Pre-production
Pre-production services
Everything that leads to filming. Write a solid brief, and you’ll end up with a great film.
A comprehensive range of pre-production services. We’d love to take your idea from concept to social cut-down — or provide pre-production on its own.
Here we break down each step that leads to filming, and how we can help you realise your idea.
Ideas, developed with intent.
Everything that happens before the camera rolls.
The brief is crucial — a clear brief means a great film. Get as much in as possible: the message, the audience, and stakeholder alignment early. Our executives are video consultants who’ve worked on thousands of briefs and can help you formulate yours free of charge.
Working up the ideas for your film or animation. Our creatives lead, pulling influences from editors, animators, sound engineers, filmmakers and producers. A strong creative gives a film a far better chance of standing out.
Taking the best idea and the brief’s messaging and combining them into a fully formed approach. Producers work closely with creatives to keep it on budget and on deadline — usually two days for a simple film, up to a couple of weeks for wider campaigns.
Most projects start with a script — the story/voiceover on one side, the visual description on the other. A well-crafted script can lift a dry subject into an emotional, impactful call to action.
A shot-by-shot graphic representation of how your video unfolds. Together with the script it’s a roadmap for the production, so every department has a clear idea of the vision — saving you time and money.
A detailed checklist for bigger productions with multiple settings — description of shot, interior/exterior, shot type, camera move and angle, subject and script reference — used to order the day and shoot to an effective schedule.
A selection of images conveying the tone or style of the film — wide shots, macro shots, screen grabs, textures and colours — used as a jumping-off point to discuss how the film fits with your brand.
Our creative team and producers usually handle art direction; for complex sets we bring in a specialist art director. Once the idea is formed we send a video proposal with budget, schedule, mood boards and sometimes a sample script — usually two or three approaches at different price points.
The key to removing stress from the time-sensitive production phase. Our execs and producers have planned productions all over the world, with the network and know-how to let you sit back and enjoy the experience.
Sourcing the perfect locations, gathering information and taking photos. Over the years we’ve built a portfolio of homes, offices and exterior locations to expedite the process — sometimes doubling UK locations for other parts of the world to save the budget and the planet.
A film or animation usually takes 4–6 weeks, though we’ve shot, cut and delivered in a day. We build in ample time for prep, feedback and amends, plus a buffer for last-minute changes.
Whether it’s professional actors, voiceover artists or the right employee from your organisation, we run casting sessions and send a selection to choose from. We crew primarily in-house across our offices, extended by a vetted global network of the finest in the industry.
Once the creative is signed off we book everything for shoot day — combining our in-house kit with trusted rental houses in each city for maximum efficiency. Our teams handle budgets big and small, allocating spend where it yields the most return.
Any location shoot needs the proper permits — requested well in advance — and any large shoot needs proper insurance for people, equipment and facilities. We source both, with custom policies for outdoors, near water, underground or with expensive kit.