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HOW DO YOU MAKE A FILM OR VIDEO?

Agence Puck 28 June 2022

How do you prepare properly for making a video or film? What are the different production techniques? What is a storyboard for? What are the benefits of an audiovisual format in your communication? These are all questions we'll answer for you today.

Did you know that:

80% of internet users prefer watching a video to reading an article?
The audiovisual format can subconsciously convey much more information than text, a poster or audio content in the same amount of time.
76% admit that it's the channel that helps them remember the most messages?
Video combined with organic search techniques is 53% more likely to appear on the first pages of search engines?

Source: BDM Média

These figures speak for themselves: there are many reasons to use video. But what are the key stages in making a video?

Choosing the right provider to make your video

Making a video takes preparation and time, from both the client (the advertiser) and the chosen provider. The role of the communication agency is to add value to your message. Its job is to mobilise a number of specific skills to produce content that means something to the viewer.

A project manager to coordinate production, a copywriter and/or an art director to come up with the message, script and storyboard, and a producer to take charge of production of whatever kind (with film crews, editors, motion designers and a sound studio).

The aim of a film is to convince the viewer of the message you want to get across. All the stages must therefore be respected, from the marketing approach through to delivering the message. Skipping any of these stages only leads to disappointment.

Defining the right message to convey

A good video production starts with a good brief.

> Read the article “5 qualities of a good brief for your agency” Only this shared stage will make it possible to define the right objective, meaning where you want to go and not how to get there.

Preparing the screenplay

Whether your video is a short film, an advert, a corporate film, a TV film, a documentary or a feature film, the screenplay is the key to the success of its production and certainly to its effectiveness with viewers.

The script: the creative team starts by writing a story and defining directing intentions. It can draw on references to make these more explicit. At this stage, the team will propose messages and a way of achieving the objectives set by the brief.
The storyboard – based on key images, the production is paced, often from words or a soundtrack. The storyboard can be completed with a shot-by-shot breakdown if necessary. This key stage is important whatever the type of production: motion design, live action, 3D, etc.

Production

Once the previous stages have been completed, you can move on to the pre-production meeting, which will define the schedule and resources allocated to production according to what has been decided. The teams for 3D production, motion design or filming, and sometimes all three at once. Today you can also use video stock shot libraries, but take care to keep them consistent with the rest of the production.

Once production is under way, you need to plan the soundtrack and the recording of voice-over or in-vision voices. This should be considered with an edit that is already well established, or even final.

It's then time to export the sources for distribution in the right format.

Remember that at every stage everything must be done to obtain sources that match the desired quality. For example, if you include video sources from a smartphone in a 4K film (4 times high definition), the result won't be optimal.

You might say that for a video sequence to accompany a Facebook post the process can seem cumbersome. Indeed, you don't necessarily need as many people and resources. Even so, create a checklist covering each stage and allocate resources according to the size of your production.