Preproduction

A video production set is an exciting place buzzing with activity and charged with anticipation as the cast and crew set about making a video project come to life. However, if you want to be successful in video production, you must first develop your project on paper long before you cast your first actor, hire your first crewmember or pick up a camera to begin shooting. Aristotle is credited with having said, “First, have a definite, clear practical idea; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends—wisdom, money, materials and methods. Third, adjust all your means to the end.” This is precisely the mindset needed when approaching preproduction! You start with your script (preferably, a good one) and the desire to make it into a video. Next, you determine if you have the resources to actually produce the script (the knowledge, skills-set, financing, equipment, personnel and time). And finally, you monitor and adjust your available resources accordingly in order to achieve your desired goal of producing your video.

Preproduction represents the practical side of visual storytelling.¹ As such, proper planning is the difference between a successful video project that is well organized, reaches its intended audience and clearly communicates its intended message; or a dysfunctional production with a poorly defined audience and an unclear or off-topic message. Therefore, preproduction is the most important phase of a video project and the more time and effort you put into planning and preparing for the production and post-production phases of your video project the more likely your project will be successful.

Although preproduction is understood to include all of the activities that must take place before production can begin, it is obviously a fairly loose term. Preproduction tasks can vary greatly depending upon the situation and type of production that’s being planned. For example, a small video company may include in their preproduction workflow such events as meeting with the client, researching audience and market, scriptwriting and storyboarding, location scouting, and hiring cast and crew. For each task in the process, client approval is typically sought in order to keep the client informed and to ensure the project is on track and on target prior to entering the much more expensive production phase of the video project.

Why is Pre-Production Critical to Shooting Video? By ReelSEO.

Preproduction for a feature-length film or video project is a more involved process that can only begin after the milestones of development² have been met (securing rights to a story, writing the script, attaching prominent actors to the project, hiring a director, budgeting, pitching and securing financing for “green light”).

If your goal is a little more modest—say a short video or 10-minutes or so—many of the same preproduction considerations that apply to a feature-length project still apply… only, on a much smaller scale! Still, there are some very specific things that you must consider when making a short that are quite specific to this format of filmmaking.

7 Things to Know About Making Short Films! By Indy Mogul.

Whether your goal is to make a feature-length project or a short video destined for YouTube, once the film or video project moves into preproduction, preparations for production begin. Such tasks as creating the production company, opening the company office, hiring the heads of departments, location scouting, prop and wardrobe identification and preparation, special visual effects identified and prepared and a production schedule are developed by the production manager. Production design and set construction (if necessary) begins, script-lock is achieved, storyboarding and pre-visualization is completed by the director who also begins working with the cast on table readings and rehearsals. Meanwhile, the production crew is hired and the cinematographer initiates camera testing in anticipation of the beginning of principle photography (production).

Independent Film Producing Series: Pre-Production. By SAGFoundation.

Depending on the complexity of your video project, preproduction could take several days, weeks, months or even years (depending on how long a project is in “development hell”³). Regardless, you will need to determine the most efficient and economical way to schedule your shoots, negotiate business deals with your cast and crew, secure locations and production equipment, ensure permits and insurance is in order and manage all the little details that will ensure your production proceeds smoothly. This requires attention to details, good communication skills and a keen sense of organization or the production is likely to flounder.⁴ To help with the latter, you should create a production book for your video project and keep track of all the important forms, reports and other paperwork.

How to Make a Production Book. By Rufuscasper.

For an outline of what is typically included in a production book, and for access to some of the various forms and templates you will most likely need during the preproduction phase of your video production, check out the resources below.

SCVP, 6th Edition, Preproduction Forms & Templates

PDFs library: Preproduction

Dependent Films, Tools & Utilities for Filmmakers, http://www.dependentfilms.net/files.html.

Filmmaker IQ, 588 Free Film Contracts and Forms, http://filmmakeriq.com/2009/04/588-free-film-contracts-and-forms/.

How To Film School, Free Call Sheet & Film Production Documents, http://howtofilmschool.com/free-call-sheet/.

Disclaimer: the documents/material/information or forms provided or linked to above have been provided for your convenience only and if you choose to use them in your video production you assume sole responsibility for their use. The author(s) of these documents/material/information or forms are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice regarding any of the documents/material/ information or forms. Have your lawyer review any documents/material/information or forms you may find online to ensure adequate protection of your legal rights, or should you have any concerns regarding their use.

Whether you are working on a television commercial or a screenplay, developing your idea into a shoot-able script is an iterative process; typically you start out with a “one-pager,” that evolves into a treatment, that turns into a more structured step-outline, that leads to the first draft which is followed by any number of revisions until the script is “locked” and ready for production. There are many lists of script writing books and resources available on the Web,⁵ so there is no need to repeat them here. Suffice it to say that there are two basic formats that are used in video production—the two-column or AV script and the single-column or screenplay style script —it’s important that you choose the format that is right for your production and use the terms that are common in the industry. In most cases, the AV script format is used for commercials and corporate-style videos while the screenplay script format is used for movies (from shorts to features) and entertainment television programming. Although any word processor can be used to write your video scripts, if you are serious about scriptwriting it is advisable to invest in a good scriptwriting program⁶ that can support various formats and conventions in screen writing. Below are a few examples of scriptwriting programs currently available for both MACs and PCs (some also have mobile apps available):

Adobe Story (free & subscription), https://story.adobe.com/en-us/index.html, is a hosted service available as part of a free membership in Adobe Creative Cloud. If your production warrants it, you might consider Adobe CC Story Plus, a subscription upgrade that combines all of the screenwriting features of Story Free with scheduling and reporting tools and built-in collaborative features.
Celtx (free, paid & subscription), https://www.celtx.com/index.html, offers a basic script writing interface for free, while Celtx Plus provides purchased “add-on” packages for scriptwriting and storyboarding. Two “studio” versions are available with monthly subscriptions that offer semi-integrated production management capabilities and “Cloud” storage options. Likewise, Celtx offers mobile apps for both MAC iOS and Android devices.
Final Draft (industry & educational pricing), https://www.finaldraft.com, is the industry-leading screen writing software with numerous features that help you plan, structure and write your script. Likewise, Final Draft has iPad and iPhone versions, “Cloud” storage options, and can integrate with other production management software to greatly speed up preproduction.
Movie Magic Screenwriter (industry & educational pricing), http://www.write-bros.com, is marketed as the only script writing software to win an Oscar for Technical Achievement and is endorsed by the Writer’s Guild of America. That being said, Screenwriter has many of the tools and features found in other screenwriting software; it automatically formats your script to industry standards, plenty of templates, and can create production tracking and breakdown reports to support production management tasks.

As you work your way through the creative script writing process there are a few things that you should keep in mind to make sure that what you write is ultimately producible:

Make your script fit your production level. If you are shooting a home video of your family vacation, a simple shot list would probably suffice with strategically place narration written and recorded after you’ve finished editing. However, if your video production involves professional cast and crew, your script should also include appropriate scene descriptions, character actions and dialog that inform the actors (without inhibiting them) and provides instruction for the crew (without directing from the script). In other words, scale your script (& format) to the subject and purpose of your production’s complexity.
Show, don’t tell. This is an important axiom of video scriptwriting as well as production—if it is important enough for your audience to know, it’s important enough to show it to them! Resist the temptation to have a character or narrator explain everything (this is call “exposition”), it makes for a boring video.
Be a good reporter. Not unlike a journalist, you need to write your script around the “five W’s” (who, what, when, where & why)… just not quite so prescriptively. Your scene descriptions should include some if not all of the following components depending on relevance: who is in the scene, what is taking place and what props & costumes are needed, when and where is it happening. Why is a little trickier because this evolves as the plot moves forward and the story progresses.
Fill the gaps. Research your subject matter. If you script is dramatic, read everything you can find about screenplays, plotting, dramaturgy, character development and dialog. If your script is informational or documentary in nature, then read up on the topic/subject of your documentary and watch other documentaries for their storytelling structure.

How To Write A Script For Video: Pre-production Basics. By ReelSEO.

Directors often “previsualize” their scripts in advance of production in order to work out actor blocking, camera placement and shot selection for each of the scenes in the script. One of the most common ways of doing this is through the creation of storyboards. A storyboard is a graphical representation of how your script will look, shot by shot—think of it as a sort of comic book or graphic novel version of your script. You don’t have to be an artist to make a storyboard or have fancy, expensive software. If you’ve got a pencil, paper and can draw stick figures, you can make a storyboard! The important thing is that your storyboards clearly communicate your visual intent. Here is a storyboard template you can use, but you can also just sketch out the scene on the back pages of your script too, if you wanted.

Storyboarding For People Who Can’t Draw. By IndieMogul.

Storyboards may seem like an unnecessary step; after all, shouldn’t the director already know what they want from studying the script? Actually, storyboards are an important tool in communicating the director’s vision of the video with other members of the production crew. Likewise, the storyboard is the first step in setting up a production plan including all the shots needed to provide good visual coverage of any given scene (and thus, all the camera setups). Finally, storyboard visuals are useful in showing motion—both actor and camera.

Storyboarding. By AFIScreenNation.

Securing your cast and crew is an important preproduction step⁸—without them, you can’t make your video! The size of the crew you should recruit or hire depends on the nature of your production and your budget. If the project is a complex feature-length production with lots of action, special effects and A-list stars, your cast and crew can number into the hundreds. On the other hand, a low-budget, independent film or video project may be a skeleton crew of ten or fewer.⁹ Corporate media productions, like TV commercials, tend to have production crews numbering in the dozens. Documentaries, depending on complexity, can have crews close to 100 or more (mostly involved in research and collection of historical materials) or as few as three (director, camera operator and sound recordist). Even if you are producing a YouTube video for your own purposes, a well planned video with a “right sized” crew is better executed, better targeted and much more likely to be viewed, shared and acted upon than something cobbled together at the last minute.¹⁰

Hiring Cast And Crew For Your Independent Film

3 Tricks For Your Impossibly Small Film Crew from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.

It’s important to note that documentaries are not exempt from preproduction planning. If anything, they often require more time and effort to ensure the production phase goes off without a hitch. Good documentary videos always have a solid foundation in research and preproduction. The preproduction workflow of a documentary does not differ much from that of any other independent film/video project.¹¹ If you take a more deductive approach, then your focus will be on research, pre-interviews, planed shot lists, and narration scriptwriting that results in a well planned, efficient and cost-effective production. If you take a more inductive approach your focus is a little more “investigative” or “exploratory.” You approach the documentary subject with the same level of subject research as the deductive documentary, but your preproduction focuses primarily on logistical planning—no advanced narration script, few (if any) pre-interviews, and the editor receives a greater volume of less structured material from which the story (or stories) must be “found” and brought to the foreground.

How to Write & Produce a Documentary. By IndieMogul.

Imagine that you and your production crew have just arrived at a distant location after a long drive only to find that there is no parking, the person in charge of the location is out, nobody else wants to sign the location or talent release forms, the audio environment is excessively loud, the lighting environment is uncontrollable, there are no power outlets to plug your lights into, and you just discovered that you forgot an important piece of equipment! Finding a location for your video shoot is one thing, it’s quite another to properly secure the location and ensure the production runs smoothly. Welcome to the details of production logistics! You must pay attention to the logistics of production in your preproduction planning or the nightmare scenario describe above could happen to you! At minimum, you need to check (and then, re-check!) that all the boxes below are ticked beforehand:

Location scout completed to determine “visual fit” as well as access, options, lighting, electricity, parking and any special needs.
Scout and secure a secondary location in case of inclement weather or if unexpected issues arise at your first location that prevent you from shooting your video.
Location permits (public spaces) &/or agreements/releases (private places) and all legal production paperwork are signed and in hand prior to the day of shooting.
Travel, parking, food, lodging, changing rooms and access to bathrooms have all been arranged, secured and paid for (as appropriate) in advance.
Location contacts, experts, translators (if necessary) or “the people with the keys” are available on-site (& you have all their contact information if otherwise) should problems at the location arise during production.
All talent release forms are signed and available before the shoot begins (persons under 18 require signed parent/guardian permission).
Props, wardrobe, makeup and other items have been accounted for and packed for the location and arrive with the production team.
Production equipment (cameras, lighting, audio gear, etc.) have been secured (packed for transport or rented on-site) and accounted for and plenty of record media to cover the shoot. It is also recommended that you have a means of making backup copies of your raw footage (a computer & large external hard drives).
Don’t forget to bring incidental items: a flash light, gaffer’s tape, multi-tool (&/or other misc. tools), gels & diffusion, extra batteries (lots of these!), first aid kit, rain covers (etc.), extra release forms, petty cash, and extra record media—just in case!

Probably the hardest thing for most filmmakers and video producers when starting out is securing a location to shoot their video. If you have a big budget, you can hire a location manager who will scout some potential locations that fit your script and then take you to check them out. The good thing is that the location manager will deal with the paperwork and logistics once the perfect location is identified. Alternatively, you may be able to get assistance from your local state or city film commission. Although their location service may be free, the locations will need to be financially secured with a contract for your production—hire a good lawyer. However, if you are a student or an independent filmmaker on a tight budget, the easiest way is to ask friends and family if they have or know of any places that might fit for the locations in your script—if so, you can usually get access for free (although, you may have to work your production schedule around the availability of the “free” locations).

Finding Locations & Wheelchair Dolly. By Film Riot.

How to Secure A Shooting Location. By IndieMogul.

Preproduction is all about the details and they can seem overwhelming at times. The bottom line of why you should spend so much time on your preproduction preparations can be summarized in six simple statements. The purpose of preproduction is to ensure that you can:

Get the right people (cast and crew)
To the right location (studio or remote location)
Legally unencumbered (proper permits, clearances, contracts & releases)
To shoot in a safe environment (for both personnel and equipment)
On time (because time is money)
And, on budget (because every dollar counts)

Breaking down the script is the first step in developing a schedule (how long will it take to make the video) and subsequently, a budget (how much will it cost to make the video). Without a script breakdown,¹² the coordination of each scene of your script to be shot is made much more difficult. Breaking down a script itself isn't a particularly difficult task; all it basically requires is that you read your script, make notes pertaining to the contents of each scene and then use those notes to plan out the logistics of each scene’s production.

Making A Movie Blog 16: SCRIPT BREAKDOWN. By REELOnlineFilmSchool.

Once you know how long it will take you to shoot your script, account for all the cost elements in the script (locations, props, wardrobe, etc.), the number of cast and crew you need and the equipment necessary to record and edit the video, then you can complete your budget.¹³ Sometimes, you will need to work back and forth between your schedule and budget making cuts and adjusting the production days until you arrive at a balance between the two.

Creating A Budget For Your Independent Film By Ben Lyons

Although some screenwriting software can assist with scheduling and you can certainly breakdown your script and work up your schedule and budget by hand using templates and forms provided or available from other Internet resources, two useful pieces of software that have become industry standards in the preproduction world are:

Movie Magic Scheduling, http://www.entertainmentpartners.com/scheduling/, is designed to incorporate the time-tested concepts of script breakdown and stripboard scheduling while offering a variety of scenarios to consider including, different shoot lengths, re-ordered scenes, comparisons in location, and more.
Movie Magic Budgeting, http://www.entertainmentpartners.com/budgeting/, is an innovative budgeting and cost estimation tool used by production professionals around the world. It also integrated with Scheduling to reduce redundant information entry.

Another software title produced by Jungle Software (actually, a suite of integrated titles) also supports script breakdown, scheduling and budgeting, and other production management tasks.

Gorilla, http://www.junglesoftware.com/products/gorilla_home.php, offers production breakdown sheets, cast and crew management, locations, storyboards and shot lists along with scheduling and budgeting, a rate book and industry-standard templates.
Chimpanzee, http://www.junglesoftware.com/products/chimpanzee_home.php, is designed for low-budget projects, this title offers similar features of script breakdown, scheduling and budgeting found in Gorilla but without many of Gorilla's more advanced and integrated capabilities.
Koala, http://www.junglesoftware.com/products/koala_home.php, integrates with Gorilla and Chimpanzee to create call sheets or it can be used as a stand-alone application.

One last bit of preproduction advice: avoid, if at all possible, the “last minute great idea.” Do not confuse this with the inevitable 11th hour changes or solutions necessitated by the inevitable process of getting a script ready for production—no, the “last minute great idea” is a chimera disguised as a helpful suggestion. This horrible creature of the untamed imagination is usually uttered as a sudden inspiration during one of the final pre-production meetings, “Hey! I just got a great idea. What if we…” Cut the speaker off right there! Unless there is time to properly evaluate the idea—which there wouldn’t be if it is truly last minute—there is every likelihood that this idea will result in added costs not budgeted, additional time not scheduled and any number of unanticipated logistical consequences as a result of the idea having not been properly vetted for risk to the production. It’s simply not worth the potential headache.

Chaves, Jeff. “Visual Storytelling,” Videomaker (March, 2014), http://www.videomaker.com/article/17041-visual-storytelling.
Mentel, Thomas. “8 Interesting Films Stuck in Development Hell,” Wall St. Cheat Sheet (August 18, 2013), http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/8-interesting-films-stuck-in-development-hell.html/?a=viewall.
Hughes, David, “Development Hell: Why We Didn’t Get a Superman Movie From 1988 to 2006,” Film School Rejects, (June 17, 2013), http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/development-hell-why-we-didnt-get-a-superman-movie-from-1988-to-2006.php?all=1.
Peterson, Lisa, 18 Classic Management Mistakes in Film Production, (June 2010), http://lisacookfilm.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/18-classic-management-mistakes-in-film-production.pdf.
McKinnon, Jason, “The Best Screenwriting Books Chosen By Screenwriters,” Screenwriting Spark, (May 17, 2013), http://www.screenwritingspark.com/the-best-screenwriting-books-chosen-by-screenwriters/.
Chadwick, Danny, “2014 Best Screenwriting Software Reviews and Comparisons,” Top Ten Reviews, (2014), http://screenwriting-software-review.toptenreviews.com.
Lyons, Ben, “Hiring Cast and Crew for Your Independent Film,” VideoJug, http://www.videojug.com/interview/hiring-cast-and-crew-for-your-independent-film-2.
Cersosimo, Mark, “How To Assemble A Crew,” Vimeo Video School, (May 12, 2011), http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/74/how-to-assemble-a-crew.
Kroll, Noam, “How to Create A Low-Budget Film That Looks Like A Blockbuster,” The Beat (November 8, 2013), http://www.premiumbeat.com/
blog/how-to-create-a-low-budget-film-that-feels-like-a-blockbuster/.
Belicove, Mikal, “How To Shoot Great Video for Your Business,” Forbes (January 4, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikalbelicove/2013/01/04/
how-to-shoot-great-videos-for-your-business/.
“How to Crate A Good Documentary Film,” wikiHow, (2014), http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Good-Documentary-Film
30 Minute Film School: Script Breakdown, Shot Lists, Storyboarding, And Scheduling, https://mubi.com/topics/30-minute-film-school-script-breakdown-shotlists-storyboarding-and-scheduling.
Lyons, Ben, “Creating A Budget For Your Independent Film,” VideoJug, http://www.videojug.com/interview/creating-a-budget-for-your-independent-film-2.