This book is aimed at you if you wish to learn about the business side of video production. It is designed to complement the other three in this series (Basics of Video Production, Basics of Video Lighting and Basics of Video Sound), which allow you to understand the overall process of video production and then look in more detail at sound and lighting.
What I have tried to do with this book is to help you with two distinct and different areas of video production. One is to understand the paperwork that will be involved in the production process; the other is to try to heighten your awareness of the communication and business skills you will need if you are intending to set up your own video production company.
We will take a real programme that was made by a real production company. Two people who met on a course like yours, have not been in business long and are struggling to survive, run the company.
Video production requires a high degree of organization to be a success. Good organization will require a proper diary to be kept of your production. It is an understanding of the paperwork, and its organization, that will make your production either a success or a failure.
This book aims to help you produce that paperwork professionally and logically. I have also tried to introduce you to some of the basic principles of setting up and running your own business. For your part, the safety of an educational or training environment will help you to learn from the mistakes we all make in the process of trying to be a success in what is a very tough business.
This is not meant to be an ‘expert’s book’, but if you are a student who wishes to learn about all aspects of planning and documenting a video production, read on.
All types of media productions should have a production diary. Although this book is specifically related to video productions, much of what you read will be directly transferable to film courses, multimedia and sound courses as the basics and principles of running the business remain the same.
The book explains, in simple language, what should go into the diary and how to organize it into a logical order. There are hints and tips to help you avoid the often-costly pitfalls that will beset any new producer who is associated with an expensive production.
You will learn to detail the production process from conceptualization, and how to write the aims and objectives of the programme, right through to the final screening.
My aim is to give you a rapid insight into the process of organizing your video programme without getting bogged down in technical terms. Only where it is necessary to understanding is there any reference to technical matters.