You often hear people in production talking about the people behind the scenes – how they made everything come together. And while there are people “behind the scenes” at all stages of production, I’d like to focus on the post-production team today. Post production can often be the longest step in the production process. It involves editing, graphics and special effects, sound design and audio sweetening, and color correction. Depending on the project, each of these steps can involve several players and lots of time.

So, after all that planning and shooting is complete, what are some things to keep in mind and get your project to the finish line?

Limit your Stakeholders

There can be a lot of back and forth in post-production. Your production partner will be looking for input at several steps along the way. Make sure to identify your stakeholder group upfront, and limit the number of people giving their input. Having your stakeholder group review intermittent deliverables will prevent them from being surprised at the end of the process.  Post production can be an expensive and time consuming process, you’ll want to limit unexpected feedback at the end of the process. One Floor Up utilizes a web-based project management and feedback tool to make it easy for your stakeholders to stay on top of the project and review at the appropriate times.

Be Honest

Don’t be afraid to give it to us straight – giving your honest reaction upfront, at the earliest step in the process will help avoid problems later. If you’re the lead on the project for your team, you’ll need to combine feedback from your stakeholders and make decisions on conflicting opinions. Be honest with your stakeholders too, let them know when there is a conflict in feedback and what decision you’ve made. This will help keep them onboard for the project and giving productive feedback.

Talk about Format Upfront

How are you distributing your video? These days, companies aren’t typically making content for a single use case. You’ll likely need multiple versions in the end. Keep in mind that formatting for broadcast, websites and social media can all be quite different. Right now the vertical format is really taking off on Instagram and because it’s such a different format it is common to do a completely different cut of the footage for this format.

Graphics & Branding

Is your video project a part of a larger campaign involving other assets? We’ll want access to your brand guidelines and any other artwork surrounding the campaign. If your videos are hosted in a webpage, we’ll want to take that into consideration when we design motion graphics. Check out our Motion Graphics page for some animation inspiration.