Video Production Services: Your Guide to the Video Production Process

video production services, men filming with video camera

High-quality video production services are essential to businesses looking to promote their products, services, and brand. Professional videos have the potential to attract more customers, increase brand awareness, and help you stand out from the competition. In fact, 60% of potential customers won’t even engage with your brand if you post low-quality videos.

In this complete guide, we'll be taking a look at the following:

Types of video content available for production
How live and animated video productions differ
Best practices for making sure your videos reach your desired audience
Benefits of investing in professional production services

By understanding the process involved in producing quality videos, you can ensure your investments in video production will pay off. Read on to learn how professional video production services can help and know what best practices work!

Video Production Services: The Types of Videos

Video production services can provide you with a large variety of video types. Below we’ve highlighted several types that we think make very effective content.

Event Videos

Event videos can take one of two forms. The first is a video produced in advance to promote or highlight something specific, like a brand, process, achievement, or product. The second type of video is used to showcase the event itself to a wider audience or document it for future reference.

Explainer Videos

An explainer video is a short and concise presentation that explains a complex topic or concept in an easy-to-understand way. Video production services commonly use these videos to introduce your new product, service, or idea to the target audience.

Promo Videos

A promo video is a short clip created by a video production service to promote your product, service, event, or brand. It provides a sneak peek of the main offering and is commonly used on social media, websites, and as part of marketing campaigns.

Testimonial & Case Study Videos

Testimonial and case study videos feature a real-life customer or client sharing their positive experience using your product, service, or brand. They typically show the benefits, results, and impact your offering has had on the customer. They are commonly used to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

Training & Educational Videos

Video production services make training or educational videos to provide instructions, information, and knowledge on a specific topic or subject. These are often used as corporate videos for employee onboarding, educational courses, and professional development.

Company & Brand Videos

A company or brand video showcases your company, organization, or business and its values, culture, and vision. It is used to build brand awareness, increase engagement, and improve customer loyalty by creating an emotional connection with your brand.

Video Production Services: The Production Process

Live-Action Video

Live-action videos are filmed using professional cameras and live actors to create more engaging and impactful stories. Video production services often use live-action video for promotional materials, corporate events, educational videos, training videos, product demonstrations, and more. The process involves several steps. They include planning the video shoot, setting up equipment and recording the footage, and editing to create a polished final product.

Pre-Production

Video production is all about creating an engaging message that hits the mark. However, the magic doesn't happen overnight. The real work occurs before the cameras start rolling, during the pre-production process. This is where the critical foundation is laid.

The pre-production process focuses on both creative components and logistics. This is the time to refine concepts, craft compelling scripts, storyboard your vision, and connect with your audience. On the logistical side, every aspect of your video, from planning to filming to editing, is carefully crafted to ensure a perfect final product. These components are vital to turning your ideas into the film you envisioned:

Project/Video Brief: This first step creates a plan between you and the video production service. It determines the objective of your video, defines your target audience and market, establishes the overall tone of your video, and plans your method of delivery.
Creative/Art Direction: This creative process involves writing a script, storyboarding and outlining, designing sets, and shot lists that plan what scenes to include in your video.
Resources & Sourcing: The logistics performed by a video production service include scouting the filming location, getting necessary permits, and renting and prepping equipment. It also involves casting live or voice actors and hiring any necessary subcontractors.

Production

The heart and soul of video production services lie in the actual filming of your video content. The production stage includes processes like setting up equipment, lighting, sound recording, and directing actors. However, the production team has to work together seamlessly to achieve a successful outcome. Here are some of the key players on a production team:

Producer: From concept to completion, they are a part of every phase of production. These steps include, but are not limited to, coordinating, supervising, and managing the budget and talent.
Production Assistant: Their main job is to communicate instructions from the director and relay information between production teams. They also perform a variety of tasks to help get the cast and crew ready for production and filming on set.
Director of Photography: Their mission is to help execute the director’s vision for the film. Not only do they oversee the camera and lighting departments, but they are also in charge of visually bringing your story to life.
Assistant Camera Operator: They ensure the camera and recording equipment stay charged and the proper camera focus is set. They are also responsible for slating, which marks a sync point between the audio and video with a clapper board.
Gaffer: They head the lighting department and work closely with the director of photography to understand the desired lighting effects. They contribute to the overall look and feel of your video project by creating and controlling light.
Field Audio Engineer: They use audio equipment to capture, mix, manipulate, and reproduce sounds and effects. They are responsible for the overall quality of the audio recording.
Grip: They are responsible for setting up, operating, and breaking down the rigging and video equipment for the camera and lighting crew. They not only organize and maintain the equipment, they are also required to be technical problem solvers.
Makeup Artists: They create a character's look. Using makeup and sometimes prosthetics on actors’ faces and bodies, they can highlight or alter an actor’s appearance or create special makeup effects.

Post-Production

The post-production process is basically everything that happens after the filming is complete. This end stage is where video production services assemble your footage into a cohesive narrative. Images are enhanced to create vibrancy and consistency. Audio is fine-tuned to create a high-quality listening experience for your audience. All these steps combine to create a completed, polished film that is well worth your time and investment:

Video editing: This is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots. Here clips are selected, trimmed, arranged, and adjusted to create a coherent and seamless final product that meets your intended purpose of the video.
Graphics, animations, and transitions: These are elements like titles and subtitles, visual effects, animation, and smooth transitions between different shots and scenes. They help to enhance the overall visual appeal and storytelling of your video.
Voice-overs: Voice-overs record narration, dialogue, or commentary in post-production. The recording is then added onto the visuals to provide context, explanation, or provide additional information to your audience.
Audio, Music & Sound Design: Adding these elements helps to create a mood, atmosphere, and emotional response for your audience. Additionally, background music, sound effects, and other audio components can enhance the storytelling and visual appeal of your film.
Color grading: Color grading is the process of manipulating the colors and tones of the footage to achieve your desired visual look, feel, or mood. Altering the brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue can all affect the video stylistically.
Delivering files: This last step in film production ensures that the video meets the technical requirements and is compatible with your intended distribution channel. It involves exporting the completed video in the required format and, finally, delivering it to you digitally.

Animated Video

Animated video production uses digital tools such as computer animation software or motion graphics software to create stunning animated videos. These videos communicate complex ideas in a visually appealing and entertaining manner. Utilize animated video production services to create unique explainer videos, promotional videos, marketing campaigns, and more. Below is an outline of the animated video production process.

Concept: A concept is a preliminary framework that helps you envision, plan, and achieve the perfect video representation of your brand. It should clearly explain the story you want to tell, who you’re telling, and how you want it told.
Script: Script writers create a story based on your concept, and this story is what the animators eventually design around. A great script not only communicates your message but helps outline critical details like character actions, dialogue, and soundscapes.
Style Frames: These frames provide a basic visual representation of how the final animation will look. They let you explore different designs, colors, characters, and overall style with the video production service before animation begins.
Storyboard: This is where artists sketch out your video to organize and visually plan the action and composition of each scene. Potential issues are addressed here, so changes can be made before the animation stage begins.
Animation: This final phase of production is where your story really comes to life by combining the animator's creativity and talent with high-tech software. They add movement and special effects to your characters and scenes, ultimately forming a seamless animated film.

Best Practices for Video Production

Whether or not you use professional video production services, there are some practices to follow to ensure the most effective video production possible.

1. Have A Solid Marketing Strategy

When you have a solid marketing strategy in place, you'll be much more likely to create videos that perform well in search engines and deliver exceptional value to your audience. To create a strong video marketing strategy, incorporate it into your overall marketing plan. Be sure to engage with the right audience to increase your brand awareness, customer retention, and revenue growth. Here are some ways to do that:

Identify your target audience.

By defining your ideal target market, you can craft a message that speaks directly to their needs. First, identify the product or service that you offer and its unique selling points. Then use market research, customer feedback, or data analytics to gain insights like these on your potential customers:

Understand your audience’s interests.
Learn their age group, gender, and location.
Analyze their engagement and purchasing behavior.

Know where to reach them.

Meet your audience on the channels and platforms where they are most active and most likely to engage with your content. It's important to optimize your video based on its intended location. Consider these tips on video length, format, audio quality, and visuals:

Shorter videos tend to have increased engagement and retention rates.
Use the correct video format for each channel to optimize viewing.
Make sure the audio is clear and properly mixed with music and sound effects to enhance the overall experience.
Bold visuals such as graphics, images, and animations deliver memorable and meaningful content to your audience.

Check out our article on the best video marketing practices for maximizing your investment!

Know the story you want to tell.

Crafting a compelling video is more than just showcasing your product or service. It's about creating an immersive experience that your target audience can relate to on a personal level. Tell a story to engage viewers and deliver a lasting impact by following this formula:

Begin with a main character that depicts your target audience.
Create a conflict that resonates with them by representing their pain point.
Journey to find the solution in your product or service.
Provide a satisfying resolution by showing how your product or service improves their life.

Define your video's intention.

Create a strategic plan for your video content by defining the objectives you want to achieve. By understanding your intention and purpose, you can focus your video efforts and maximize the impact of your content. Your goals should align with each part of your marketing funnel:

Creating awareness.
Building interest.
Driving conversions.

Repurpose your video.

Repurposing your existing video library is a smart and cost-effective solution. It allows you to transform one great video into several other types of content. This helps with the following:

Extending a video's lifespan.
Multiplying its impact by engaging your audience across multiple platforms.
Read our article about effective ways to repurpose your videos and get the most from your video marketing investment.

2. Outline timelines and budget

Outlining timelines and budgets for video production is crucial to the success of the project. This ensures that the video is properly planned, executed on time, and within the allocated budget. By creating a timeline and budget, the video production team can provide clear expectations and ensure that all necessary resources are efficiently allocated throughout the project's life cycle.

Stick to timelines.

Video production is a lengthy series of check-ins, approvals, asset swapping, and updating. It can be quite a complex endeavor, but outlining a realistic timeline can help simplify the process. It's important to account for all aspects of the production, from scripting and messaging to reviewing and implementing changes. Sticking to your timeline, however, will keep your video production on track.

Stay on budget.

To make a video that truly stands out, you need to invest in high-quality video production services. But if you're not careful, your budget can quickly spiral out of control. That's why it's crucial to create a well-planned budget before you begin, avoid pitfalls, and do your best to predict any unexpected costs that might pop up.

To avoid or understand unexpected costs, try our handy video budget calculator.

Video Production Services: What Are The Benefits?

Working with a professional video production team can help you create engaging and impactful videos that will capture your target audience's attention. Video production services have experienced teams who can ensure that all aspects of your video look and sound their best. Here are a few of the many advantages of using a qualified video production service:

Expertise

A professional video production service has a vast range of expertise and specialized knowledge that contribute to the creation of high-quality videos and meet the objective of your project.

These individuals have experience in scriptwriting, storyboarding, animation, camera operations, lighting, sound design, graphics, and post-production, such as video editing, color grading, and sound mixing.

They excel at collaborating with various team members and clients, have excellent communication skills, and are proficient in using video production tools and software.

Quality

High-quality videos that meet both technical standards and artistic excellence.

Quality video depends on attention to detail, efficient project management, and skilled team members equipped with the right talents and tools.

With professional video production, viewers can expect clear images, crisp sound, appealing visuals, and an overall positive viewing experience that effectively conveys your intended message.

Resources

A professional video production service has access to a wide range of resources that help to enhance their skills and streamline their workflow. These include the latest cameras, lighting, and audio equipment, specialized software and editing tools, and a variety of video production resources such as stock footage, sound effects, and music libraries.

They also have access to a team of actors and models, production studios, and various additional professionals like makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, and creative directors.

With these resources, video production services can produce videos that meet the highest professional and creative standards while delivering outstanding results for their clients.

Streamlined Process

Video production services follow a well-organized process from pre-production to post-production, which ensures that the final video is created effectively and on-time.

A video production service utilizes a variety of specialized tools, equipment, and resources to ensure that the video is produced as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest quality.

Additionally, the team works closely with the client throughout the production process, providing regular updates and quickly making any necessary adjustments to meet their needs.

Video Production Services: Our Conclusion

Professional video production services are a powerful tool for businesses looking to stand out from the competition and reach more customers. By understanding the different types of videos available, investing in professional video production services, and following best practices when producing your videos, you can ensure that your investments will pay off with high-quality results. Armed with this knowledge, you can confidently leverage video content as a part of your video marketing strategy and start producing effective videos that will make an impact on your target audience.

Use these tips to get started today, and reach out to Levitate Media to see how our professional team can help you with the process.