Hiring a Professional Video Production Company? Here’s what to expect

If you’ve never worked with a professional videographer or production company before, the idea of hiring one might be a little daunting. Like all proficient professionals, video production companies are meant to make the process easier, more efficient and produce your desired results. Here’s a list of the kind of qualities you can expect from hiring a professional video production company:

Communication

Communication is key – especially when it comes to video production! From the first stages of pre-production, to the finishing touches in post-production, it’s important to work with a company that will keep you informed with what’s going on and be receptive to your input. When projects have many working parts, it’s even more important to be able to be in touch with your production company to make sure everyone’s on the same page and everything’s being kept on track.

A professional video production company will do their best to take your vision and bring it to life – but also has the responsibility to let you know what is and isn’t feasible. Having the creativity to come up with work-arounds and alternatives that meet your needs is another hallmark of a good video production company.

How Long Will it Take?

How long the total production of your video takes depends on its size and complexity, among other factors: how much pre-production is needed to make everything run smoothly? How involved is post-production? Are there special effects/ graphics/ animations that need to be created? — How long a video takes to create can vary greatly. When choosing a video production company, it’s a good idea to choose one that’s there for you every step of the way – taking your objectives, budget and business into account right from the start. Well before rolling cameras, a critical path of the stages to be completed and when they need to be done to stick on schedule should be created and agreed upon. This ensures that your video will be completed on time and on budget!

Experience

Bringing experience to the table is a must for any hired professional video production company. An experienced team of video professionals will come ready and prepared to face issues that you may not have even thought of – that’s the benefit of experience!

When searching for your ideal company, take a look at their past work and experience. Have they created similar work to what you’re looking for? It’s important to be diligent with this process, especially if you’re looking for a company to have an ongoing partnership with and make multiple videos with in the future.

The Process

Before shooting, there’s a stage of pre-production in order to set your video up for success. It’s in this stage that you’ll have a discovery session with the company producing your video to find out every detail of what you need and want covered, the visuals and audio, as well as the overall look of the video you’re going to create. Pre-production also includes the writing of a script (if necessary) as well as any revisions, shot list, storyboard, site inspections, etc.

From there, we move on into the production phase of the project. Cameras, lighting, sound, hair, makeup – principal photography is where all your planning in pre-production comes to life!

The next step is post production. Here, your footage is organized, an offline edit is created, followed by an online edit, finishing, colour grading, 2D effects, 3D effects, typography, animation, encodes and uploads, followed by final delivery.

Here’s a more in-depth overview of the post-production process:

1. Offline edit:

Once all principal photography is completed, a rough copy of the edit is drafted for picture lock. Typically, any 2D files, special effects, music, titles, lower thirds, colouring, etc., are left out at this stage. To prevent re-edits or additional post-time, this stage is completed and signed off by the client, so other departments here do not have to repeat their work. e.g. If a film’s picture changes after approval, music, colouring, titling in later stages typically have to be altered or possibly repeated. This approval process is crucial to prevent additional post charges to clients. This stage typically includes an offline/rough version of the COPYWRITING included in the film. This also needs sign off before moving on to the next stage.

2. Graphics / Music stage:

Once picture lock is obtained, music is added and design of titles/graphics is begun. Obtaining approval for the on-screen graphics is crucial, as this can typically be a huge part of the post process. Altering a single sample is typically simple, but altering dozens or hundreds of instances can consume huge amounts of time.

3. Colouring stage:

If your film has been shot “flat” (without colour profile) colourist will need to process your video in order to achieve the final “look” of the film. This is typically not an approval process stage (as REC709 or 2020 profiles will be followed), unless you have requested an alternate look to your footage which would have been previously discussed in pre-production. The process would follow earlier examples of approvals to specific scenes, to prevent colour artist from regrading an entire film.

4. Delivery stage:

This stage of the project delivers the final files to the client. There is no need for approvals at this stage.

With over 34 years of experience in the Toronto video production industry, 5Gear Studios has a plethora of experience making a wide range of videos for a wide variety of clients. Whether you’re looking for a Corporate Event Production Company, Video Production Company, Live Streaming Professionals, Full Service Marketing Agency or a Marketing Communications Agency, 5Gear Studios is here to help! Our team works with large corporations, small businesses, start-ups, and non-profit organizations on all of their video marketing and branded content needs. From Pre-Production to Production to Post Production, our team is professional, flexible, and customer focused for all your corporate video, digital and video marketing needs.

Contact 5Gear Studios today to find out more about our professional video production and live-streaming services. We can’t wait to hear from you!