Pre production

Pre production is the stretch between the signature and the first take. It produces the script, an hour by hour schedule, a location list with a scout visit, the choice of people on camera, permits, kit and bookings. A producer runs it and makes more phone calls than everyone else combined. Two to four weeks for a corporate video.

On one factory shoot we lost two hours because the line had scheduled downtime only the maintenance guy knew about. One call during pre production solves that. An hour of a shooting day with a crew and kit costs real money and nobody refunds it, so hours spent on paper pay themselves back several times over.

The path is clear: the creative brief becomes a script and a moodboard, then a location scout, then a call sheet, meaning the plan of the day with addresses, times and phone numbers. From you we need one name who can decide on site, the list of people on camera and consent to filming. The call sheet goes out two days ahead at the latest.

Pre production can also be overdone. Three weeks polishing a script for a one minute video means you spent more on paperwork than on filming. For documentary event coverage a detailed plan is an illusion anyway; a list of moments we must not miss does the job. The scale should match the budget, not habit.

For us pre production does not end with the call sheet but with a phone call the evening before. We go through timing, weather, parking and who unlocks the door. It sounds trivial, and it is exactly where shooting days fall apart. Ask every studio for that call.