Corporate Video: Working with a Videographer See full series list

EPISODE:
The Video Production Process

What does it take to make a high-quality business video? Eric Wylie explains the three main parts of the video production process: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production. Whether you're planning your first shoot or looking to refine your video strategy, understanding what happens in each stage will help you work more effectively with a videographer and set your project up for success.

This video series is designed to assist corporate communicators and business owners understand the video production process, the many ways video can support business processes and revenue, and how to select and work with a videographer.

In this series, video production veteran Eric Wylie of Wylie.Video shares his expertise after years as a corporate communications professional and freelance corporate videographer, editor, and voiceover artist.



TRANSCRIPT:

Have you ever wondered what goes into creating a corporate video? Whether it's for marketing, training, or internal communications, corporate videos play a crucial role in engaging audiences.

Today I'm sharing with you the steps of the video production process. (Music)


Hi, I'm Eric Wylie, a freelance corporate video producer and editor.

First up is pre-production. This is where all the planning happens. I start by understanding the client's goals, the target audience, and key messages.

Then we develop a concept, write a script, and create a shot sheet that helps keep us on task and efficient on our recording days.

The concept and script for a business-focused corporate communications video is typically pretty straightforward. We're either developing the content by creating questions for an interview of one or more people that will be edited together to tell the story, and mixed with video and images related to the topic. Or we may be writing a script for a narrator or on-screen presenter that will tell the story exactly the way we want to share it. And for a fully scripted production like that, we will also be pre-determining what video and images we want to show as the voiceover is heard.

(Music)

For my productions, the desired video clips and images are listed in a separate shot sheet. The shot sheet is important to have on the recording days because I want to ensure that we're being efficient with our time when on location. By collecting all of the shots we need to capture in one document and organizing them by location or the optimal or necessary time of day, we can be sure we're capturing everything possible at each stop rather than backtracking and unnecessarily spending time moving gear around when we could be recording.

Say, for instance, I'm recording in a large manufacturing plant, and we have our list of needed shots. If I'm not already familiar with the location, I'll work with my client to understand the relative location of each of the areas we need to record in so that we capture things in a logical work order rather than simply the order we'll be talking about things in the script.

Once the plan is set, I'll work with my client on the logistics, scheduling the shoot dates, scouting the locations when possible, and preparing the necessary equipment.

This stage ensures that everything runs smoothly when we're on site to record.


Now it's time for the on-site recording, also known as production.

Depending on the project, we might record at your company office, manufacturing facility, one of your customers' locations, a studio, or multiple locations.

Once on site, I'll set up the lighting, camera, and microphone equipment to ensure we're correctly capturing professional quality sound and video.Working together, we'll record interviews, B-roll footage, and any scripted content needed.

By the way, if you're not familiar with the term B-roll, B-roll is what we see in the final production when we're not seeing the persons who are speaking. You can think of the interview recordings as the A-roll and all of the other captured video as B-roll. Those terms come from way back in the days of film and also early videotape.

My goal is to make sure everything we capture looks polished and professional. And of course, I always work to make sure the on-camera talent feels comfortable, looks good, and feels confident.


POST-PRODUCTION At this point, I sit down at the computer with all of the material we've recorded, including any pictures, graphics, and logos that may have been provided, and carefully select the best footage to use.

If the project was interview-based, I'll first cut together the interviews in a way that tells our story.

Once I have the interviews laid out, I'll add in all of the B-roll to illustrate what the interviewees or presenters are talking about.

Finally, I'll enhance the visuals with color correction and create and add any on-screen text or graphics. I'll also ensure that the voices we hear are enhanced and sound as clear as possible, and finally, add an appropriate music track.

Once the first version is ready, I'll send it to the client for review and comment, and then make any necessary revisions.

The final product is then optimized for different platforms, whether it's for YouTube, websites, social media, or presentations.


And that's it, the full video production process. Pre-Production - where all of the planning takes place. Production - where the recording happens. And Post-Production - when all of the planning and captured media come together in the final video, from concept to completion. Every stage plays an important role in creating a professional and impactful corporate video.


If you found this information useful, please be sure to like and share this video, and subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on those notifications so that you know when the next video is available. And please add your comments and questions to the discussion. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.