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Corporate Video Production Best Practices: Give Yourself a Smooth Experience
Producing corporate video content is a great way to put your message in front of a wider audience than more traditional forms of content — but not every video production goes equally well. The way you approach your video shoot and the best practices you apply on set can set you up for success in terms of both schedule and budget.
Whether you’re working with a full outside production team, a limited group of consultants or a completely in-house team, there are a few common-sense principles that can help you avoid the most common corporate video mishaps.
Pre-production: Setting yourself up for success
The whole tone for your video production is determined before anyone ever arrives on location to begin filming. Planning is where successful companies set themselves apart from their less capable competitors in terms of efficient, effective video production.
Best practices to follow at this step of a video shoot include:
- Sharing brand guidelines: Every group working on the video shoot, in-house or third party, should have access to your brand guidelines. Knowing your aesthetic preferences throughout the whole process prevents miscommunication and ensures all the footage fits together.
- Creating a shot list: “Winging it” on a video shoot can lead to wasted time. When you and your production partners create a list of all the necessary shots for the finished video and a plan for capturing that footage, you can set a tight, well-designed schedule.
- Understanding local regulations: Surprises are the enemy on a video shoot. It’s important to know in advance what permits you’ll need to film in various locations or use advanced technology like drones. You should also verify whether your chosen venue has other requirements, like union contracts or a need for liability insurance.
Strong preparation sets you up for an efficient, purposeful video shoot. Once you’re on set, it’s time to turn that plan into action.
Production: Moving smoothly on set
Whether it’s your first time working on a corporate video or your hundredth, there are some reliable, go-to methods to fall back on. Everyone on set has a role to play, from on-screen talent to the director of photography, camera and mic operators — and, of course, every member of your company’s internal team.
Video best practices to follow on location or in the studio include:
- Strictly following agreed-upon schedules: The schedules set during pre-production are only effective if people follow them. Taking extra time for breaks or failure to arrive at a location on time can have knock-on effects, throwing the rest of the shoot off.
- Being ready to pivot: While obeying the schedule is important, a professional video production team will also acknowledge when it’s impossible to follow the plan, for example, due to inclement weather. In these cases, flexibility and teamwork can help you compensate for lost productivity by accomplishing whatever activity is possible under the circumstances.
Completing a shoot within your schedule and budget is your first chance to declare victory. Then, it’s time to turn the footage into a finished product.
Post-production: Embracing new tech and techniques
A piece of content truly takes form in the video editing studio. Post-production work allows your corporate video to look as impressive as a full-scale Hollywood feature if you’re aiming for polish, or to seem casual and candid if you’d prefer an off-the-cuff look. From processing visuals and audio quality to using visual and sound effects, plenty of steps go into turning raw footage into a finished video project.
The following are some post-production video best practices to keep in mind:
- Work with skilled and tech-savvy editors: Professional video editors with the latest production technology are key allies in producing videos that will impress your viewers. These experts have access to both current-gen post-production software and efficiency-building tools that help them deliver high-quality work faster.
- Have a clear, decisive feedback process: Getting a video to come out perfectly calls for some back-and-forth, but you should minimize the length of this process wherever possible. Having a standardized process by which all stakeholders leave all their comments in an orderly way can make collaborative revisions quick and painless.
Once video editing and post-production are complete, it’s time to release your finished deliverable to viewers and then start envisioning the next one.
Produce your video through expert collaboration
One of the most sensible practices you can embrace at all steps of high-quality video production is to work with a video production company made up of expert collaborators who are knowledgeable about their work. Meeting these collaborators on their level by following sensible, efficiency-forward best practices helps you fit the video shoots into your schedule and budget.
Crews Control’s teams can provide this type of support for your organization, no matter which phase or phases of the video production process you need them to support. Our professionals can assist with all types of corporate videos, whether that means an explainer video, an internal training video, a product video, an about-us clip or any other kind of content.
Read our eBook to delve deeper into the practices that can keep your production on track.
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