Shoot days rarely fall apart because of equipment. Far more often it is because something was not decided in advance: samples did not arrive, access was not arranged, nobody agreed who makes the decisions. Here is what is worth preparing on the client side.
Two weeks out: decide what the task is
It sounds obvious, and it is where the gap usually sits. "We need a video" is not a task. A task looks like this:
- where the material will live — social media, website, presentation, advertising;
- what it has to do — explain the product, show the process, create desire;
- how we will know it worked — by response, by sales, by not being embarrassed to show a partner.
The answers determine nearly everything else: format, length, style, budget. A shoot without them turns into a set of handsome frames with nowhere to go.
A week out: gather references
A reference is not "make it like this". It is a way of agreeing on words. When a client says "I want it livelier" and the studio hears "faster cutting" while the client meant "natural light", both are at fault: nobody compared pictures.
Collect five to seven examples of what you like and, if you can, two or three of what you don't. The second set is more useful than the first: boundaries explain taste more precisely than samples do.
It helps to write one line against each reference — what exactly you like in it. "The light", "the pace", "that it doesn't look staged" are three different briefs, and without the note the studio will guess the wrong one.
A week out: decide who decides
One of the great time-eaters on set is approval by committee. One person says move it, another says leave it, the shoot stands still.
Agree in advance: one person decides on set. Others may have opinions, but the final word is theirs. If the decision belongs to someone who will not be there, collect their notes beforehand rather than by phone mid-shoot.
Three days out: prepare what is being shot
The lists differ here, and it helps to separate them.
If we are shooting product
Condition. A scratch invisible to the eye is perfectly visible in macro. Retouching costs money and time; clean packaging does not.
Quantity. Two or three of each item. One will get scratched, one will turn out to have a printing flaw, one will be shot.
Completeness. If the product is shot as a set, bring the whole set, down to the small parts: caps, inserts, ribbons. There is no time to go shopping on set.
Labels. Check that they carry no errors and no old prices. A reshoot caused by a label is the most annoying kind.
If we are shooting people
Clothing. Pressed, without fine patterns — they shimmer on video — and without large logos unless it is a brand shoot. Bring options: what works with the light becomes clear on location.
Changes of look. Two or three outfits give the impression of different days, even when everything is shot in one session. It is a cheap way to increase the volume of material.
The small things. Shoes to match, jewellery, a belt. A waist-up frame is no reason to forget footwear: plans change on set.
Rest. A shoot after a sleepless night shows on the face, and retouching does not fully cure it.
Two days out: logistics
Access. If we are shooting in your office, shop or warehouse, warn security and colleagues. A crew with cases held up at the entrance loses half an hour for nothing.
Parking. Equipment does not travel across town by hand. In Milan this deserves its own conversation: arrange an unloading spot in advance.
Power and light. Check where the sockets are. If we are shooting in daylight, find out when the sun enters the room and when it leaves.
Quiet. On a shoot with sound, any renovation one floor up is audible. If there are works in the building, say so in advance — it affects the timing.
A plan for rain. For outdoor shoots decide in advance: postpone or move under a roof. A decision made on the morning of the shoot is always worse than one made two days earlier.
On the day: what helps
Leave a buffer. Shoots almost never finish early and often finish late. Do not schedule an important meeting right after.
One person reachable. Whoever makes the decisions should be available all day, even if not permanently on set.
Food and water. A session longer than four hours without a break lowers everyone's quality of work — the crew's and the people in frame.
Trust the crew on small things. The operator asking to move an object five centimetres is not being difficult: they see the frame, you see the room.
Don't watch every take. Standing at the monitor and judging each frame is a reliable way to double the length of the session. Agree to review after each block, not after each press of the button.
If something goes wrong
Shoots rarely run exactly to plan, and it helps to know in advance what to do in three common cases.
Someone is running late. Say so immediately, rather than waiting until it becomes obvious. The crew will reorder the day and shoot what can be done without them — wides, details, product. Half an hour announced is not lost; half an hour of silence is lost entirely.
The location is not what was expected. Roadworks outside, a closed street, a hall unexpectedly under maintenance. Ask in advance whether there is a fallback nearby — a studio that works in the city constantly usually has one.
The brief changes mid-shoot. It happens: you see the material on set and realise you need something else. That is fine, but say it plainly and at once. Silent dissatisfaction until the end of the session produces a worse result than an open conversation in the middle of it.
After the shoot: how to give notes
Notes save time when they are specific.
Bad: "something's off, redo it." Good: "the face at 0:12 is too dark", "drop the third shot, it doesn't belong", "the music is too fast for this mood".
Collect notes into one list from one person. Three emails with contradictory wishes from different people is the fastest way to stretch delivery by a week.
Send notes as one package rather than as thoughts arrive. Each separate email starts a new round of work, even if it contains a single sentence.
And keep in mind how many rounds the quote includes: the number is usually limited, and it is sensible to spend them on substance rather than on trying out shades.
The short list
Two weeks out — decide what the task is. A week out — references and the person who decides. Three days out — items, clothing, spares. Two days out — access, parking, food, quiet, a plan for rain. On the day — a buffer and one person reachable.
Nothing complicated, but every skipped point costs roughly an hour of shooting time. And an hour is money you have already paid.