TechsPlace | Planning for a video shoot outdoors? There are certain prerequisites to have in place before actually doing the shoot. It can be a tricky affair since there goes a lot of minute details into it. However, if you have everything in place then it can turn out to be beautiful than what you had imagined. Apart from charging your batteries and having a couple of extra SD cards and batteries while you are shooting outdoors, what really plays a major role is the outdoor setting or the location you are choosing for your video shoot. Scouting for locations is a vital pre-production step that will help you overcome any challenges when you are actually shooting on the field. Given the number of options you have, you can get quite anxious at arriving a conclusion. To make things a little easier we have listed down a few tips which will prove to be super handy when you are doing the shoot for yourself.
- Know your script: It essential to match your script with your surroundings. Know what you have in your script and choose your location based on that. You are likely to face countless options, some of them being, natural areas, historic sites, distinctive buildings, urban landscapes, water front settings to name a few. Make sure that the story you trying to say or the message you are trying to convey is brought out the way you want it to be. Your surrounding is just an enabler for your story; do not let it be the hindrance.
- Listen more: With this I mean literally record the voices and noises that you can capture on your camcorder and listen to your camcorder’s microphone pickup through headphones. This is will help you understand the quality of audio that will be recorded. If you have made your video on point but the surrounding noises have made hampered the audio quality, then your shoot will not really have an impact and all your efforts can go wasted.
- Be Smart, Go Digital: Rather than physically going and short listing, be a little smart and save those efforts for the D-day. You have few online location tools which can help you guide for the kind of location you are looking for. Do your homework first and shortlist the places, only then go and physically verify the places to see if it actually matches with your criteria. Some of these sites are Locations Hub, Flickr Map Search and Shot Hotspot. Do a filtered search in the kind of area you are looking for and then make a list. Do your thorough research and only then come to a conclusion.
- Check for power supplies: This plays a major role when you’re shooting outdoors and should be given due attention because at any given point of time you are low on battery then your entire day could go wasted. To avoid such situations, do carry extra camera batteries; try to make a temporary set up for car-lighter AC adapter. Also, do make enquiries to keep an indoor location as an alternative nearby so that in any case of unforeseen situations, you always have a plan B ready.
- Right Time and Right Lights: Be aware that a location can appear to quite different in different light set ups. Select a particular time of the day to have the kind of light you need for the video. Apart from that do take other factors into consideration like automobile traffic, visitors for recreation, and tourists at scenic and historic sites etc. Accordingly select a time and place to plan your shoot and if there is requirement for artificial lightings then have that in place as well.
- Prior Permissions: There are certain historic places and urban buildings which are under strict surveillance and do not allow photography and videography due to security reasons. Do pay a visit to the local authorities and have your permissions in place so that your shoot can happen in a smooth manner.
There are other factors as well, but for starters, the above listed seems to cover the most. However, if you are unsure that you cannot do this alone and resort to some professional help seems like the correct thing to do. You can follow San Diego Video Productions to get more idea of professional videography. They are a team of experts which make photographs come alive, and then you can imagine their videography. You can follow their work closely and understand the intricate details that go into making good videography amazing.
