Production Process

Published by Emil Abraham,

The production process, in a nutshell, is pre-production → production → post production.

Pre-production is a fairly loose term which refers to the tasks undertaken before production begins. Exactly what is included in this stage depends on the medium and situation. It is the work done on a product, especially a film or broadcast program before full-scale production begins. Pre-production is the planning stage. It’s where we get all of the ducks in a row so the rest of the production process is as smooth as gravy.
For a small video company, pre-production may refer to everything that happens before shooting begins, for example, meeting with the client, research, storyboarding, location planning, etc.
For feature films, pre-production is more specific and only begins when other milestones have been met such as financing, screenplay, casting and major staffing. In this case pre-production includes:
  • Location scouting
  • Prop and wardrobe identification and preparation
  • Special effects identification and preparation
  • Production schedule
  • Set construction
  • Script-locking (semi-finalisation of the script)
  • Script read-through with cast, director and other interested parties
Production
In film and video, production refers to the part of the process in which footage is recorded. This is what most people imagine when they think of a film being made — actors on sets, cameras rolling, etc. The production phase is also known as principal photography. Production is the actual filming of the video. The video production company you’re working with bring their crew, equipment, talent (actors) and all necessary props out to the location and capture all the footage necessary. If you’re adding elements such as motion graphics, animation or voice-overs in your video, the material will be produced in the production stage.
The quality of footage you receive in production can not be corrected in post production, so make sure the footage from production is the highest quality footage you can get.
In large feature films the beginning of the production phase marks the "point of no return", i.e. the point at which it is no longer financially viable to cancel the project. At this point it is almost always cheaper to continue until the project is finished than to deal with the financial fall-out of canceling.
The goal of principal photography is obviously to record all required shots, however it is fairly common to shoot "pick-up" shots in post-production. Pick-up shots may be required when a mistake is noticed, a script change is made (this is unusual), or even if a performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory.
In music, production usually refers to the creative direction of a project. Unlike a film producer who is more of a manager, a music producer has a very hands-on role in the creative development.
Post-Production
Post-production is the third and final major phase of the production process. It is often referred to simply as post, e.g. "We can sort that out in post".
There are many things which can happen in post-production. Common tasks include:
  • Editing video footage
  • Editing the soundtrack, adding sound effects, music, etc.
  • Adding titles and graphics
  • Colour and exposure correction
  • Adding special effects
  • Re-shooting certain scenes if required ("pick-up" shots)
In some cases post-production is relatively straightforward, consisting of choosing and arranging footage in the correct sequence. In most cases however, post-production is a time-consuming job taking longer than the actual production phase.