Having written my own perspective on what it is like to be a ‘newbie’ on set, we thought it would be interesting to see what it was like from a client’s perspective.
We asked a client who attended a recent shoot with us to give us some feedback on the day. We wanted to know what they found surprising or unexpected about going on their first production shoot.
Sequence and time
• They explained that they were initially surprised that we did not shoot things in a chronological order. They thought we’d follow scripts all the way through to the natural end. Instead, we break the script down and film in the most efficient order.
• They hadn’t anticipated how long it would take as they didn’t realise just how much work and attention to detail is required. Our day can sometimes start at 5am and then we won’t get back till 10pm!
Equipment
• They commented that they were surprised by the amount of kit needed for the shoot; sound equipment, monitors, two cameras units, make-up, costumes, an ironing board and much more that I’m still getting to grips with…
Sound quality
• They were impressed by how thorough the sound checks were; having to stop for little noises that Dave (the sound technician) could hear, that we couldn’t hear.
Production tricks
• They didn’t know that if we had to re-take a shot, we just did a little chunk.
• They were informed; ‘We can marry that in, and cut that into there, and nobody will notice the difference’. They (and I) found this pretty impressive!
Final thoughts
• Talking about their overall experience they said it was really interesting to see it come to life.
• And ended with saying, “I really enjoyed it, I must admit”, which is great to hear!
Reviewing my experience and talking to a client about being new on set, it seems that in general video production is a lot more complicated than people expect… But, it can also be a really fun experience.
How did you find your first time on set?
