Preproduction: Preparing for the Storm

At Skillman Video Group we are preparing to launch a series of web videos on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and web video. If you haven’t yet see our other preproduction blog, be sure to take a look at it here. As our shoot day approaches, there are a variety of things that we are working on as part of the preproduction process. Here we’ll be talking about the technical elements of preproduction. As this is an in-house production, it’s a great opportunity for us to share with you some of the things we focus on in preproduction of every project.

One of the main hurdles we face is space. It seems that no matter how large the production, there is never quite enough room. We took measurements and planned out exactly how much space we had to work with. Whenever we’re filming we try to learn as much about the space as we can, because of how it will affect our approach.

There’s a Tool for Every Job

The first step is deciding on a camera and lens. Each lens has its own proprieties and each is useful in different situations. For this shoot the 35mm lens creates a wide enough image to allow us fit into the space, but doesn’t create too much distortion, paired with a cropped sensor camera. We also decided on a two camera set up. It’ll require some additional work, but will save a lot of time when editing. It’s a calculation in any situation, and for us it’s worth the additional effort.

Lighting for Space



Traditional film lights are powerful and useful in a variety of situations, but without additional equipment produce a fixed amount of light, also they produce a lot of heat. In a small space, for a prolonged time, traditional lighting options are problematic. Instead we are going with a combination of LED lighting panels and a light reflector. They are internally dim-able, produce no heat, and they’re small enough that they don’t take up too much space.

Sound is Half the Picture

Good, clean, crisp, audio is rarely noticed, but bad audio is a nightmare. To make sure we are getting the most out of our shoot, we want to make sure we have a variety of sound options ready to go. We are using the Zoom H6N audio recorder along with a lapel microphone, shotgun microphone, and a camera mounted hyper-cardiod microphone. This will ensure that at any given moment, we’ll have clean crisp audio to use.
Preproduction can be strenuous, constantly considering options for problems you might never face, but without proper preproduction a production can quickly turn to chaos. At Skillman Video Group, we are experts in video production, and will make sure all the preproduction needs for your project are taken care of. We produce a variety of different videos for your business, including web video advertising, recruitment videos, and conceptual video marketing. We can get you there, from concept to completion.

Skillman Video Group LLC is a Boston video production company. Call us anytime at 800-784-0140.