Over the years I’ve learned that people invariably underestimate the amount of time required to produce a high quality video production. This means that, inevitably, they will have drastically under-estimated the budget, especially for post-production. Consequently I always have to spend some careful time educating them about the realities of the project.

When these clients return for a second or third project they are far more savvy about what they’re getting themselves into, which translates to bigger budget allocations and more realistic estimates of the time required to complete the project.

These issues are most critical when there’s an absolute time limit: the video will be screened as the opening element of the international conference, or it must be in the minister’s hands before parliament reconvenes. So here’s a simple checklist to help educate potential clients before it’s too late. Some of the points I list may seem to be bleeding obvious, but I can promise you there are many clients out there who will not have given them a thought. You’ll be able to tweak it to suit the kinds of productions you’re involved with, but it may help you steer your clients towards a happier video experience, and you to a more realistic payment!

So, in an ideal world it is best to

1. have a script in place before shooting begins. The script will specify things such as is this a ‘real’ interview or a mocked up role play? A real interview will be much faster to shoot and a role play will invariably require numerous re-takes to match camera angles and also ensure the action cuts properly. The script will also specify things such as night or day or doesn’t matter, special clothing required, any special lighting, props or devices required (eg laptop, PowerPoint plus projector and screen, with further implications for lighting so that the screen images are clearly visible and the interviewee/presenter  is also properly lit).

Be sure to have the script approved before shooting because changes after shooting are expensive and time consuming (and may cause you to miss the deadline!).

2. Is it to be a single camera or multi-camera shoot? Implications here are for available space for sound recording and lights, number and roles of crew and number of videotapes to be pre-labelled and later processed for editing.

3. Case each location in advance to ensure sufficient space is available and to check light and esp background sound issues. eg in a school classroom, is playground noise acceptable or should a special quiet classroom be located? It’s true that class and playground noise are real in a real school but they can make editing very difficult (though not as difficult as aircraft tram or train noise).

4. Specify the number of shooting days, allowing adequate time on each for bump in and bump out. It is really good not to have to rush the setup because good lighting and clean audio all need care and time to be done properly. If done properly, the hassles in post-production are greatly reduced.

5. Allow adequate time for processing the video. Typically each tape is digitised then rendered to a Rushes DVD. Each step requires a real time process, ie if you shoot 2 hours of single camera video it will take two hours to capture and about the same to convert to DVD (this time will be reduced if using newer tapeless formats, but still needs to be factored in). That’s before any editing has taken place. As a rough guide, editing a TV news story generally takes about one hour of editing per finished minute of video. So a two-minute news story will have taken about two hours to edit. Multi camera shoots produce much more interesting end products but they also take proportionately more time to edit.

6. Allow ample time for developing a graphic look and style for the project and also allow time for graphic design of DVD disk label, plus slick design and any other graphic elements that are required. Source all graphics – esp including current logos – as early in the project as possible because these usually require some manipulation to conform to the overall project style.

7. Allow ample time for rendering of complex sections of the project, esp those involving animations, moving titles etc. Rendering is becoming less of an issue with newer, faster computers, but it still takes time and this must be planned for, especially in situations where there is an unmovable deadline.

8. Allow ample time for peer or stakeholder review. This requires producing a program that is as close as possible to finished before showing it to others for review.  Stakeholders are typically nit-picky about minutiae so, for example, if you’re going to have animated titles, then animate them BEFORE showing the stakeholders – otherwise they probably won’t ‘get it’.

The more people who review the project, the more changes will be required at each review stage. Therefore try to minimise the number of reviewers and also strictly limit the number of reviews during the whole project.

9. Is special music required? Is it currently available or does it have to be sourced or composed? Can you afford the rights to use it?

10. For multi-language translations there are many extra issues. Are the interpreters sufficiently experienced? How many different language tracks do you need on a single DVD? Syncing the audio is seriously complex because in some languages timing can significantly alter the meaning. Will the video be farmed out to several different interpreters? or is there one house that can do it all? How long will they take, given that they’ll have to review the video to ensure it’s correct (multiply by the number of languages).

11. Ensure that there is an ample supply of high quality coffee available before each shoot and during the editing period, and fine champagne for the wrap party!!

By David Smith

Dr David Smith is a physiologist-turned-film maker. David was Associate Producer of the IMAX feature Australia Land Beyond Time and was Senior Researcher on the ABC TV series Nature of Australia. He wrote and hosted David Smith's Earthwatch on ABCTV and was 'resident zoologist' on the Don Lane and Bert Newton Shows.

In 1987 David set up his company, imaginACTION pty ltd (www.imaginaction.net.au) and has sinced written, directed and/or filmed numerous documentaries and educational multimedia projects. He has also written six books, including two Penguin eco-thrillers. Over the past five years David has moved towards medical and health-related projects, including trauma surgery, schizophrenia and emergency medicine.

David is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a professional member of the AFI and has always been keen to share his knowledge, especially with young budding film makers. David can be contacted at david@imaginaction.net.au.