When I was in film school, and in any of my production classes, the professor always spouted pre-production, pre-production, pre-production. Believe it or not, I listened. The best productions have solid pre-production and a crew on the same page working toward the same goal. If everything is to go smoothly on a production shoot, there shouldn’t be any changes needed on talent, location, shot sheet interpretation and equipment needs…right?
But even with a solid team effort and a solid pre-production, those little unexpected changes can happen. Let’s explore how changes crop up once you step onto the scene…
On-Set and On Point
You’ve set up the camera and the actors are in place. Scripts are in-hand and the director calls “action.” At times, the director, producer or videographer might not like how a line is being delivered or the movement associated with the lines may be a little off, so there may be the need to make slight changes. These can evolve into script and shot changes. But in pre-production we had a finalized script and shot sheet right? In any film or video situation these can all change on a dime. Clients should keep in mind that the crew needs to have flexibility to change lines, actions, even locations due to something not particularly syncing together. Having a final product that looks great and delivers the message is what we strive for and those necessary changes can affect that.
An Ultimate Vision
Having a solid vision and the ability to convey that ahead of time can also affect the on-set action and set up. Changes on-set can often give you just the little edge or extra that may have not been planned. At times our crew needs to make changes on the fly depending on how the director interprets the script. Sometimes when you get on set and see the shot through the lens, you have more clarity on the situation – one where you can mold the look and feel of the live actors “in the moment,” which can make for an even better scene. But when we deliver a product with the slightly different choices made on set, the client doesn’t always know why the situation called for adjustments. They may ask, “Why is this different?” In the end, the changes generally make it stronger visually or a better portrayal of the message than we had pre-planned in our mind’s eye.
At the end of the day, we are after a solid video that meets or exceeds the clients needs. Whether it takes a month of editing or a week to capture all the footage, we work out the tweaks and changes in post-production because we can sit with puzzle pieces and start putting them together to make for an even stronger end product.
Truly, I believe that understanding what the script calls for, being able to adapt to any changes needed and dedication to the craft are the most important aspects of making a good video for your client. Next time, we’ll explore more in-depth on the challenges of editing and post-production.