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Attract the Right Job or Clientele:
Are You Ready to Roll Tape?
Filming isn’t just an art; it’s also work. The more work you complete in preproduction, the more confident you will be as a director to say, “Ready, roll tape,” during the production. Blue Violet Productions provides our behind-the-scenes guest blog.
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Ready to Roll Tape
Preparation
Much research, planning, and preparation goes into making a documentary. In the industry, we refer to this project phase as preproduction. Preproduction is piloted by the director, in this case, me. The success of my project hinges on my ability to research the project during preproduction meticulously.
As the director, research requires that I complete the following tasks:
- Thoroughly review any historical evidence associated with the subject matter of the project.
- Pre-interview individuals who somehow have a connection to the subject matter.
- Study any literature associated with the subject matter.
- Develop a treatment (a one-page project summary) about the subject matter.
- Develop interview questions based on research findings.
Documentaries must be factual.
Research helps to ensure that we are creating a preeminent product by confirming the following:
- It is a true story.
- This story is compelling enough to tell.
- This story will entertain, enlighten, or inspire an audience.
Research can be the most critical and exhaustive part of preproduction. After several weeks, months, and sometimes years researching a project, I eventually transitioned to planning. Planning is the most challenging part of preproduction because planning includes establishing a budget.
As a creative, I’m not fond of numbers because numbers can be restrictive. Creatives prefer to avoid bureaucratic boundaries. Nonetheless, planning demands that you accurately account for how much this project will cost your distributor, donors, investors, and, ultimately, you. Everything must be counted, from the audio cables to the zoom lenses. And it is vital to consider the costs of lodging, meals, staffing, and transportation.
When I’m confident that we’ve calculated the cost of completing our project, I consider other planning factors, such as:
- Who will help me with my project?
- When can I start filming?
- Where will I film?
- How long will it take to complete our project?
For filmmakers, planning is unstoppable until the project is complete.
Before completing our project, I must ensure we are prepared to film, emphasizing the question, ‘Are we ready to roll tape?’ Have we confirmed the shoot time, location, and duration of the shoot with the talent and with the team? What time is transportation arriving? Who’s working the canteen service? Will this shoot require lodging, and where will we rest after we wrap?
Have we charged all the batteries, packed the cables and media, and loaded up all the equipment in preparation for the shoot? Have I completed the shot sheet for my camera operator? Does the interviewer have the interview questions? Has my production assistant collected all the talent release forms? Has the audio engineer completed the sound check? Is there sufficient lighting for the scene?
There’s no margin for error when preparing for your shoot. The shoot will halt if we arrive with uncharged batteries or missing cable or media. If there’s poor lighting, the scene will be inadequate. If the audio is distorted, it will ruin the entire shoot. Moreover, we can only release the film if the talent releases are signed.
I make every effort to minimize delays and disasters by being prepared. As the director, I am responsible for ensuring that the shoot is not delayed because of poor planning or, even worse, ruined due to inefficiency. My team’s time is essential. My talent’s time is necessary, and my time is important. Consider utilizing a checklist when preparing for a big project.
Checklists can save you time, money, embarrassment, and reputation when researching, planning, and preparing for a shoot. Using a checklist during the research phase of a project will help you uncover all the relevant facts vital to telling a true story. Your research checklist will help you track facts crucial to advancing the story. These essential facts will be used to develop interview questions for your talent, saving you time as you transition to the project’s planning phase.
During the project’s planning phase, use checklists to track every aspect of the project from start to finish. Use a planning checklist to list essential dates, establish a budget, record expenses, and inventory equipment. The success of your project is contingent upon your ability to build a detailed planning checklist. A detailed planning checklist can help you develop all remaining lists, including the shot, equipment, and packing lists.
Like a documentarian, entrepreneurs ensure their success by researching their product/service, forecasting, planning, and preparing to release their product/service to customers.
Research empowers entrepreneurs to determine if customers will be interested in their products and services. Research as an entrepreneur will likely include a business plan, market analysis, and feasibility study.
Documentarians, like entrepreneurs, must plan after developing a business plan and conducting a market analysis and feasibility study. While preparing for your business, you may not build a film budget, but it will undoubtedly require some associated costs, typically referred to as startup costs. As a documentarian, I know most of the cost of completing a documentary project. As an entrepreneur, consider working with a business coach to assist you during the planning/startup phase.
Review the planning when researching your business and determining an audience for your product service. Have you forecasted and planned for the product/service release? If so, your next step is to prepare. While your project may not be a documentary, you must ensure that your research and planning support the preparation phase.
Is your product and service packaged? Have you cleared all the legal hurdles and signed the appropriate release documents? Have you charged your batteries? Did you check out the checklists?
In Conclusion: Are You Ready to Roll Tape?
Once you have executed every task within the preproduction phase of the project, it’s time to launch your business or start the actual production. The project’s production phase begins with a magical command communicated by the director– “ready, roll tape!”
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Sales Tips: Are You Ready to Roll Tape?
- Inspiration is necessary for all types of businesses and careers; the goal to embrace is to Be Inspired and Inspiring!
- Dedication to the details upfront is what will ultimately lead to success.
- Upon encountering a necessary detail requiring an answer but you cannot address, request help.
- Prioritize your daily agenda for efficiency.
- Maintain a running task list to avoid wasting valuable time.
- Routinely find time each day to learn something new
- .Be accepting of learning from errors
- .Launch your new-found knowledge into a more significant project.
- Collaborate with those whose experiences differ from yours to embrace a broader output.
- Celebrate Success!
Today’s insights are provided to help you achieve the Smooth Sale!
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