4 Steps to Planning Your Video Production
by Adele Sommers
A little bit of planning can go a long way toward creating effective videos for your business. Below, I've outlined four steps to developing a "video blueprint." A video blueprint will simplify production, and it's something you can provide to an outside video producer if you prefer not to create the video yourself (see the resources at the end of the article).
Step 1: Brainstorm Your Concept
 Using the checklist below, spend some time visualizing the look and feel of your video (or a series of videos). For ideas, you might research compelling examples on YouTube. Your goal is to produce a result that people will want to enthusiastically share with others. Consider the:
- Purpose: Will your video tell a story, explain an idea, provide instruction, demonstrate a product, interview a satisfied customer, solicit donations, or spark curiosity, for example?
- Tone: Are you aiming for an edgy, impromptu mood; a casual, informative tone; or a very polished, professional quality? Should it be serious, personal, inspiring, funny, entertaining, shocking, and/or weird? (See 10 possible characteristics.)
- Length: Two- to five-minute videos are ideal for building immediate attention and understanding. You could use longer videos as follow-ups to shorter ones to provide more "meat" on a particular topic.
- Characters: Do you envision seeing real people in action scenes or in "talking head" mode? If so, will you personally be in front of the camera? Or will you use professional actors, friends, family, or employees? (Alternatively, you could use "avatars" or short animation clips; see more below).
- Composition: Will you use full-motion video or simple still images, such as inspiring nature photos or pictures of your product in action? How about mixing still images and full-motion elements together?
 Narration: Would you like narration throughout your video? Will you be doing it, or should professional voice talent provide the voiceovers?
- Sound: Do you imagine music leading into your video? Should there be a musical soundtrack throughout? (Many Web sites offer royalty-free music clips.)
- Branding: Where will your company name a Web site URL appear?
- Call to action: What should viewers do after they see the video? Will it provide links at the end, or take viewers automatically to a particular Web page?
Step 2: Create a Storyboard
 Storyboards are graphic organizers that display a series of illustrations or images in a comic-book fashion, where each frame corresponds to a single view or camera shot. They can range in style from simple sketches to elaborate, colorful renderings.
Storyboards help you and your team visualize the sequence of events in a video. They're also widely used for mapping the visuals and interactivity for marketing campaigns, games, Web sites, product interfaces, instructional designs, and the like.
Below is an old storyboard for an 8-minute animated cartoon (source):
Whether you create storyboards for yourself or a production team, templates can help standardize the process. A template typically captures information such as the frame number, the main action occurring in that frame, notes on the camera angle or details on interactivity, and any media (such as image and sound files) to be used in that frame.
Some people create storyboards entirely on paper, and others use tools such as Microsoft® PowerPoint®. For a plethora of examples and templates, see this Google search.
Step 3: Develop a Script
 Once you have designed a storyboard for your video, you can develop the narration script (or displayable text) for each frame or view. The initial script does not have to be perfect. You may discover new ideas to add later, or find certain combinations of words that sound better as you are speaking them. Even a rough outline can guide you until the smaller pieces fall into place.
As an alternative to creating a script yourself, some professional services will create one for you, as well as provide the voice talent.
Step 4: Research Acting and Voice Talent
This step doesn't necessarily apply unless you're thinking about using people other than yourself in your video. If you are planning to use humans (or human representatives, such as avatars or animations, explained below), you'll want to think about who they are and what they will be doing in detail. Below are some possible resources for these needs.
Actual product or service users:
You don't need to hire a movie star to pitch your product or perform a demonstration. Actual people who have developed or used a product or service will appear more authentic, genuine, and, well, fun! Satisfied customers or members of your company (or your client's company) will be believable and *free.*
Friends and family:
Aside from yourself, other low-cost acting sources include friends and family. While they aren't necessarily the most highly trained actors, friends who appear in your video may be eager to share the movie with others, thereby helping to produce a "viral" effect.
Professional actors and speakers:
The pool of available actors can include theatre and media students from the local high school, college, or theatre groups; and, of course, professionally trained actors. For sample contracts, see http://www.sagindie.org/resources/contracts/.
If your video will have considerable narration, sources of less expensive speaking talent may include your local college radio station.
Avatars and animation clips:
 Alternatives to using live actors include avatars and 3-D animation clips that you can find on the Web. Avatars are animated characters that can spark immediate fascination because of the lifelike way they imitate mouth movements and facial expressions as they speak.
You won't need to spend a fortune on an animation studio, however. A variety of avatar characters come bundled with the relatively inexpensive Logitech® QuickCam recorder and its Video Effects software.
Animation clips embedded in slideshow presentations offer yet another fun source of action on a limited budget. Often available by subscription or on CD, you can find royalty-free selections at sites such as AnimationFactory.com.
In conclusion, planning your business video (or video series) ought to be a fun and creative experience. From researching to brainstorming to storyboarding to talent hunting to outsourcing, effective options exist for every budget.
Copyright 2008 Adele Sommers
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We are definitely on a roll (or should I say, "role"?) as we continue the discussion of video-making from my 
