In this video we're going to talk about the ultimate pre-production guide so
that you can get out and shoot video productions without worrying about
anything going wrong. Why is it important to do pre-production in the first place?
and I think this comes back to Andrew Grove wrote about this in High Output
Management and the theory is that it's a lot more expensive to correct a mistake
further down the pipeline so if you get out there and you shoot an entire scene
and then you realize that your actor is not wearing the vest that the customer
asked for now you're gonna have to go back hire the actor again hire the
location again and it's really expensive so you want to correct all those
mistakes but sooner down the pipeline because it's a lot easier to get the
Wardrobe person to go back and get the vest than it is to reshoot the entire
scene the first section in your checklist is going to be a development
checklist and in that you're gonna make sure that the script that you have is
speaking to the right audience this is super important to make sure that you're
not going out there creating something that's for an entirely different
audience so your copy should be tailored for that audience the next thing you
really want to hone in on your script this is by far the most important part
of your entire process the script is the lifeblood of your production this is the
Bible this is what everyone's following so you need to make sure that the script
has been revised has been looked at through all the department heads if you
have like a stakeholder that needs to give feedback on it and make sure that
that stakeholder gives a stamp or her stamp of approval before you go to shoot
because once you shoot you can't go back and change the script you're going to
make sure that the script is approved and then you can move to the next phase
you got to make sure that you have all the budget you need to make sure that
that script can come to life the next thing you want to do is you want to
create a storyboard so that when you show up on location you're not lost
you're not sitting there wondering what to shoot next you'll have storyboard
about everything you'll you'll have masked a visual to the script to the
copy that's on the page and that way you can relay that to all of your
cinematographers you can relay that to the cast everyone knows what's coming
next everyone knows how that's gonna look in the grand scheme of things and
if you really want to take this to the next level before you finalize your
storyboard a really good thing to do is to put a temporary voiceover track maybe
put the picture in an actual video timeline so you can
really feel how that time flows before you get out and land on set so that way
if there's something missing like for example the helicopter is supposed to
fly in from the left but the limousine isn't there yet you've
had enough time to work those kinks out before you actually get out and shoot so
now that your development is set you feel like you have a good understanding
of what is gonna happen now you have to get out there and start planning this is
like the ultimate logistical beauty in pre-production this is where a producer
really shines and where a bad producer loses his job so going down the
checklist you've got talent so you gotta make sure your talent is in place next
you got to move into your crew make sure you have all the positions filled make
sure everyone is aware of what time they're gonna start then you're gonna
move down you're gonna make sure you have your equipment in place if there's
a stabilizer that you need to have like a look at one of those Ronin gimble's or
something next you're gonna have a shot list the shot list takes everything
that's on the storyboard and in the script and it assigns at a time it
breaks it down and says hey we're gonna do this helicopter shot at 10 a.m. we're
gonna be done with that helicopter shot at 10:30 and then we're gonna move into
the limousine shot at 11:00 sharp that shot list will kind of translate
into your schedule you'll be able to see what time you have your makeup artist
showing up if you know that it takes two hours to do makeup you're gonna have
your makeup artist arrive all of those details once you have that schedule
broken out and you have your location details you have your talent you have
your crew all of that information is gonna go into the call sheet the call
sheet is like the culmination of all the work you've done up until this point and
again it's about it's about being consistent so everyone can look at the
call sheet and know exactly what time they're gonna show up where they're
gonna be needed and the great thing to do is to separate your call sheet by
setups so if you have like four locations in one day you can have all
those locations on the same call sheet but each setup is going to be in its own
section so you can have set up one maybe this is maybe this is the shot that
you're gonna do the helicopter you can have all of your cast that's gonna be
meeting on that section they can show up at that location and then all the crew
required to shoot that section is listed there
then the next section you'll have your next set up this is a limousine shot
right everyone knows exactly where they're
gonna meet and what time they're gonna be there another good thing to do is to
have any additional details that your caster or your crew is gonna need things
like wardrobe or makeup wardrobe suggestions for the actors if they need
to bring specific colors put that all in the call sheet once you have a call
sheet you send that out to everybody in on board and everyone knows exactly
where to meet everything's gonna be smooth sailing but the idea is think
about all the things that could possibly go wrong
create a back-up plan for that you know so for example say your client is not
sure if they're gonna want a pink vest or a blue vest
bring both vests don't ever rely on just intuition make sure that you have all of
your bases covered because it's only through being prepared for those
mistakes that you're gonna be able to have a back-up plan in place when you
show up on set the first thing you want to do is make sure you have all the gear
go pre-visualization with the maybe the director and cinematographer or maybe
the key cast pre-visualize what that's going to look like game plan things out
and then finally lock down your location get your lights get your camera get your
sound all cleared make sure everyone has snacks and then have fun all right I
hope you enjoyed this video and be sure to subscribe and if there's something
that you have a question about just leave a comment in the notes and let us
know if you were successful in filming yours first video let us know send us a
link we'd love to check it out