Compilation Video of FHSU Athletic facilities that I shot and edited using a video production workflow
Video production is much more than just pressing the record button on your camera and shooting in auto mode, consisting of default camera settings. There is a lot that goes into making a compelling, engaging, and eye-catching Video that people love to see and want to share. My name is Marko Minic and in this blog post, I will aim to go over all the important elements that go into a video workflow process. We will go over the
pre-production, production, and post-production process to form an overall picture of what it takes to make a high-quality video that drives people to watch it and want to follow.
Pre-Production
In the pre-production stage, it is important to establish a solid plan that will set the foundation for your work. This is the part where you map out all the details and creative flow that will go into your video content, as well as make sure that your video strategy aligns with your overall business objectives. Every video you make should link back to the big picture, so make sure to consider how each one will fit in with your business goals long-term.
Determining SMART Goals
According to 99designs, using the SMART methodology to set your business objectives is a curial step in this process. This means your goals need to be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely
Planning, preparation, and research are crucial in this stage to ensure you set SMART goals, understand your target audience, measure your KPIs, and decide which platforms, formats and distribution channels to include in your video production campaign. Having a clear goal for each video campaign will make the rest of your work much easier and will help you transition smoothly between each video workflow process.
Pre-Production Tips
There are a lot of details and variables that go into this stage. As someone who is in this field of work, I can confidently agree that it is essential to be well-prepared and organized for your video shoots. The last thing you want is to come to a shoot unorganized and just wing it, as it can result in sloppy and unprofessional work.
Also, you want to plan ahead as much as possible, making sure you have all the right resources for your shoot and not forgetting anything. There are a lot of tools and equipment that go into producing a video, so sometimes it is easier to overlook the smaller components. During my first shoot, I was focusing on all the major stuff; lenses, lights, microphone, stabilizer, extra batteries, that I ended up forgetting the smallest yet arguably the most important part, the SD card; without it, all the other things won't matter because your camera won't have the memory card to take the videos. So don't be like me and forget to put the little memory chip card into the camera before you go shoot.
Moreover, it is essential to know what is the purpose of the video. Knowing the reason and intent of the video will help you craft it better for the desired event, and will help you deliver your core message more successfully. Think about what you want the viewer to do after watching your video. Do you want them to click on a link, subscribe to your channel, or make a purchase? You want to brainstorm the next step you expect your audience to take after watching your video, linking it back to your business goals.
Finally, during this process, you want to outline your video production brief, create a script & storyboard, come up with your creative approach and narrative for the video, and in some cases plan the logistics and locations where to film at.
Taking these steps will ensure an efficient pre-production process that will lead your video to success and smoothly transition it to the next step, the production process.
FHSU Softball practice video where I brainstormed pre-production ideas in order to put this video into motion
Production Process
This is the phase where you do your actual shooting and video recording. You will start capturing raw footage for your video and begin putting everything together. At this point, you got your schedule figured out and are ready to do the groundwork. You also want to have the whole concept of your film mapped out so that it can go as efficiently and smoothly as possible, preventing a lot of re-editing and fixing during post-production. "You can always touch up your footage when you edit afterward, but remember that editing takes time," and you always want to maximize your time most effectively. If something can be addressed in the production process that will require you a few minutes, take those extra minutes and give it your full attention, because that same thing may take you hours to adjust in post-production.
Production Tips
Here is how you get the most out of your production process:
Set up the lighting
Lights are one of the most important aspects of your film and good lighting is essential for a quality video. Good lighting ensures your shot won't be under or over-exposed and eliminates any unwanted shadows.
Set up your camera settings
After the lighting, you want to make sure your camera is set on the backend to ensure your video quality is as best as possible. This means setting up your aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. These three key settings are the most important ones to know about and to combine properly in order to get good exposure, lighting, and field of depth. Moreover, you want to make sure your White Balance is set to the right temperature to account for the current weather that you're shooting in. You also want to make sure you select your focus point of the shot and lock it so that your camera doesn't change the focus points during your film. Lastly, you want to make sure you select the right resolution and frame rate, which measures how quickly a number of frames appear within a second, which is why it’s called FPS (frames per second). Typical frame rate used in most videos is 24fps. However, for some more moving and action shots, it is recommended to go higher than that to have less lagging due to the fast pace nature of the shoot. For example, I use 60fps when shooting sports games and athletic events as they typically have more dynamic movement.
Follow the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is dividing your shot into 9 equal grids, horizontally and vertically, and splitting up your shot into thirds. This allows your shot to look more cinematic and visually pleasing for the viewer. As a videographer or content creator, it is essential to know how to correctly place objects in the frame, to be able to build a composition. By framing your subject off-center, you will create dynamic movement and add life to your shot.
Use stabilizers
Have you ever watched those professionally made videos with picture-perfect stillness and zero shakiness? Well, that wasn't an accident; all those video creators have used some sort of stabilizers to give a crisp look and a cinematic narrative. Stabilizers range from monopods, tripods, gimbals, cages, drones and more. Whatever type of stabilizer you use, make sure that your video has no excessive shakiness and distracting movements as that can take away from your storyboard and overall video quality.
Get B-Roll Footage
While you should closely follow your shot list and storyboard, take the initiative to shoot B-Roll footage to include during the editing process. This may contain shots of your area and location from different angles, shots of the crew behind the scene setting up, or shots of the crowd and the people from the event; essentially anything that is not part of the main video but fits the theme and catches your eye.
Post-Production
You have preplanned your video, shot it with all the variables in mind and now all that is left is to clean up all the raw footage and make the final product. That is the post-production process; it involves taking your best shots, putting them together, adding transitions, cutting certain parts to make them look more edgy and crisp, scaling it down to fit your desired length, recording a voiceover, coloring the video, and adding music and special effects in order to bring everything together into a cohesive unit. This process tends to take the most time to complete due to the high-demand nature of post-production editing.
Post-production tips
Make sure your content is tailored to your target audience and fits what they are looking for. You want to edit your video so that it gets to the point and doesn’t drag on for too long. In today's heavy ad and content world, the attention span of people is getting shorter and shorter. So it is crucial to capture your viewer's attention as quickly as possible so they don't lose their interest and scroll past your video. As you don't have long to hold your viewer’s attention, make sure that the beginning of your video is engaging, informative, and relevant to the viewer, clearly communicating your message and making it easy to understand.
Editing your video
The first step in editing is to compile your best takes and import them into your video editing software (I use Premiere Pro, but there are lots of other software available). To make things easier for yourself, cut each clip down to its most essential parts. Then, dump them into your project timeline, group and organize your B-Roll footage, and start working through the script and storyboard. Finally, apply color corrections, add special effects, and line up audio with video tracks.
Cutting and Optimizing
Cut each clip to the most optimal length and put them in a pattern that tells a story or sends an emotional message. The pace, tone, and structure of your video all play a major role in its effectiveness and the emotional impact on your audience. Tell a story that would be compelling; build tension and drama by arranging shots according to your storyboard and script. Next, focus on the transitions you want to make between your shots. They can be as dynamic as you want, depending on what kind of narrative you want to shape. Finally, make sure you optimize and render the video before exporting it and using it for your projects.
Using B-Roll and Voiceover
Cover up your cuts with B-roll footage that complements the narration. We mentioned recording B-Roll footage in the production process, but now is the time to use it and apply it to the video. With your B-roll shots, you want to compliment your A-Roll shots and link them back to the main event. For example, in the beginning of the video use the B-Roll footage and the voiceover to tell a story about your event or topic. Then link it back to the main theme and smoothly transition the rest of the video into that. Here is a good example:
Cinematic Video of FHSU Pack the Park 2023 made by myself using elements of pre-production, production, and post-production
Adding music & Sound Design
A very important step, which can often be overlooked, is adding the right music and sound design to your video. You want your music to match the mood and vibe of your video, not just put any random song that might be popular or trendy. The music should help communicate your core message, be relevant to your target audience, and match the pace of the edit. Also, you want to ensure you have a microphone attached to your camera to enhance the raw, authentic background sound of your video and improve your audio quality. Sound is important for continuity – the transition of the sound between two different shots - so your audience feels like they’re seamlessly progressing through the content, keeping their full attention throughout the video and helping with completion rates. Sound is very powerful, and the right one can communicate and evoke emotion from the viewer. Adding the right sound design can elevate your video to the next level. Check out this example:
Creative video for FHSU baseball & softball done by mark0media
Adding Text, Graphics, and Special Effects
Include stylish text and titles to aid your video's visuals and grab the viewer's attention. It is important to choose a clear and bold font, minimize the words, and use text animations to keep the viewer engaged throughout their video-watching journey. Effects, graphics, and animated text can help bring your video to life by visualizing your ideas. Another great and popular feature is slow-motion, where you can slow the speed of your video and certain parts and put stress on important points in your content to emphasize them more. Check out this example:
A hype video I made for FHSU men's basketball for recruitment and promotional purposes
This video demonstrates all the elements we talked about; from catchy text and titles, special animations and glitch effects, slow-motion, and other components that send a strong message to the viewer. Animations and special effects can take your video to the next level and achieve higher results.
Color Grading
Finally, the last important element of your post-production editing is color grading your shots. Colors add energy and life to your video; without them, your video looks more plain and mundane. Think about how many times you've been engaged with a video just by the colors popping and the vividness of the video. Color physiologically draws our attention, and utilizing your color designs properly can lead to a greater amount of views and engagement. Coloring can also be essential for reinforcing a visual brand in your videos. Hence, it is important to keep coloring consistent with all future videos to help the brand image. Color grading can be done in various software, I prefer to use DaVinci Resolve as it has the best color grade feature in my opinion. Here is an example of a video before and after color grading:
Color grading video I did for FHSU baseball
And there you have it! From Pre to Post production and everything in between. To summarize, we talked about mapping out a solid plan that will set the foundation for your work and aligning your video strategy with your overall business goals using the SMART methodology, as well as making sure you are prepared and have all the right equipment for your shoot.
In the production process, we talked about shooting your raw footage and making sure you set up the lighting and camera settings, use stabilizers and microphones, and follow cinematographic concepts such as the rule of thirds.
Finally, in the post-production process, we talked about compiling all your footage, putting them into Premiere Pro or other video software, and start editing. Begin by cutting and optimizing your clips so they are the proper length to catch your viewer's attention and not lose their interest in the first few seconds. Remember to apply all the important elements such as color corrections, adding stylish text & special effects, B-Roll & voiceovers, and adding music & optimizing your sound design to bring everything together into one cohesive unit.
And that is it! Now you will have a final product that viewers will love to see and want to come back to watch more. Try making a video yourself using the concepts learned in this blog and let me know how it went!
Resources
Bernazzani, S. (2017, August 24). 14 video production tips to enhance quality and drive views. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/29075/12-tips-to-instantly-enhance-video-production-quality.aspx
Hennequin, D. (2019). How to create a video: The Ultimate Guide to Video Production - 99designs. Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://99designs.com/blog/video-animation/video-production-process/
Oberthaler, K. (2023, April 24). Video production workflow: 5 steps to getting your video cuts approved faster. Creative Collaboration and Online Proofing Software. Retrieved May 5, 2023, from https://www.ziflow.com/blog/video-production-workflow
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