Quoting one of our recent testimonials:
‘We only get one chance at capturing the footage! It’s so important to have the right people for the job. Working with Oli and Wes at Brickoven Media gave me a huge amount of confidence.’
We often have clients come to us with worries about filming and the potential of it all going wrong. This usually stems from their previous video experiences being stressful and lacking in professionalism. This is where our experience in the field comes in, we earn clients confidence by keeping the shoots a worry-free experience.
Here are our top 5 tips on keeping your shoots worry-free.
1. Pre-production planning
Plan, plan, plan. Before we even step foot on set, we make sure the clients and ourselves have a crystal clear idea of what we aim to achieve, what we are going to shoot and a very good idea of what it’s eventually going to look like.
We work with the client to really nail what they need and want out of the video, a solid goal. For example, It’s no good doing a video about the company team if they are trying to showcase a new product. The goal in this instance would be to achieve more sales of said new product. We then refine what they want the aesthetic and feel to be, making sure this aligns with their brand identity and voice.
When we finally get to planning the shoot we plan what can realistically be achieved with their timeframe and budget. Then we build in a level of redundancy and backup planning.
2. Good crew
You need to be able to rely on your crew, the backbone of the entire shoot. A great crew makes a huge difference when under pressure, in an environment where time is money and more importantly, the client’s money. Brickoven are lucky enough to have an amazing pool of dependable, professional freelancers who we love working with, time and time again. Having a team who can react to changes you make on the day and even come up with suggestions of their own is brilliant and very much welcome.
3. Be able to move on and pivot on the fly to ideas b,c,d
This comes back to the first point, with the addition of having the ability to pivot and alternate ideas from your plan on the fly is a must. Knowing when an idea or shot isn’t working and when you may be better off moving on to another shot is a skill you have to learn. Sometimes the cool masterful shot you had in your head or storyboard doesn’t work in the real world and you have to be able to let it go and move on with the day.
4. Calm under pressure
The captain sets the tone that reflects back from the crew. If the person in charge starts running around like a headless chicken this is going to get everyone worked up. In this industry things can and will go wrong, it’s just the way it is, but how you react to certain upsets can make all the difference. Taking a moment and calmly reacting can steady the ship. Be strong, sailor.
5. Know what to fix in post
The dreaded sentence ‘ Fix it in post’ (A slogan worn on a few t-shirts of those scorned by the saying). Most of us hate to hear it but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Again, a skill to master over the lifetime of your career. There are plenty of times where it’s just worth spending a few extra hours in the edit or a bit of VFX to keep the momentum of the shoot rolling. If an actor has given a great performance but the boom dipped into frame it’s probably just worth it to move on with the shoot.
If you can think of any we’ve missed let us know!
