I’ve had several people ask me over the past several months what I think the 5 most important production challenges are in any video project. There are actually many more than 5, but let me try to highlight the 5 things that are crucial to a successful video production:
1. Create a solid, coherent budget. Be sure to calculate all the equipment and personnel you need, and especially take time to estimate the actual time it will take to complete a project. The last thing you want to experience are cost overruns that suck the profit from your project.
2. Write a good, tight script. If you can identify all the shots you will need for your production before you even start shooting, you will save lots of time and money.
3. Create a logical production schedule for your shoot. That means a smart timeline for your entire project as well as a smart, generous enough timeline for your actual shooting. Count the number of setups you are going to need and leave yourself enough time to change setups between shooting different parts of the script. Oh yeah, don’t forget lunch!
4. Make sure you have the correct equipment. This is self explanatory, but the point is that if you are missing a key item, your production will stall and you will waste lots of time and money while you try to locate or find what you are missing.
5. Finally, make sure you have the correct personnel when you start shooting. I always like to add an additional person to the crew just to make location changes faster and to have an extra pair of hands to help with the things you never expect will slow you down. You also want to make sure they are experienced and know what they are doing.
If you have considered the above tasks and prepared them before you start working, I promise you will save time, energy, and most importantly money. An added benefit is that your clients will appreciate your planning and execution skills!
Larry Lancit
LDM President
Larry@LancitDigitalMedia.com
(239) 676-5722