Production Journal | videography • motion graphics • sound design

Preproduction – the often overlooked and seemingly arbitrary stage of preparation for the production process. I’m currently in such a phase, as I prepare for a series of promotionals for Roswell UMC’s Global Impact Celebration.

And while I have been trudging my way through the tedious process of hammering out the details on target audience, story spine, call-to-action, and artistic direction, I remind myself that I’ve stumbled my way around enough productions to know that skimping here leads to wasted time later.

But it really goes beyond preparation. To put it plainly – it’s where the vision is refined. This should resound for all people involved in any sort of ministry-driven activity; your vision is paramount.

For many of us creative folks, we like to breeze past this stage. We can’t wait to get our hands dirty with lights, lenses, and the edit bay. But when we don’t have a clear idea of the ‘Why,’ the process of ‘How’ gets really, really messy. And sometimes, it’s flat-out disaster; we clamor our way around until we end up with a flashy – but hollow – message.

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Below are just a few key areas I identify and refine to keep my production’s vision clear, simple, and effective:

1) Identify your focus
What are you trying to get across? “Less is more” definitely applies here. You can create something extremely engaging (as you should), but the way you convey and present that message can make or break it. For example, “Extend opportunities for local missions,” or, “Promote the _______ campaign during June.” You’ll be surprised what simplicity can do.

2) Identify your target audience
Be very, very specific. Is your message intended for families with children? Twenty-somethings? Those with struggling marriages? Identifying this allows you to hone in on the folks who need to hear what you’ve got the most, rather than wasting something shallow and generic on everyone. Pick no more than two targets, and prioritize them.

3) Identify your strategy
How will you connect the focus and target? For instance, if my focus is on “promoting local service opportunities,” and I’m hoping to reach “families with small children,” I’ll probably list “awareness” and “accessibility” as my primary strategy. Based on this example, I now know that I want to emphasize that it’s extremely easy to get involved, that having kids shouldn’t scare busy families away from serving, and that there are a plethora of opportunities to get involved. Overly simple, but crucial.

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I believe these three things are key before even touching story and art direction. While overly simple, refusing this step will cause either a world of chaos or complete stagnation. What is your process of developing a clear vision for your project?