When you feel comfortable and ready for shoot day, it shows.
Part of producing the highest quality video for you is making sure you and your team have a positive experience on set and throughout the filming process.
This is the second of our four-part blog series for first-time clients. We’re covering all the details you might want to know before you get started on a project with us, from pre-production, film day, post-production, and FAQs. If you’re just stumbling upon this post, we recommend you go check out part one, A First-Time Client’s Guide to The Pre-Production Process.
Here are four things you can expect from a typical filming day:
1. Safety First.
Our #1 priority is keeping our clients and crew as safe as possible.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridge City Media has continued to do in-person filming and we’ve adapted our process to be about as cautious as we’re able to. While we can never guarantee that new infections will not occur on a filming day, we take precautions seriously and stay masked for the entirety of the filming sessions.
Our staff is fully vaccinated with boosters and we try to keep safe distances away from your representatives during filming as much as we can. We also ask that you and your representatives stay masked (we prefer KN95s or N95s) for the entire duration of the filming day aside from when being actively filmed or doing an interview with us. If you’re aware of having representatives present that are not vaccinated or have a medical requirement that makes masking difficult, we ask that you please let us know this so we can consider additional safety measures for our crew.
Film sets can often have some heavy and/or fragile equipment. We try to weigh down larger stands with sandbags and tape down loose cords to ensure equipment doesn’t fall over or representatives of your company don’t trip. We ask that you be extra mindful of this and walk carefully around our equipment. Please make sure kids or animals are not running through a filming setup either. We cannot be held responsible for any equipment-related injuries if these safety measures are not adhered to on set.
Finally, an important part of on-set safety is consent. We ask that you make sure any people present during filming sign release forms and receive clear communication about what the content will be used for. We have document templates that we’d be happy to provide, just ask.
2. On shoot day, timing is everything.
Knowing what’s ahead helps our crew stay on schedule.
For most of our projects, setup can take up to an hour, filming can last between 2.5 and 6.5 hours, and breakdown takes about 30 minutes. For longer filming days, we may take a break of 30-60 minutes in the middle of the shoot and will schedule a couple of shorter breaks as well.
If you’re coordinating with us on the shoot or are in any scenes yourself, you can anticipate plenty of downtime between scenes as we may need to move cameras and lighting around. This can make it easy to multi-task and write a few emails in between scenes, but we ask that you do not try to fit in meetings or phone calls during downtime, as we’d like to ensure production doesn’t need to be delayed once a scene is set. A popular industry phrase is “hurry up and wait.”
We may ask that you sit in place for 5-10 minutes before we begin an interview to ensure the look we want. Most of our interviews last between 10-30 minutes depending on the content, but we can certainly take breaks for self care if needed.
We may have a very specific schedule we’d like to stick to on the day of the shoot, but we often have a little wiggle room to swap around scenes if needed. We want to ensure it’s a comfortable and fun experience for everyone, so we value your active communication throughout the day.
3. We’ll capture the best footage with the best light, sound, and camera angles we can get.
Our #1 priority is keeping our clients and crew as safe as possible.
Most of our shoots happen on location, and may oftentimes be at your place of business. Unless we’re creating more of a documentary piece, we like to have control over the space as much as possible. We may ask to shut off certain lights, close blinds, or cut off distracting noises like AC units or reception phones if we’re able to.
Most of the time we’re filming, we may not need to be capturing audio, but when we do, we like to make sure that all noise in the space is reduced as much as possible. That may mean organizing company meetings to happen in adjacent rooms, or doorways to be shut to avoid noise from outer areas.
We may want to rearrange a space to make it the most visually appealing and stow away clutter or objects that may be distracting from the narrative of the video. We will ask permission before moving around any furniture or decor, but this is often something we may ask to do.
4. Come camera-ready.
If you’re interviewing with us, please arrive ready to appear on camera.
Filming days can be a high-energy experience, so it’s good to come well rested and appropriately groomed. We ask that you avoid wearing clothing with clear branding on it, unless it represents your own company. We may communicate ahead of time on the best colors to wear, depending on the space we’ll be filming in.
Most of the time we won’t have a hair and makeup person, but we do have a small makeup kit with us if we need to do slight touch ups. We will always ask consent before using any product on you or your representatives.
Still not sure what to wear? Want some inspiration? Watch some of our past video projects to see how some of our clients have dressed for success.
Ready to start planning your production?
