My biggest take away is that I was wise in going through the pre-production steps before I short my first short horror film. I'm sure had I went straight to shooting without a script or shot list that it would have had no chance in getting into the short film festival I plan on entering it in.
That's great! Preproduction when working on a narrative is even more important - there are so many moving parts that if you don't do the prepro, then you're going to be focusing more on logistics and not enough on the performance.
Biggest takeaway is just making sure to pre-plan. Not much goes into this element of shooting and I think it’s vital. I’m usually scrambling just to get a video done.
That's a great way to look at it - preproduction is the "measure twice" aspect of construction, the cut once is when you're on set executing it. Great analogy!
Yep. There certainly is a chance everything will still work out great, but you may be leaving so much potential on the table if you don't do pre-production!
Biggest takeaway is just making sure to pre-plan. Not much goes into this element of shooting and I think it’s vital. I’m usually scrambling just to get a video done.
Biggest takeaway is that I really don’t pre-production much at all. I normally have some idea, but I don’t work on script until after I shoot, and that’s not great
Love the transparency - I've completely been there before. It can be hard to take the time ahead of the shoot to really dive in. And it doesn't mean every video ends up not being good - it just leaves potential on the table and makes the project a bit more stressful. I'd encourage you to take even an hour before the next project to at least think through a few of the pieces - you'll never know what inspiration may come from it!
My biggest take away from this video was the importance/recommendation of a pre-interview. Talking with clients prior to a production day to discuss plans and story is good ice-breaker for the partnership. I believe once you get to know and understand the client, that can manifest a more comfortable, less nerve-wrecking work environment on production day. If you or the client need to speak to clarify on details or have a problem that needs a solution/alternative, pre-interview is a crucial step that sets the foundation for good/open communication on production day.
It really does make the shoot day less stressful. I've also found that it opens up the relationship between myself and the client to be able to push back on ideas when something is presented that may not be best for the video. It helps them to see that you're invested in the project beyond it just being a gig, and I've found they're more likely to trust my input as we make decisions.
I am a independent short film director/writer/editor. My biggest takeaway is you have confirmed all the things that I am doing already are the things I should be doing. Sometimes I do overthink and get overwhelmed with everything to be done, but I then stop and make sure I rely more on the rest of my crew to help out and calms me down.
Yes - having a team to lean on makes it so much more manageable! I recently directed/produced a 2 day shoot out of town where we had about 36 hours to conduct 4 interviews and gather b-roll, all while being unsure of the settings we'd be in. I did all the preproduction I could to answer some of those questions and craft the stories, but we found there were still so many unknowns. My stress level was significantly lower, though, because when we were on location I was able to delegate and collaborate, and as a result the stories are already looking to be even better than I had initially anticipated. Don't ever think it's all on your shoulders - if you have a team to work with, that's what they're there for. Filmmaking isn't an ego game - it's all about telling great stories.
My biggest takeaway is how important the Pre-Interview really is, from getting details you wouldn't normally get, to being able to form the story from the information you obtain and spending time with the persons so they can be comfortable with you for a better interview. It really is the base for the script and knowing what shots to get
The pre-interview has made it so that I feel so much more confident going into production when I'm telling a story. Things still change as I go through and capture the pieces I need, but I have a pretty good idea of the story I want to tell and how it will relate to the audience I'm working to connect with.
My biggest takeaway from the video is that you don't need to use everything that you shoot. Try to stay precise on the overall story you want to tell and don't over bloat it. Which also leads into why preproduction is a valuable step and why storyboarding beforehand can help you out a ton during shooting day.
So true! I still tend to shoot more b-roll than I end up using, but when it comes to the edit I try to be ruthless in making sure that I'm only using the pieces that work best for that story. It hurts to cut out the pieces that are good, but if they're distracting from the story you're telling then they're only hurting you.
What a great idea it was to repackage the founder/CEOs “elevator pitch” as a baseline for the video. NPOs especially emphasize perfecting that 30-45 second “what me and my organization does” speech. Then the visuals and additional storytelling ultimately made video more personable and humanizing then just an austere business pitch. Thanks SS 👍
Love it! It doesn't always work having them do the first draft on the script, but I felt pretty confident after talking with him, and then he delivered! Thanks for sharing!
@@SmartphoneStorytellers I’d have to imagine more often than not it doesn’t work out that well. But that was great synergy between you and the client to be able to use dialogue he’s very practiced with but then weave in the testimonials in a way that was fluid and not forced feeling. About 10 yrs ago, I worked for a couple small NPO organizations (finance and operations side) and we would have killed to have something like this. Really great stuff.
My biggest takeaway is to have multiple plans and minor tweaks to the story to make sure it still holds when the story doesn't go the way it was originally planned.
100% - the number of times I've set a solid plan for a project only to show up to the shoot and need to change things is more than I can count. There are so many moving parts that can impact what you're actually able to capture.
My biggest take away is that I was wise in going through the pre-production steps before I short my first short horror film. I'm sure had I went straight to shooting without a script or shot list that it would have had no chance in getting into the short film festival I plan on entering it in.
That's great! Preproduction when working on a narrative is even more important - there are so many moving parts that if you don't do the prepro, then you're going to be focusing more on logistics and not enough on the performance.
Biggest takeaway is just making sure to pre-plan. Not much goes into this element of shooting and I think it’s vital. I’m usually scrambling just to get a video done.
My biggest takeaway from the video can be summarized as: measure twice, cut once. Prepare, and prepare again and you can be successful!
That's a great way to look at it - preproduction is the "measure twice" aspect of construction, the cut once is when you're on set executing it. Great analogy!
My biggest takeaway from the video can be summarised as, “Fail to prepare and prepare to fail”.
Yep. There certainly is a chance everything will still work out great, but you may be leaving so much potential on the table if you don't do pre-production!
Biggest takeaway is just making sure to pre-plan. Not much goes into this element of shooting and I think it’s vital. I’m usually scrambling just to get a video done.
It can be difficult to put the time aside, but it always pays off for me!
Biggest takeaway is that I really don’t pre-production much at all. I normally have some idea, but I don’t work on script until after I shoot, and that’s not great
Love the transparency - I've completely been there before. It can be hard to take the time ahead of the shoot to really dive in. And it doesn't mean every video ends up not being good - it just leaves potential on the table and makes the project a bit more stressful. I'd encourage you to take even an hour before the next project to at least think through a few of the pieces - you'll never know what inspiration may come from it!
My biggest take away from this video was the importance/recommendation of a pre-interview. Talking with clients prior to a production day to discuss plans and story is good ice-breaker for the partnership. I believe once you get to know and understand the client, that can manifest a more comfortable, less nerve-wrecking work environment on production day. If you or the client need to speak to clarify on details or have a problem that needs a solution/alternative, pre-interview is a crucial step that sets the foundation for good/open communication on production day.
It really does make the shoot day less stressful. I've also found that it opens up the relationship between myself and the client to be able to push back on ideas when something is presented that may not be best for the video. It helps them to see that you're invested in the project beyond it just being a gig, and I've found they're more likely to trust my input as we make decisions.
I am a independent short film director/writer/editor. My biggest takeaway is you have confirmed all the things that I am doing already are the things I should be doing. Sometimes I do overthink and get overwhelmed with everything to be done, but I then stop and make sure I rely more on the rest of my crew to help out and calms me down.
Yes - having a team to lean on makes it so much more manageable! I recently directed/produced a 2 day shoot out of town where we had about 36 hours to conduct 4 interviews and gather b-roll, all while being unsure of the settings we'd be in. I did all the preproduction I could to answer some of those questions and craft the stories, but we found there were still so many unknowns. My stress level was significantly lower, though, because when we were on location I was able to delegate and collaborate, and as a result the stories are already looking to be even better than I had initially anticipated. Don't ever think it's all on your shoulders - if you have a team to work with, that's what they're there for. Filmmaking isn't an ego game - it's all about telling great stories.
My biggest takeaway is how important the Pre-Interview really is, from getting details you wouldn't normally get, to being able to form the story from the information you obtain and spending time with the persons so they can be comfortable with you for a better interview. It really is the base for the script and knowing what shots to get
The pre-interview has made it so that I feel so much more confident going into production when I'm telling a story. Things still change as I go through and capture the pieces I need, but I have a pretty good idea of the story I want to tell and how it will relate to the audience I'm working to connect with.
My biggest takeaway from the video is that you don't need to use everything that you shoot. Try to stay precise on the overall story you want to tell and don't over bloat it.
Which also leads into why preproduction is a valuable step and why storyboarding beforehand can help you out a ton during shooting day.
So true! I still tend to shoot more b-roll than I end up using, but when it comes to the edit I try to be ruthless in making sure that I'm only using the pieces that work best for that story. It hurts to cut out the pieces that are good, but if they're distracting from the story you're telling then they're only hurting you.
What a great idea it was to repackage the founder/CEOs “elevator pitch” as a baseline for the video. NPOs especially emphasize perfecting that 30-45 second “what me and my organization does” speech. Then the visuals and additional storytelling ultimately made video more personable and humanizing then just an austere business pitch.
Thanks SS 👍
Love it! It doesn't always work having them do the first draft on the script, but I felt pretty confident after talking with him, and then he delivered!
Thanks for sharing!
@@SmartphoneStorytellers I’d have to imagine more often than not it doesn’t work out that well. But that was great synergy between you and the client to be able to use dialogue he’s very practiced with but then weave in the testimonials in a way that was fluid and not forced feeling.
About 10 yrs ago, I worked for a couple small NPO organizations (finance and operations side) and we would have killed to have something like this. Really great stuff.
My biggest takeaway from this video was to write based on their voice.
Love it - a great script can still fall flat if it doesn't sound like the person who's delivering it. Especially if that person has a "known voice."
My biggest takeaway is to have multiple plans and minor tweaks to the story to make sure it still holds when the story doesn't go the way it was originally planned.
100% - the number of times I've set a solid plan for a project only to show up to the shoot and need to change things is more than I can count. There are so many moving parts that can impact what you're actually able to capture.