Table of contents:
Whether you’re creating a promo or simply filming a podcast, we know how important it is to make a top-quality video, and the key is in your video production process.
Producing a video from beginning to end involves some thought, but if you take the right steps you can avoid major hiccups along the way. If you’re new to video production, you may be wondering where to start? Or maybe you’re just interested to dive in deeper.
This guide is for you! We’ll go through the video production process, and break everything into nine simple steps.
What Is The Video Production Process?
The video production process is split into three phases: pre-production, production, and post-production. Those three phases can be broken down into nine simple steps, creating easily achievable tasks.
This article will explain each step of the three phases of the video production process as follows:
Pre-production
- Develop your video strategy
- Plan your content
- Scout your location
- Find talent
- Schedule shoot
- Gather equipment
Production
- Shooting your video
Post-production
- Editing your video
- Distribution
Why Is The Video Production Process So Important?
There are a lot of things to remember when producing a video. Completing each step of the video production process will help you stick to your deadline and budget, ensure your video remains faithful to its objectives, and mean less editing and reviewing is needed in post-production.
Following the video production process will lead to an effective, engaging video that inspires a high level of trust amongst viewers, results in increased audience engagement, and is widely shared across social media. It’s a no-brainer!
Pre-Production
The first phase of the video production process is all about planning and covers everything from the moment you decide to make a video right up to shooting it.
There are six steps within the pre-production phase. Ticking off every task in this phase will set you up for a successful video shoot, even if you record remotely, like in the above episode of video podcast Drinks With Binks, which was recorded with Riverside.
1. Develop Your Video Strategy
- Define your video objective. Why are you making the video? Whether it’s to raise brand awareness or increase engagement, every aspect of the video production process should actively share this core message and work towards your goal.
- Research your audience. Who is the video for? Gather insights on your target viewers, problems they want to solve, and what they watch so you can create a video that will appeal to them and achieve your video objective.
- Set your budget & timeline. Define a realistic budget and deadline, and don’t skimp on production costs: publishing a low-quality video is worse than not publishing a video at all!
2. Plan Your Content
- What’s your video about? Keeping your video objective in mind, define your creative approach and plan what to include in the video.
- Write your script. Depending on what type of video you’re producing, your script may be more or less rigid. For a video podcast, for example, a list of points to include in your discussion or interview is enough to allow for a natural, flowing conversation.
- Create your storyboard. This will allow you to visualize your video so you can plan the different shots you need to take in production (phase two).
- Define who and what you will need. Create a production schedule including lists of the people, places, and things you’ll need to get these shots.
3. Scout Your Location
Refer back to your video objective and storyboard to scout and secure the locations you need to tell your story. Make sure to anticipate and prepare for any issues you could have. For example, if you’re filming outside, have a plan in case it rains!
For videos where your talent is simply speaking to the camera, find a quiet, well-lit room to ensure you get the best quality audio and visuals possible. If they have a location where they’re comfortable filming, you can even record them remotely using software like Riverside.
4. Find Talent
Depending on the purpose of your video, finding talent consists of many different ways:
- If you’re filming a scripted story with actors, this is where you need to recruit your talent.
- If you’re recording a video testimonial or a how-to, this step means asking your happy customers or employees to talk about their experience on film.
- For video podcasts, it involves finding and inviting guests to interview.
As with every step of the video production process, the key here is that the people in your video communicate your core message and work towards your objective. Remember to carefully brief them about the objectives and the intended outcome of this video project.
5. Gather Equipment
The main equipment you’ll need for your video production process is a good camera, microphone, and lighting. There’s a huge range available depending on your budget. Many places also rent out video equipment, allowing you to use much higher quality kits than you may be able to afford to buy normally.
Additional equipment will depend on the content of your video, so make sure you refer back to the list you created for your production schedule.
6. Schedule Shoot
In line with your timeline and the availability of your talent and location, schedule when you’ll shoot your video. If you’re using remote recording software like Riverside, this step is simple. When you create your virtual recording studio, you can select the date to record and send an invite to your talent to join on the day.
Production
7. Time to Record
This step includes:
- Setting up your equipment;
- Rehearsing to ensure everything and everyone is ready to shoot; and
- Filming the video.
Every step of the video production process so far has led to this point. Create a preparation checklist to check that you’ve covered all your bases.
Depending on the type of video you’re producing, this step may also include conducting interviews with guests, capturing b-roll footage, creating animations, and recording voiceovers.
Make sure you keep your video objective a priority and refer back to the storyboard you created in step two while you film your footage.
Are you recording remotely and want to invite a behind-the-scenes producer? When you record with Riverside you can use Producer Mode to monitor your talent’s equipment and direct them with the chat function while remaining off-camera.
Post-Production
8. Edit and Polish
The third and final phase of the video production process is post-production. This phase takes your project from raw footage to a polished video ready to distribute. Post-production includes:
- Editing your video. This means choosing the best shots, cutting out unnecessary moments, and putting each clip to create the right length video that contains relevant content only. If you’re not willing to learn to edit your video yourself, you’ll find plenty of companies that will handle post-production for you - just remember to factor this cost into your budget in the pre-production phase.
- Adding sound. Adding background music and additional sound effects that complement the mood and tone of your video keeps it engaging for viewers.
- Adding graphics. Highlighting information in the video with text and graphics can bring your video to life. You can also make your video look even more professional in this step by adding a frame and your logo, like the Creator Economics video podcast does using Riverside’s software:
Riverside’s Text-based Editor feature allows you to edit videos as easily as editing a text transcript. You can add graphics; equalize the audio and remove background noise before you’ve even downloaded your video, saving lots of time in post-production!
- Rendering your video. This means creating the finished video files in the correct formats and qualities for your chosen hosting and distribution platforms. Most platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, prefer mp4 files.
The format will depend on where you’re sharing the video: Instagram prefers vertical videos, so it’s good to produce a landscape video that can be cropped for sharing on different social platforms.
Want a deeper dive into video and audio editing? Watch this video that shares some insightful post-production tips:
9. Distribution
The last step in the video production process is distributing your finished video. This step involves uploading the video to your chosen hosting platform.
YouTube is the most popular free option for hosting your video, but it doesn’t offer the same analytics capabilities as other paid video hosting platforms. Analytics are key in assessing how well your video has met the objectives you set out in step one of the video production process.
Finally, it’s time to promote your video across your website, social media, newsletters, and other marketing campaigns to optimize its reach and engagement, and ultimately meet the original video objectives you set out in the pre-production phase. Make sure to edit the video into bite-sized content with the right aspect ratios for distribution to other platforms.
Video Production Process: Key Takeaways
- Video is an essential marketing tool. 80% of marketers have reported that video boosts sales and 97% say that video helps users understand their products or services better.
- Keep your video strategy in mind. Your core message should be clear throughout the video production process to keep the video focused and ensure you meet your video objective.
- Planning will help you stick to your budget and timeline. There’s a reason the pre-production phase is so much longer than the rest of the video production process. Preparation is key and will help you produce an engaging, effective video.
Produce Studio-Quality Videos With Riverside
There’s no question that producing video is a valuable marketing strategy. With this guide to video production, the process should hopefully seem a lot less daunting now.
By following these 9 simple steps, you’ll end up with a successful video that meets your goals, whether you’re recording on-premises or not. Once you’ve checked off your pre-production tasks, see how easy it is to record remotely with Riverside. You can learn more about us here, or you can start producing studio-quality videos in no time!
