Video production

What is video production?

Video production is the process of producing content for video. Video production includes every stage of the video making process from creative ideation to execution.

Brand videos are 60-, 30-, or 15-second video ads for use on broadcast TV, streaming TV, online or social media. A brand could produce an ad that can run in all these media placements.

Promotional videos are videos designed to promote a product, brand, or service. These can include longer-format branded content, infomercials, how-to’s, etc. These can be featured on a brand’s website, YouTube, or other social media channels. Promotional videos can vary in length from 30 seconds to over two minutes.

Digital out-of-home videos are digitized displays visible in public spaces like streets or gathering areas such as shopping malls.

The video communicates key information about the brand or product in a clear and concise manner, focusing on no more than two points.

Despite its reasonable cost, the video is of high quality, thanks to its overall production value and well-crafted edit that drives the story forward while holding the audience’s attention.

The original story establishes a connection between the brand and its product offerings in a unique and memorable way, setting it apart from competitors.

These criteria will help ensure the effectiveness and scale across all video products. The end card is a key element to put your brand front and center at the end of the video to drive viewers to take action. End cards are visual overlays of a brand/product logo with or without additional text, images, or graphics at the end of an ad to reinforce key brand messaging.

A creative brief is a document that outlines detailed strategy and specific requests. The brief contains project details including the purpose, goals, requirements, messaging, demographics, specific deliverable needs, transcreation or localization needs, and other key information.

Usually developed in the project initiation phase, this brief will help a creative team better understand a project from the start to build related concepts. Additionally, pairing the creative brief with additional documentation such as brand guidelines, past campaign references, or examples of other videos can help to further improve creative development.

Owner: This step is usually owned by an advertising lead, strategy lead, program/campaign manager, and/or account executive.

Every video ad starts as an idea with clear intent. Typically, advertisers will identify a customer need and build a proper strategy to guide creative development of a particular video concept or set of concepts part of a greater campaign.

A concept informs the script and its contents as well as the overall visual style of a video.

Owner: This step is usually owned by video creators, an agency, art director, copywriter, director, or producer.

Once a concept has been approved, a script is generated to detail a true representation of the final video based on length of time with clear content including talent types, dialogue or voice-over, overall direction, use of products/props, settings/locations, and more.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a copywriter, art director, director, and/or producer.

Storyboards are visual documents representing the proposed flow and action of a script. Typically developed by an illustrator and creative team, storyboards are used for larger or more complex productions to ensure every scene and action work together in a produced sequence. Storyboarding is not always necessary and can be replaced by a detailed shot list.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a copywriter, art director, director, or producer.

Once a script or storyboard has been approved, official creative production planning begins. This process covers every single element involved in a production including: casting talent, securing locations, gathering props and wardrobe, technical and equipment planning, aligning on post production needs, and more.

Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts being produced.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, line producer, director, production team, and/or a creative director.

This is when actual filming, content capture or animation/motion design of product, talent, locations, audio, and actions take place. This process is limited to a production plan. All content must be documented in this phase, otherwise reshoots would have cost and timing implications.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, line producer, director, production team, and creative director.

Once the post-production team receives the raw footage from the shoot, the video is refined and finalized (editorial processes of organizing necessary music, graphics, voice-over, as well as the creative process of combining and selecting correct shots and assets to convey message, take place). These elements layer together to fuse the visual and audio aspects to create final deliverable assets that achieve the goal.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, post-producer, director, post-production team, and creative director.

Every video that includes talent and licensed music or imagery must be documented and paid for, according to video usage terms. Any kind of talent cannot be mixed without costs or official documentation and all agreements must be locked in before video content can air. This process begins in pre-production, but should be completed in production and post-production phases.

Owner: This step is owned by the program/campaign manager, producer, and/or legal, finance, and talent agency teams.

This process includes creating assets suited for customers in various countries, territories, languages, or cultures. It is critical to understand communication and audience objectives in the creative briefing phase to inform both production and post-production scope and development. In production, understanding the target regions, audiences, cultures, or languages can inform casting, locations, wardrobe, styling, props, and more. In post-production, localization or transcreation efforts can be executed through script translations, dubbed voices, or visual subtitles for customers to read on screen.

Owner: This step is usually owned by the producer, localization agency/producer, campaign or program manager, and creative director.

The delivery date and greater scope should be defined and aligned prior to production. Delivering final assets and passing them to final launch destinations at different specifications, sizes, aspect ratios, or formats should happen by the specified delivery date.. Any deliverables defined later in the process could have timing and budget implications.

Owner: This step is usually owned by the producer, post-producer, post-production team, and/or program manager.

Key elements of a video end card

The hierarchy or composition of an end card is essential. When reviewing or developing an end card, take these things into consideration: brand logo, taglines and calls to actions, URLs and post integration.

A brand’s logo should always be primary in the hierarchy of an end card. The center of the frame is usually best.

If a tagline or CTA is included, the weight and size of the text should be smaller than the logo, easy to read, and limited in text (six words or fewer).

URLs should be short and should not include www. The weight and size of the text should be smaller than the logo and tagline or CTA.

For end cards showcasing products (imagery or video), establish a clear, clean, and balanced composition with a clear hierarchy of the brand and product. Product integration should be noticeable but not distracting.

Char-Broil’s video

Cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a video. It comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, color, exposure, and filtration.

This is the phase that comes after production and filming are completed. It involves editing and assembling the audio and video materials, adding music, voice-over, sound effects, graphics, and visual effects. In short, post-production includes all the tasks associated with cutting raw footage and making it into a complete and polished final product.

This refers to a range of tasks, such as recording live sounds on set, sourcing appropriate sound effects, music composition, dialogue editing, and mixing. The ultimate objective of sound design is to produce a seamless and engaging audio experience that complements the visuals and intensifies the emotional impact of the video.

During this phase, the team adjusts the colors in a video to enhance the overall visual tone and mood. Typically, color grading occurs in the final stages of post-production.

Computer-generated special effects are often added to a video during post-production. VFX generally combines live-action footage and enhanced or manipulated imagery to create extremely realistic environments, characters, and more. The primary objective of VFX is to make something that does not actually exist look convincingly real. Visual effects can also be practical, such as explosions captured on-set during a car chase.

• Streaming TV ads, including Sponsored TV, for Freevee, Prime Video, and more
• Online video ads
• Sponsored Brands video and Sponsored Display video
• Twitch

Why is the video production process important?

The video production process is crucial as it transforms a brand’s strategy and messaging into an engaging visual story. This process involves considering various creative and legal aspects, such as camera angles, lighting, location, casting, music, and legal limitations like usage rights. The end goal is to produce a captivating video that effectively conveys the brand’s message to the target audience.

If you have limited experience, contact us to request services managed by Amazon Ads. Budget minimums apply.