Planning

Great videos require thorough planning. Production planning involves budgeting, recruiting the crew and talent, and preparing your sets, props, and costumes. Careful planning will ensure your production runs smoothly.

Sub-categories

Planning

How to Get Access to Locations for your Documentary

Getting access to the right locations can lend your story credibility and interest. To make it a little easier for you get into the places you need to shoot, we show you the types of venues you'll have to deal with, how to manage locations and when you'll need location releases.
The Video Editing Log Jam

Anonymous (not verified) - Sun, 05/01/2011 - 12:00am

Whether you use film, flash files, or videotape, every editor needs to have the footage on their editing machine before they can start cutting the project. Keeping that transfer route organized will cut your editing time tremendously.
Finding the Best Crew and Equipment for your Documentary

Having a good crew behind you can help you to not only get the shots you need, but get them on time as well. To help you find good crews, we'll first go over some things to consider about crew members, what crew size you'll need and some sources of where to find solid crews.
How to Manage and Direct your Video Crew for your Documentary

Keeping a crew happy results in a more efficient and stress-free production. In order to help you do just that, we'll go over some ways to hold useful production meetings with your crew, how to transport your crew, and some tips in catering food for your crew.
Tripods, Dollies, and Other Essential Accessories for Documentary Shoots

Though shooting, audio, and lighting gear are incredibly important, they're not the only items that make make your documentary look great. That's why we'll go over what to look for in stabilizing equipment like a tripod or a sled, arm and vest system, dollies, and lastly essential grip gear for any shoot.
Choosing the Best Lighting Equipment for Your Documentary

Good lighting defines the difference between great looking footage and poorly made home movies. Knowing the lighting technology and gear, such as fixture designs and lamp types as well as the best equipment for blocking, diffusing and reflecting light, can help your footage look like it belongs on the big screen.
Delivering a Great Pitch to Convince Investors to Fund your Documentary

Now that you've put together a great prospectus, it's time to pitch it. Effective pitching involves doing research on your subjects, knowing how to approach them, and putting in a bit of practice. We'll show you some great ways to pitch so that you capture your investor's attention.
Fundraising Secrets for Documentaries

When getting money from investors just isn't enough, fund-raising is the next best option. There are many people who can't fund an entire documentary but can help you with a small part of it. To help you with this, we show you how to hold banquets, auctions, online events, and more.
Showing How your Documentary Can Make Money By Making a Budget

The most important and time consuming part of any prospectus is the budget. Budgets help investors know why your documentary costs what it does. This is why we'll show you what goes into a professional looking budget and how to lower your costs so that your documentary gets the funds it needs.
What's Legal: Location Legalities

Anonymous (not verified) - Sat, 01/01/2011 - 12:00am

Information you need to know to shoot on city, state and federal properties and be fully protected by the law to save you much time and potential legal fees for your video projects.