What Should You Send a Video Production Company Before Filming?
Once you've decided to commission a video, one of the first questions is usually: what do we actually need to provide?
The good news is you don't need to turn up with a finished script, detailed storyboard or perfectly formed creative idea. That's part of the job you're paying a video production company to help with.
But the more useful information you can share at the beginning, the easier it is to understand your business, develop the right approach and make the most of the time you have on camera.
As a video company in Cardiff, there are a few things we find particularly useful before we start planning a shoot.
Tell Us What You're Trying to Achieve
This is more important than telling us what you want the video to look like.
Are you trying to explain what your business does? Generate enquiries? Recruit people? Launch something new? Build trust with a particular audience?
A clear objective gives the whole project something to work towards.
If you simply ask for a two-minute corporate video, there are hundreds of ways we could approach it. If you tell us you need potential customers to understand a complicated service within two minutes, that's a much better starting point.
Share Your Existing Brand and Marketing Material
Brand guidelines are useful, but so are the everyday things your customers already see.
That might include your:
Website
Brochures and presentations
Social channels
Previous videos
Campaign material
Brand guidelines
It gives us a much better understanding of how you currently communicate and where the new video needs to fit.
It can also highlight things that aren't working particularly well, which can be just as useful.
Explain Who You're Talking To
Knowing your audience affects everything from the questions we ask to the language, pace and style of the finished film.
A video aimed at prospective employees will feel very different from one aimed at procurement directors.
You don't need a detailed audience persona. A simple explanation of who needs to watch the film and what you'd like them to think, feel or do afterwards is usually enough.
Give Us the Key Messages, Not a Finished Script
Unless there's a specific reason for it, we don't need you to write the film for us.
In fact, particularly with interview-led films, heavily scripted answers can often make people sound less natural.
What is useful is knowing the important points that need to come across.
We can then use those to shape the interview questions, structure and story while allowing the people on camera to speak naturally.
Tell Us Who Needs to Be Involved
Think about who can tell the story best, rather than simply who is most senior.
That could be the managing director, but it could equally be someone from the team who understands the subject particularly well, a customer or a combination of different voices.
It's also useful to know who needs to approve the project. Getting the right people involved early can save a lot of unnecessary changes later.
Share the Practical Details
The boring stuff matters too.
Before filming, we'll need to understand things like locations, access, parking, security requirements, available rooms and any restrictions on where we can film.
If you're filming in a working office, factory or public space, it's also useful to know what the environment will actually be like on the day.
A good video production company in Cardiff should help you work through all of this before the shoot rather than leaving you to figure it out yourself.
Show Us What You Like, and What You Don't
Examples can be incredibly useful.
You might have seen an interview style you like, a particular pace, a piece of animation or simply a film that feels right for your brand.
You don't need to find something you want to copy. That's not the point.
References just help start a conversation about what you respond to creatively.
And telling us what you don't like can sometimes be even more useful.
Tell Us Where the Video Will Be Used
A film for your homepage may need to work differently from one being used in a LinkedIn campaign.
And if you're investing in a filming day, there may be opportunities to create additional content at the same time.
Knowing where the finished content will appear allows us to think about different edits, formats and shots before filming starts, rather than trying to repurpose everything afterwards.
You Don't Need to Have Everything Figured Out
Probably the most important point is that you shouldn't feel you need to arrive with all the answers.
A good production process should help turn your business objectives and ideas into a clear plan for filming.
At On Brand, we specialise in video production in Cardiff, and much of the work we do happens before the cameras arrive. Understanding the business, defining what the content needs to achieve and planning how we'll capture it is what allows the filming day itself to run smoothly.
If you're considering a brand film or content shoot, you can explore our fixed-price video packages, take a look at our recent projects, or get in touch and talk us through what you're trying to achieve.