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Can we save money by shooting outside?

Everyone is on a budget, so it’s reasonable to ask, “Can we save money by shooting outside?” After all, won’t it be simpler without all those lights?



You’re wondering if shooting your video outside can save you some money? Before we can answer that question, there’s another question we need to ask. That question is:

What kind of content do you want to shoot outside, b-roll or narrative?

If you need to shoot b-roll outside, then with some caveats, it’s probably not a big deal. But if you need to shoot a narrative, then…

There are 2 potential problems you’ll face when shooting outside: lighting and sound.

We’ll talk about sound next time, but for now, let’s focus our attention on the lighting challenges of shooting outside.


The Lighting Challenges of Filming Outside:

In order to understand the those challenges, we need to understand the 3 characteristics of outdoor lighting.


The 3 Characteristics of Outdoor Light:

  • Shifting Brightness

Natural light includes direct sun, overcast, and shade–each of which is very different in it’s brightness and can radically shift without notice.

  • Moving Angles

From the time the sun rises, to the moment it disappears over the horizon, it is constantly in motion. That means the angles of the sun and the shadows it casts are constantly moving.

  • Changing Color

As the sun moves across the horizon, the color temperature of its light also changes, so in essence the color outside is constantly changing as well.

It’s these 3 characteristics of outdoor light that make shooting a video with natural light unpredictable and inconsistent. But why is that such a big deal? Can you not just fix all of that in post production/editing?

A common problem with that is that…

A narrative film is usually shot with a single camera. The same scene is shot from different angles or set ups and at different times. Then when the film is edited (learn more about editing here!) all of those different angles are combined into a single story line. The way that works is all the wide shots for a scene are filmed first, followed by medium or close-up shots.


With all of that in mind, if the brightness, angle or color temperature of the outdoor lighting is different from shot to shot it will be very noticeable and consequently lead your viewers to be distracted and start thinking more about what’s wrong and the actual story you’re telling in your video.

The Good News:

There are ways to address all of these outdoor lighting challenges.

The Bad News:

It usually requires more planning, more crew, more equipment, more time, and more money. While we don’t always notice it, outdoor lighting is not consistent. It is organic and constantly changing. So, the short answer is, “no”. You usually can’t save money by shooting outside.


Questions?

If you have questions about shooting your video outside, send me an email to info@zappl.in.


If you found this episode helpful, please hit the like button below or share it with a friend, someone you know who can use a little video help.





Thanks for reading Video Answers, the resource with video production help for your business.



 
 
 

What can I expect during the editing process?



Your filming is done and you’re about to see the first edit of your video. You know it won’t be be finished but beyond that, you’re not really sure what to expect.


Together, we’ve made it to the editing stage of your video, which is why I want to talk about what you can expect during the editing stages.

Your investment here of just a few minutes can have a HUGE impact on our ability to deliver your video on-time and on-budget.

With that as the background, here’s what you can expect during the 3 stages of video editing.

The 3 Stages of Video Editing

Story Cut

Your video is all about telling a story, so it makes sense that we start with the Story Cut.

The Story Cut establishes the order of your videos story.

The purpose of the Story Cut is to craft a strong story.

What you’ll see

The real beauty here is found in the story, think of a diamond in the rough. So in the Story Cut you will see:

  • raw elements

  • straight cuts

  • gaps

  • jump cuts

You won’t see

  • polished look or feel

  • matching video or audio

  • music

  • voice over

Suggestions

All of that can be distracting so here’s what I suggest.

  • Listen to the Story Cut before you watch it. Close your eyes or don’t look at the screen. Whatever it takes to keep that lack of polish from distracting you from the most important part of this edit, the story.

  • Check the Story Cut against your creative brief to make sure all of your bases are covered.

That’s stage 1 of your edit, the Story Cut.

Rough Cut

Once we have the story in place, we’ll start to fill in the missing details in the Rough Cut.



A Rough Cut is a refinement of the edit.

The purpose of the Rough Cut is build the story with more visual and audio elements.

What you’ll see

  • new b-roll to help visualize the story

  • the timing will start to take shape

  • placeholder graphics

  • new music being roughed in

  • placeholder voice over

You won’t see

  • matching colors

  • final graphics

  • perfect audio levels

2 Suggestions

  1. Take some time to live with it. Don’t watch it once and rush it out the door. Watch it a few times over a few days.

  2. Ask yourself this question: Is anything missing or unclear?

That’s stage 2 of the edit, the Rough Cut.

Final Cut

The third stage is called the Final Cut.

The Final Cut is where the placement, order, and timing of every clip in your video is finalized.

The purpose of the Final Cut is to make sure that everything in the video is where it should be. In other words, we want to make sure that everything is locked in place so that from this point on, nothing moves.

What you’ll see

  • everything in it’s final place

  • final timing

  • final graphics

  • final voice over

  • final music

You won’t see

  • final color correction

  • final audio mix

Suggestions

Much like the rough cut, my suggestions here are to:

  1. Take some time to live with it.

  2. Watch it critically

  3. Ask yourself the question: Can I live with everything in this video as it is?

It’s important to lock the video here because once you approve the Final Cut, we’ll do all of our polishing to the audio and the video with color correction and mixing before we deliver the master to you.

Each stage of the edit is built on the previous stage. Everything we do is based on what you’ve just approved. That means the later in the edit process changes are made, the bigger the impact those changes can have on our ability to deliver your project on-time and on-budget.

Summary

  • The Story Cut establishes the order of the story

  • The Rough Cut builds on the story

  • The Final Cut locks the story

That’s what you can expect during the edit process.


Questions?

If you have questions about editing your video, send me an email to info@zappl.in and ask away. If you liked this post, please hit the like button below or share it with a friend, someone you know who can use a little video help.


 
 
 

How long is a typical shoot day?



Your video shoot is just around the corner. And your boss has a lot of extra content that she wants to film. So you’re wondering, “How many hours can we shoot in a day?” We think it’s a fair question and it just so happens to be the subject of Answers.


Your video is a big investment of time, money, and resources. Consequently, there is a lot riding on your shoot. You want to make sure all your bases are covered. So it’s reasonable to ask the question, “How long is a typically shoot day?”

How long is a typically shoot day?

A full day is:

  • Between 5 and 10 hours with a 1 hour lunch

  • Billed at a full day rate

A half day is:

  • Up to 5 hours

  • Billed at 2/3rds of the full day rate

A travel day is:

  • Up to 10 hours

  • Billed at the half-day rate

But only if the travel day does NOT include filming. If we film on a travel day, it becomes a shoot day and is billed at the full day rate.

Can we shoot more than 10 hours?

Absolutely. In fact, in our next episode we’ll spend some time on overtime to see if it’s worth the additional cost.

Remember, anything between 5 and 10 hours is considered a typical shoot day.

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below or send an email to info@zappl.in



 
 
 
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