How to Prepare for a Post-Production Video Project

Series Summary

The development of film came alongside the rise of America as a world empire. The technology developed in the late 19th to early 20th century and quickly became a staple of modern culture and mass consumption. Many trace the beginning of film to a moment also considered the advent of the comic strip as we know it: Eadweard Muybridge's famous pictures of a horse's stride, which proved that in fact there is a moment when all four hooves are off the ground. Film making is the process by which a film is made. The different stages of filmmaking include development, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution.

In this free video series, our expert Travis Johns will teach you how to manage a post-production video workflow. He will teach you how to prepare for a post-production project, how to organize video files, and how to work on multiple projects simultaneously. Travis will also teach you how to prioritize projects, work with multiple applications, and how to troubleshoot technological problems. He will also teach you how to handle client interactions, price your work, track progress, and budget time and money. Travis will even talk about contractual boundaries, handling emergencies, and staying creative.

Video Transcript

"TRAVIS JOHNS: Hi. I'm Travis Johns with Expert Village, and I'm going to be talking to you about preparing for projects in your video post-production studio. At the beginning of a project, you need to assume that any and all eventualities could happen. The client could ask for anything, so you want to make sure that you're ready to handle any request that they're going to make based on the project you've signed on to do. A couple of things you're going to need to focus on: 1.) Take detailed notes when you're having any conference calls with clients or individual phone calls, e-mails, any sort of communication. Make sure you have detailed notes so that you don't miss anything when it comes to the very end of the project. Also, you want to make sure that you have adequate drive space and media storage for anything you're going to need. You also want to make sure that you have all the media that the client has provided for you so that you can start the project. Any graphics request, you want to make sure that you have those in writing. A specific tip would be if there are any nameplates involved and any interview-style videos you'll be creating, make sure that they send you the exact spelling of the name of anybody who's going to be onscreen so you don't get to a final project and they call you saying, "Oh, we misspelled the name." That way, you can make sure that you get it all done once and the client is happy."