and that shots showing Christmas decorations look bizarre in the summer.

• Suitability: rooms used as locations for interviews should be large enough to accommodate both the interviewee and the crew and all the lighting, not have noisy air conditioning or low ceilings, but be visually interesting. Agree these with the video director in advance.

• Interference: traffic or people talking nearby, banging doors, walking through the shot – all these can mean shots have to be done again, which means delay. Put up signs asking people to be quiet; ideally divert them away from your location. In locations where the public have access, it is polite to put up signs warning them of the shoot, in case they don’t want to appear in the background.

• Permission: as soon as someone becomes an identifiable part of the video, rather than a passing face in a crowd, you should have their agreement to film. Stunts which could be misinterpreted or could be hazardous, a staged bag snatch on a shopping street for example, may require police permission. You do not have a right to film on a privately owned land, even if there is general public access (eg a shopping centre or car park).

• Insurance: clarify the position on your liability to the video crew and their liability to your staff, customers, etc. A risk assessment will be needed if the shoot could in anyway be hazardous. You may also need to provide PPE. 

• Fallback position: do you have alternative locations if, for example, a machine breaks down or it is pouring with rain? 

• Interviews: the normal practice is for interviewees to be asked a number of questions by the video director; they will look “off camera” at the director, rather than the camera lens or “on camera”. These questions are then cut out, so the director will be looking for a “complete answer”, ie a statement that stands on its own. For example: “The key benefit of the new distribution centre will be…” rather than: “Yes. Same day delivery.” Each question may well be asked a number of times, so there are enough variations to edit together into a cohesive, articulate whole. The joins between questions may be covered with “cutaways” (shots showing what the interviewee is talking about), a change of shot (say from wide to close-up) or a quick fade to/from white or black. Interviewees can prepare by thinking about what they are going to say, but should never try and memorise a script; if they do, the result will almost certainly be very wooden. 

• Pieces to camera: here either a senior manager or a professional presenter talks direct to the camera lens. If the piece is short it can be memorised. Otherwise a tele-prompt mounted on the camera or a mini-recorder playing audio into the presenter’s earpiece will do the trick. Cue cards are not recommended, especially for non-professionals; it’s extremely difficult to look at the cue card and the lens at the same time.

• Chromakey: otherwise known as “blue screen” or “green screen”. The presenter or interviewee is shot against a flat blue or green background. In the edit, the blue or green is replaced electronically with a graphic or a shot taken elsewhere. This can be a very efficient way of rattling off a series of interviews in a controlled environment. 

• Sound: the microphone sitting on the camera itself is just for background. Speech will be picked up with a separate microphone on a boom, or through a “tie”, “clip” or “radio” mike worn by the speaker. 

• Actors will need somewhere to change and to sit while they’re not needed. They will have learned the script in advance, so don’t ask for last-minute script changes if you want a coherent performance. If actors are playing the part of your staff, you will need to provide uniforms, PPE, etc as appropriate. 

• Refreshment: a video shoot is hard work, so the crew will appreciate the occasional cup of coffee and a break for lunch. 

• Beyond the ordinary: you can add some of the trimmings of a feature film or broadcast television production to a corporate shoot if they help the story or the presentation. These need not be particularly expensive. For example:

  • A make-up artist if you’re doing drama, especially in costume 

  • A stunt co-ordinator if staging an accident for a safety video 

  • A pyrotechnician or armourer to provide flashes and bangs and smoke 

  • Aerial photography, either from a helicopter or a remotely piloted drone 

  • Special “grip” equipment such as a track and dolly or a steadicam (both allow the camera to be moved smoothly over a distance), a crane or a car mount.

Obviously there is an expense to hiring a video studio, but, it does give you a quiet, controlled environment, which can be very productive. Lighting, blue screen and infinity curve backgrounds are usually standard. On the other hand, a studio is an empty space, so you may need a set – whether some physical scenery or a virtual set (a computer generated background applied in the edit). 

Post production is the process that follows the video shoot. You may be offered copies of the rushes (the shot camera tapes) to view, often as VHS tapes with burned-in time code (BITC). This allows you to identify shots and will typically be tape number – minutes – seconds – frames (eg 02:12:46:08). 

The Offline or rough video edit was, in the days of tape-based video edit suites, made as a guide, on low format (and hence inexpensive) equipment. Once you had approved the offline, the material then went into the Online suite, where it was assembled at broadcast quality, complete with titles, voiceover, music and special effects. Now virtually all editing is computer-based, so the technical distinction is blurred, even thought the two stages of the rough and final cut have been preserved. 

It is wise to record any voiceover narration after the shoot, in case the result on the day was not exactly as per the script. 

All music costs. Tracks from well-known rock classics are the most expensive, followed by music written specifically for your production, then library music (on special background music disks, licensed through the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) and finally “buy-out” or “royalty-free” music which can be bought online.

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