7 Must-Know Tips for Production Day Filming

May 14, 2018 3 min read585
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It’s production day! All your planning and creative brainstorming have led to this. Whether you’re handling production yourself or have hired a team to handle it for you, you should familiarize yourself with the process so you’re ready when the big day comes.

Let’s take a look at exactly what you should expect come the big day!

Need a refresher on the pre-production stage? Read about pre-production here!

What You Need to Know About Production

Remember, your video is meant to capture a certain way of life and appeal to a specific type of person. Don’t cut corners when it comes to quality. Make sure you give your video team more than enough time to get the footage required. The better the quality of the footage, the more appealing the final product will be.

1. It’s all about timing.

By the time you reach production day, you should have a full production calendar ready to go. Depending on the length of your video, you might be shooting one half day, or numerous full days. Whatever the schedule is, be ready to maintain it.

Here at Lemonlight, we typically stick to half-day and single, full-day shoots. An experienced production crew should be able to expertly set up shots and film quickly — not in a rush, but efficiently so no time is wasted.

2. Test every shot before actually filming.

A crucial (and often forgotten) step in the production process is testing every shot before you actually shoot it. You want to make sure there aren’t unseemly props in the background, bad lighting setups, or malfunctioning camera equipment. Frame your shot, test your equipment, and use stand-ins to make sure tops of heads or shoulders won’t be cut off in your final product.

Testing every shot before filming is integral for your video production filming day.

3. Always track any changes.

Things will inevitably change — it’s a fact of life and a fact of production. Whatever happens, just be sure you track all changes, whether on paper or digitally. If you go off script, track the timestamp. Change a shot? Write it down. Need a new prop? Write it down.

This will improve communication with the rest of your team, as well as help your video editors correctly edit and label their work.

4. Sound quality = video quality.

Don’t forget the importance of sound quality. Poor sound can make your production seem amateurish. Make sure you have a sound engineer on set and that he or she has all the proper equipment to record sound without any issues. You’ll want a lavalier mic for sit down interviews, and microphone and boom setups for bigger shots.

Need help scheduling your next video production? Check out How to Schedule Your Next Video Production Timeline.

5. Lighting is crucial.

This goes back to the importance of testing your shots. You want your lighting to not only be technically correct (not over- or underexposed), you also want to ensure it matches the feel of your video. A dark, moody video might have darker lighting, while a bright, informative how-to video will likely have brighter lights. Keep shadows and spotlights in mind.

Making sure you have good lighting is crucial for your video production set

6. Makeup and wardrobe should be ready to go.

Your makeup and wardrobe teams should already know what they’re doing come production day. Make sure all makeup, wardrobe, and props are ready and easily accessible for quick changes during shooting. By production day, everything should be shipped, tested, approved, and ready to go.

7. Never neglect your b-roll.

Chances are your video will not be one single shot. Most likely, your video will use b-roll, or supplemental video footage that intercuts your main footage. It’ll play over your narration or voice-over to create more visual interest. You might shoot your b-roll on the same day as your interviews or other footage, or on a different day. Regardless, be sure your b-roll makes sense and tells your story well. Pay attention to lighting and sound here, just as you would with your main footage.

There are a million things to keep in mind for production day and throughout your entire video marketing strategy. It never hurts to over-prepare. Remember: Lists are your friends! Be ready to go, plan ahead of schedule, and be ready for a hectic, but exciting day!

Or — save time and resources and hire Lemonlight for all your production needs! From pre-production to post, we can create the branded video you’ve always wanted. Best of all, with us, you won’t have to worry about any production day musts.

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