Cinematic Storytelling
for Branded Content

The first step for us is to learn about you and immerse ourselves into your situation. This is often a humbling experience as we are not experts in your domain, but time invested in getting to know your organisation always yields a better end result.

From here we then want to be clear on the purpose of the video – i.e. what problem is it trying to solve? The most efficient way to do this is to identify and agree upon all of the important details in a Video Brief. In this brief we outline the most important things such as the purpose, timeframe, budget, format/platform, duration, and audience. This allows us to commence the project all being literally on the same page.

There are many different ways of making video content, so to make something that fits your brief you need to come up with a workable idea. In this step we come up with a number of possible ideas and refine them into a workable concept. Time spent on concept development is often the difference between ambitious, pie-in-the-sky ideas that never quite come to fruition, and concepts that will actually work on screen. As video professionals, it’s our job to know the difference.

Once we have a strong idea that’s been fleshed out into a workable and realistic concept, we then have to get it down on paper. This can be expressed as either a Video Outline (for documentary style videos) or more tightly defined scripts.

Before the shoot it is immensely valuable for us to be as prepared as we can possibly be. Pre-production planning is a combination of logistics planning and creative preparation. This means properly covering the appropriate bases (what we have to do) and making the final artistic choices (how we’ll go about it and why we’ll do it that way).

Specifically pre-production includes things like scheduling, casting and rehearsals with talent (including actors), location scouting (or ‘recces’), drawing up storyboards and shot lists, set design, props, costumes, makeup, visual effects, etc. Essentially, it’s all of the stuff we need to get right for a successful shoot – and it’s importance should never be underestimated.

The shoot is easily the most important step in the process; it’s also usually the most expensive. The success of any shoot will depend on the competencies of the cast and crew, and the degree of preparation. Every shoot requires its own approach and the time spent in pre-production has a massive impact on the productivity of the shoot day.

On any shoot there are many technical considerations to take into account as well as the artistic choices that can greatly impact the final edit. Which spot is best to film? How should the lights be set up? What’s the best choice for framing and composition? How will this come together in the edit? Do we have the optimal exposure? What’s the appropriate depth-of-field to use? Are we using the best lens for this shot? Should we better arrange the set design? Do we need to worry about audio interferences? How should I best direct the talent to get their best performance (and not shut them down)? Do we have enough takes? When should we finish at this location and move onto the next? And on and on it goes, ad infinitum.

During production we have a strong focus on authenticity throughout the process as that’s what brings authentic results on screen. When we genuinely engage with the people we are filming and working with, it shows. We like people to enjoy the process of working with us and we do our utmost to create an atmosphere that’s fun and comfortable for our onscreen talent while also achieving the professional results we are chasing.

Following the shoot our team will commence editing. Usually we’ll put together a draft sequence for our clients to look at and critique, and from there we can make necessary changes as needed. Once the edit is locked in we can begin polishing the final video through working on the colour grade, adding in any titles, graphics and special effects, as well as polishing the final sound mix – which may include music and voice-over.

Once your video has been completed we can ensure that it is delivered to you quickly and in the appropriate format for web or broadcast with colour and audio parameters on spec in 1080p or 4K. We can deliver master files on Hard Drive, USB, or through desired cloud-based platforms.