As anyone who has worked in the video production industry can tell you, the entire process just to create one good-quality video is a very long one. Each step involved requires that you take the time and effort to make sure that this is all done right. It makes sense when you see the entire production process as a whole.
Shooting, editing, and everything in between, these are all steps that take up a lot of time and effort to get right. And if you end up messing up these steps, then it’s going to take a lot of work and time to do it all over again.
Out of all of the production steps, the pre-production step is the most important one. Some people don’t believe this, because doesn’t it make more sense for the actual video shoot or the video editing to be the most important step? If you find it hard to believe, here are some reasons why the pre-production step is the most important one in any video production.
Everything is planned and identified
The pre-production step is the very first step of any production. This is the step where everything is planned out and identified.
Whether you’re working for a client or for yourselves, you should all sit down together and identify what the final goal is for the video that you’re all going to be working on. What is the video going to be used for? What do you hope to achieve with the video?
Identifying all of these and more allows you to plan out the direction to take with the video and the production process. Figuring this out helps you know what the next steps to take are.
The logistics are fleshed out here
Once the direction for the production is identified, it’s time to get a little more specific. The script, cast, crew, all of these are to be planned and determined during the pre-production phase.
You should have already identified how many crew members you’re going to need for the production, the kind of props, shooting locations, and other kinds of logistics.
All of these are to be discussed and planned during the pre-production phase. This is important because it allows you to determine where your time and budget is going.
The specifics like the budget are identified
Speaking of which, the budget is one of the very first things that you should be discussing during the pre-production phase. The budget allows you to figure out how big or small your video production is going to be.
While your creativity and skill shouldn’t be limited by money, it certainly helps to have a decent budget in order to make sure that you can come up with a great video.