After discussions with your colleagues, you came to the conclusion that a video production would be very useful for communicating your messages and content to your different audiences.

You may have experimented with the process of producing this video yourself with your colleagues and have seen the limitations of the resources available, whether human or technical.

Thinking about the budget and internal partnerships

For the budget, can you have internal or external partners? Sometimes the travel of a film crew is expensive, but the costs can be shared by a few users. This video shoot allows us to collect images on a site that could be used by various colleagues, partners or divisions of the company.

For example, a film crew goes to a remote factory to film new devices or an expansion. Take the opportunity to interview employees for a possible recruitment video.

Establishing requirements and briefing

The first step in pre-production is establishing your communication needs and preparing the brief.

The briefing will communicate to the producer or videographer your intentions, communication goals, etc. It can be very short, but should contain the following:

• The subject of the video with a short description
• The purpose of the video : why do we want to do this project, what are the objectives?
• The public : who are we addressing? Your customers, your employees, your associates?
• The versions : French, English, Spanish or other? Subtitled or not?
• Dissemination : on your website, on social media such as Facebook, YouTube, etc., in an event, on the intranet in a specific format?
• The timeline : desired delivery date
• Locations : To establish a budget and schedule, the producer needs to know how many locations and how many days of filming are planned. You don't have to make schedules, simply express your needs or present the places that are of interest. For example, our facilities are in Laval, but some participants could be in Quebec City, or Toronto...

Once the mandate has been awarded, Productions Go can offer you all these services or options. The available budget will help you choose your priorities.

From budget to scenario: reference documents

The production budget or budget estimate: following the briefing, the proposal will contain a detailed budget. This budget will specify what the deliverables are, i.e. the length of the video, the number of versions (different languages, different durations, etc.), the number of days of shooting, the infographic and, if applicable, the narration, the casting, etc.

A synopsis: the synopsis is mainly used in cinema or television, but also sometimes in communication. The aim is to summarize in one page the purpose of the video: what do we want to say and how? What is the story to be communicated? Who are the characters or participants?

The script: the script is the reference document for producing a video. Normally, it consists of two columns. On the left, a description of the image, of what is seen on the screen, which includes the shooting, but also the infographic or the titles.

We can also provide you with a storyboard or technical breakdown that allows you to visualize the different scenes and thus imagine in a precise way the scenes to be shot.

Before the start of the scriptwriting or during it, a location scouting with photos allows you to plan the shoot, evaluate travel times, etc.

In the event that actors are used, a casting is organized. During it, we take photos if it is an extra (silent role) to introduce the various roles, and if it is a speaking role, we will ask the actor for an excerpt from the text to give you a good idea of the character.

Maps and shooting schedules are also prepared with invitations for the technical team, customers, actors, etc. All with the aim of maximizing the available shooting time and obtaining the best sequences.

Three levers not to be neglected in pre-production

Beyond the classic steps described above, three aspects have become decisive in the pre-production of a corporate video and deserve to be integrated into the reflection from the briefing.

1. Generative AI as an ideation accelerator

Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) have become effective brainstorm accelerators for the creative concept and the first draft of the script. Be careful: they do not replace human editorial work, but they shorten the pre-production time by 30 to 50% in the ideation phases. Well supervised, their use allows more creative avenues to be explored in less time, without cutting back on the quality of the final deliverable.

2. Think multi-format from the script

A video today can have several distribution formats. Before design, the choices of distribution and formats must be discussed. The classic options are a horizontal version (16:9 for the website), a vertical version (9:16 for LinkedIn and Reels) and short snippets (15 to 30 seconds for social networks such as TikTok). Choosing delivery formats from the start of the project allows for proper planning of shoots and post-production — and avoids having to redo shots that weren't framed for the vertical.

3. Accessibility planned from the shooting stage

Subtitles, audio description, sign language versions: these elements must be planned from the design stage, not added at the end of the chain. Several institutional clients (Bill 25 in Quebec, WCAG standards) now make it a contractual requirement, to ensure that web content is perceivable, usable, understandable and robust for everyone, including people with disabilities.