Behind The Scenes With Our Production Co-ordinator

8th November 2019 by CH

Read time:  3 mins

Have you ever wondered who organises the production team, handles all the paperwork, keeps the office running smoothly and co-ordinates a shoot?

That’ll be me, CH Video’s very own Production Co-ordinator, Lauren.

I’m responsible for so many things in-house, and making sure that our end-to-end production process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

A lot of my day-to-day jobs are unseen by our clients, but everything I do is really crucial to support the Producers and Editors and contributes to the overall video output.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on an exciting project for PepsiCo. Here’s a short insight into my role in both the production office and on set.

Pre-Production

There’s a lot of preparation that goes on behind the scenes before a shoot. It’s not as simple as you’d imagine and there’s lots to consider and to plan ahead of time. Usually with very short turnaround times.

For this particular PepsiCo shoot, I was responsible for sourcing props, co-ordinating camera kit hire, organising shoot locations, plus making sure our crew and specifically Art Director were on track.

For other video projects, I work with our in-house Directors/Producers and Senior team to source talent, manage clearance for commercials, obtain licenses and agreements to name a few things. And I do this while managing my own smaller scale projects directly with our clients.

During this stage, I’m also in charge of preparing call sheets, method statements, risk assessments and necessary release forms for talent and contributors. With GDPR in force, this is an especially key part of the process! Most importantly, I gather and relay this information across the team so that everybody knows where and when they need to be on location.

Lights, Camera, Action

Once all of my pre-production work is in place, we’re ready to go into production. That can mean a few things such as a live action shoot, animation or motion graphics work, as well as the other aspects like artworking or recording voiceovers.

When filming, sometimes we hire specialist camera kit or lenses for that extra sparkle to the content. As a result of this, there’s lots of equipment to transport, especially if we’re shooting in multiple locations. So, we always include a Production Assistant/Co-ordinator on those shoots as it gives the crew an extra pair of hands to unload and set-up. This means that our Camera Operators can focus on getting the set-up just right.

Throughout the shoot day for PepsiCo, we were filming in a gym, so I had to be vigilant about health and safety by flagging up any hazards and taping down cables. This includes doing tea and coffee runs to keep the crew hydrated and alert (especially if it’s an early morning shoot!).

Time can easily run away with you when filming, so it’s important to keep to a strict schedule so there’s time to break for lunch and plenty of time to move set-ups and angles, then light them. During the shoot, I kept a close eye on the shoot schedule which I had prepared during pre-production and told the crew how much time we had remaining to film each scene. I can run a tight ship when I have to!

I find that one of the best ways to enhance my skills is being out on location, where the action is happening (pardon the pun!). It’s pretty magical to see a brief come to life and being part of that is really rewarding.

Post-Production

That’s a wrap! Now it’s over to our editing team to copy and rough cut the footage then get it into the edit suite!

Check out our other blogs to learn what happens in post-production, like the importance of colour correction and colour grading .