What Does it Take to Make a Video?

Like any successful project, start with a specific need, and end with that need being successfully met.  What are you trying to accomplish? The possibilities are endless, but are defined by your business necessity, resources, and vision.

Traditionally, the process is seen as 3 phases: pre-production, production, and post-production.  There is a 4^th phase, delivery and follow-through, that is key to success.

Pre-Production: Discovery & Planning

First, you must determine the goals for the video:  What is the mission and purpose? Who is your audience?  In what way do you want your audience to be changed?

What is your product or service?  What do you want to say about it?  Does marketing and branding already exist?  If not, maybe the entire project should be reconsidered.  What level of production value best represents your product or service?

Make a business case.  What is your anticipated ROI?  How do you measure that?  How much money do you need to budget for the project to be successful? How much money can you budget? What is the timeline? Who will manage the project?

Based on the information gathered during discovery, we develop a proposal, scope, and budget for the project.  Once these are approved, the project is on!

The next step is to develop a creative treatment.  A creative treatment is essentially a description of all that you are supposed to see and hear in a video, but doesn't actually define any specific spoken dialogue.  Once the treatment is approved, we write a detailed video script.

With an approved script, we are ready to gather all the assets needed (artwork, graphics, still photos, locations, on screen talent, crew members, schedules, etc.) to go from paper to reality.

Production: Following the Plan & Capturing It on Video

This is where the filming actually happens. It can involve the gathering and coordination of huge amounts of crew and resources. Careful pre-production, planning, and project management are essential for the overall success of the project.

Post-Production: Bringing It All Together & Adding Finishing Touches

We use a tapeless workflow and bring all video assets directly into our Avid editing suite, and conform them to the approved script.  We add text, still and motion graphics, still photos, music, voiceover narration, and ambient sound recording, so that it meets the original vision.

We provide rough cuts of the video for review online at pre-established approval milestones.

Delivery: It's Not Over Yet!

How we deliver depends on who your audience is, and how and where they view videos. Typical distribution channels include broadcast television, corporate websites, social networking sites, mobile devices, and DVD.  We are fluent in all the technologies to assure that your video is delivered efficiently, appropriately, and correctly. We are also able to interface directly with your technical people, TV stations, webmasters, and AV technicians.