Published in 15 Mar 2024

Video production stages

Video production
Video production stages

Create involving and enlightening video production stages for all the participants in the collaboration, that’s the challenge! In this article, we will, of course, mention these famous video production stages, but we will propose to go further with a collaborative vision of the production flow.

 


Video production stages, a global view

Corporate video production is frequently summarized as a step-by-step production flow. Of course, these production stages are essential and must be defined and implemented.

But a video production is first and foremost an intelligent and dynamic collaboration between all participants, mainly creators and clients, but not only!

It is a global and adapted vision that must be clearly shared so that the production stages are not only boxes to be checked but a fluid meeting between organization and production monitoring.

Video production stages, technically

From a technical point of view, for those who have not yet mastered the whole corporate production flow, the production stages are divided into 5 phases:

The proposal stage

This is an important step for the client relationship in any video production that involves a client and a creative team. It is at this point that the foundations of the collaboration are laid and that trust is created. For the service provider, it’s a matter of deeply understanding the request and its deepest stakes. For the client, it is about being reassured about the creator’s ability to carry out the project.

  • Listening to the client and giving advice
  • Definition of the film and intentions
  • Estimate of the resources to be used
  • Quote
  • Definition of the necessary production stages and edition of a production schedule.

Pre-production

We enter the concrete side of the film by editing all the “reference” documents needed for the production. It is a question of clearly defining what must be created and how it will be created, so that everyone understands and validates the expected result and the method to obtain it.

  • Script / scenario
  • Storyboard
  • Graphic proposals and Moodboard
  • Sound proposals (music, sound design style)
  • Tests and location scouting
  • Casting (voice-over, journalist, speaker, actors…)
  • Organization of the production (methods, teams, locations, means, schedule)
  • Editing of production documents (work plan, shot structure, technical sheets…)
  • Management of authorizations, rights and security procedures

The production

We go on the field! We grab our gear and go. This stage of the production process often means intense moments of sharing, sometimes tiring, but always unforgettable. This is the stage of creation of all the media and material useful for post-production, whether it be shots, animations, visuals, sounds, music, etc.
At this stage of the production process, we meet on a real set or in a studio, in an office or in nature, behind a green screen or a microphone, a screen, a pencil, a graphics tablet or a musical instrument.

  • Shooting
  • Creation of digital content
  • Illustrations
  • Recording of voice-overs
  • Composition of music
  • Post-production
  • Editing
  • Animation and motion design
  • Dressing
  • Fx / special effects
  • Grading
  • Sound design
  • Mixing
  • Client feedback and finalization
  • Adaptation of broadcast formats
  • Delivery

The after-sales service

Yes, it also exists in our creative business, even if it is not always emphasized by all agencies. It begins at the moment of delivery and extends from advice on distribution methods and techniques to future adaptations, whether planned or not, such as changes to the graphic charter or visual identity, or updates to dates or obsolete elements.

 

Collaborate on every stage of production with Skeem

 

Video production stages, from a collaborating point of view

Let’s take a step back! All these technical steps are integrated and we have a good understanding of how a video production process runs. Now, let’s look at the production flow from the perspective of collaboration and the human issues that lead to successful filmmaking.

We agree: a production organization must help clients and creative teams to project, anticipate and fully engage in each stage of the production. As in any project management, the key to fluidity is a communication built around the main video production stages.

But let’s change the way we look at production and forget for a moment about the technical stages we know.

Plan with precision and share clearly.

Planning implies giving a vision and clarifying who does what, and when.

Sharing involves communicating when everyone should act, creatives and clients alike.

The objective: to make people understand the purpose of the process and the reasons for the method. This is the only way to motivate and engage all participants.

What collaborative stages strongly structure a production?

Which stages allow a clear communication of the workflow? Which stages of production facilitate exchanges and the progress of the project?

If we want to answer these questions and set up a proactive production that covers all the interactions between the creative team, clients and collaborators, then we need to focus on two major fields that are transversal to all the technical stages of production: organization and project monitoring.

Organization

We plan and engage our clients and collaborators!

  1. Propose a global view of the production and remind it throughout the process.
  2. Assign well-defined roles in 4 dimensions: quantity, quality, space and time
  3. State the stages clearly and make them live in time (anticipation, achievement, analysis)
  4. Announce the validation stages and ask to prepare for them (who?, when?, how?)
  5. Provide a known reference place for exchange that accompanies the entire production process (important notes, guidelines) 

Project monitoring

  1. Make the exchange space live to anticipate, prepare, provide and receive (discussions, feedback)
  2. Simplify client feedback to avoid errors and misunderstandings (video and media content reviewing tool)
  3. Follow the validation scheme in a rigorous manner (request, reminder, history)
  4. Manage deadlines (respect, explained and documented modifications, announced delivery)

 

Of course, this vision of the video production stages is transverse and dynamic. Whether it is the vision of the schedule, the roles, the stages, the exchanges, the validations, everything is part of a living and evolving production. Implementing the video production stages means orchestrating a complex whole, which is why, let’s repeat it: centralization and communication are our best allies for an efficient video project management.

With, of course, energy, good mood and tools, simple and effective, which allow to organize and to follow a production from A to Z… An idea? 😉

 

Try Skeem for free!

Thomas

Thomas

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