‘Fingers crossed for the weather’. It is a simple phrase that holds such a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to video shoots. On all our video production projects we leave nothing to chance. Everything is accounted for, but the one thing that we have no control over was the weather. Oh, and we hadn’t planned for Chris, our main cast member, getting food poisoning on the morning of the shoot but I’ll get to that later.
When walking boot mega brand Brasher approached us to produce a number of videos promoting their new product launches, happiness levels in the office reached fever pitch, which is a great start of the process that all our corporate video projects follow.
So, let me take you through our tried and trusted process for video shoots.
The Crucial Preparation
Having already met the client and been fully briefed, the first stage is unavoidable meetings. At these, we discussed the products, in this case different boots, their unique attributes and the types of terrain that they were suitable for. These discussions along with existing brand styles gave us a basis for what Brasher wanted to achieve.
This part of the process is massively important as it provides you with your objectives. Each product video went through the same planning process. The first video would provide a template for the rest, but each of them would have their own sense of identity.
Storyboard It
This part of the planning is covered by a storyboard meeting. It involved the whole project team including the director of the shoot. At its most basic, a storyboard fleshes out and provides a context for the shoot. Descriptions of what will be seen, whether video or graphic, are put together. Cast and props are discussed and timescales for possible shots and locations are planned.
Location Selection
At Happy Creative, we are very fortunate that we have two areas of outstanding natural beauty on our doorstep – the Lake District and the Forest of Bowland. Our love and knowledge of these two areas would prove crucial for this particular shoot.
The video director and myself covered over two hundred miles in two days of driving and walking to source the locations that would be suitable for each product. We discussed scenes, angles, camera positions and the logistics of what you could reasonably achieve in a single day’s shoot.
Such a ‘recky’ gives you a visual reference for the next stage of the planning process which is finalising a storyboard and creating a script. We took photographs of each location, got wet, checked our shots, and then created a story board around our ideas for each location and each product.
Storyboard Again and Script
The storyboard process is when firm production decisions are made. There are many options available to tell the viewer a story. These are decided on the requirements of the shoot. For example, would we need actors, is there going to be a voice over, a vox pop, or pieces to camera? This process comes together when the script is written up as a Industry Standard Storyboard.
An Industry Standard Storyboard includes:
• Each line of video script separately numbered. These are the storyboard numbers and are essential in organising a successful shoot.
• Each numbered line of script will have detailed visuals and exact locations set against it.
• A Shoot List – a list of all the locations required for the shoot, shown as storyboard numbers against location.
• A Cast List – details of all cast members, either provided by the client or hired actors.
• A Props List -details of all props whether client or producer provided.
• A Graphics list – details of any graphic or caption sequence that a designer can review separately.
• A Stills List – details of any still photos or logos within the film. It’s more than a shooting script. It’s also a complete list of materials required in making a film.
Shoot Planning Meeting
Finally, a shoot planning meeting takes place, which is where we confirm that all locations are available and suitable, equipment is in place and personnel are ready. This is also an opportunity to revise script details with the client.
And to the shoot…
All this happens before we’ve even hit the slopes for filming. At this point, ready for the shoot, and as I waited at the meeting point for our client to arrive, I had 30 minutes to dwell on the two factors that we didn’t have control over – rain and food poisoning.
In true Happy Creative spirit… we just had to go for it. Jason and the rest of the crew went to our first location and I went down later with our client. As we walked to the top of the hill, we saw Chris (our main cast member) hunched over and I wondered how we were going to juggle Chris’s obvious discomfort with what we wanted to achieve.
How we did that and overcame noisy waterfalls, road cleaners, cars, lorries and not so silent hotel rooms, I’ll answer in my next blog!
James Chantler is Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
