Send Me My Three Part Email Series

Getting Started with Video Production

In this three part email series, we will take you through the principles of effective filmmaking. The goal is equip you with the basics so you can start making videos the day after tomorrow. Sound good – Excellent. Complete the form below to sign up.

What’s covered in the email series?

Email 1 – The Principles of an Effective Story

Email 2 – Planning and Preparing Your Shoot

Email 3 – Some Dos and Dont’s For The Edit.

Your details
About the video(s) you want to produce
What type(s) of video are you looking to make?
Who is the audience for the film?
What call to action should be included at the end?
What is your film about?
It’s usually a bad idea to cover too many subjects within a single video. The most effective videos are usually quite succinct and address one subject in sufficient detail rather than diluting the message by paying lip-service to too many topics. The issue with films that try to take on too much, is that they can easily become too long. It will fail to retain the interest of the audience and simultaneously fail to go into enough detail to satisfy the enthusiastic viewer or fan.
What values does your business stand for?
The most effective films possess an interesting or moving story. This is as true for B2B comms as it is in B2C projects. In order to have a compelling story, there has to be either a conflict or a challenge to overcome. By over coming the hurdle presented within the film your audience will be moved emotionally. Understanding which emotional triggers to pull is really important as these should reflect the same values as those your brand stands for. When developing the Video Essentials bundle, we created the Culture 360 film as the scoping film which is designed to unearth all your brand values. These values then permeate through all the other videos we create for your business.
What type of story should I tell?
From Shakespeare to Spielberg, there are only seven basic story types which include Overcoming the Monster, Rebirth, Quest, Journey and Return, Rags to Riches, Tragedy and Comedy. Understanding the seven different stories is a comprehensive subject so we’ve produced a more digestible blog post on the subject entitled ‘How To Add Style To Your Story’ which is designed to help you pick the right story type for your needs. For some worthwhile reading on how to tell a story, we recommend Robert McKee’s excellent book ‘Story’.
Where are your films going to be seen?
How you intend to use your film will impact upon the final budget so it’s important to clarify this information early on, to avoid any nasty surprises. Usage covers everything from which channels the films will be seen on, to which territories the film will be made available in. Letting us know where your films are going to be seen informs everything from the running time of your films, to the cast, crew and equipment required to produce your content.
Does your film require actors?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
Locations
Are there any specific locations which are pertinent for your production? This is important to know as it can help us locate local crew. It is also important for other logistical considerations such as calculating an appropriate call time and coordinating movement orders. If you know your production will have to be shot in a specific location please do let us know when submitting your brief.
Do you have any visual references, such as similar films which might be useful (please paste any links below)?
Visual references can be tremendously helpful for conveying your ideas. Send your reference films our way and we will make sure the final product gets as close as possible to your intentions.
Know your budget
- Between £5,000 & £10,000
- Between £10,001 & £20,000
- Between £20,001 & £40,000
- Between £40,001 & £50,000
- Over £50,001
Whats's your deadline?
It is essential that we know your key dates. Whilst the production schedule will vary from production-to-production, we typically recommend you allocate up to 6 weeks for your film to go from proposal sign-off to completion. We will obviously do our best to accomodate any key dates you have in mind, for instance if your production relates to a live event, then the shoot would have to take place in conjunction with that event. If there are any other key dates which are essential to your production then please let us know. Typical examples include dates of actor or location availability.

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Getting Started with Video Production

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Getting Started with Video Production

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