How to Plan for a Video Production?

Camcorders are so simple to use these days that they encourage seat-of-the pants videography, which isn’t always the best idea. Just grabbing your camcorder and hastily shooting may be fine if you’re shooting the UFO that happens to be flying overhead, but for most other situations, some careful planning will improve your movie.
The first thing you’re probably going to do in any video project is shoot some video. Even if you are shooting a simple school play or family gathering, you can and should plan many aspects of the shoot:

• Make a checklist of shots that you need for your project. While you’re at it, make an equipment checklist too. I’ve included a video-shoot checklist at the end of this chapter.
• Survey the shooting location. Make sure passersby won’t trip over your cables or bump the camera. (It makes you unpopular, and can ruin your footage to boot.)
• Talk to property owners or other responsible parties. Identify potential disruptions, and make sure you have permission to shoot. For example, your kids’ school probably doesn’t mind if you shoot video of Suzie’s band concert, but commercial concerts or sporting events usually have rules against recording performances.
• Plan the time of the shoot. This is especially important if you are shooting outside. What part of the sky will sunlight be coming from? Do you want to take advantage of the special light available at sunrise or sunset?
• Bring more blank tapes and charged batteries than you think you’ll need.

You never can tell what may go wrong, and preparing for the worst is always a good idea. When it comes to blank tapes and spare (charged) batteries, too many is always better than not quite enough. If you want to shoot high-quality video, you’ll be happy to learn that staging an elaborate video production with dozens of staff members, acres of expensive equipment, and professional catering is not necessary. But you can do some simple things to improve any shooting situation — whether you are casually recording a family gathering or producing your own low-budget sci-fi movie. The following sections help you shoot better video, no matter the situation.