Best Practice
The production process: The Basics
The production process is a term that describes the series of steps that begin with initiating a project and concludes with archiving the final elements for safekeeping. The use of the word “production” is sometimes meant to include both the production of elements (shooting or recording video/audio) and “post-production” which is the creative work carried out to assemble all the production elements together into a coherent whole.
The number of steps in between project initiation and final completion varies greatly according to the scale of the production and the type of work being done. In this introductory course, the production model presented below is a basic representation of production, in general. You may find a wide variety of other production models, but they will all follow the same fundamental pattern as described below.
Project initiation
Project initiation occurs internally within a client’s business operation as a response to an emerging need. The establishment of a sponsor and a production supervisor precipitates the need to hire a media production professional. Once the client’s specifications for the project and its budget have been established, you will be called upon to provide your creative services.
What do you need to know?
While you will not be directly involved in the internal operations of your client’s business, it is important for you to understand the structure of your client’s operation so that you have a clear understanding of who is involved in the project, hierarchically. You will also need to know the names of the people who are involved directly and indirectly to the project, such as the names of the people that are involved in approving an estimate and from whom you will receive payment.
Request for services / Request for proposal (RFP)
A client will contact you with a description of the project and request a proposal. In order to have a clear sense of the needs and specifications for the project, you will need to convene a discussion with the key stakeholders and decision makers so that the details can be explored, definitively. Once you have established what type of job it entails, you will produce an estimate and submitted it to your client.
What do you need to know?
Your expertise in this phase centers around your ability to translate your client’s interests and needs into a clear concept of the final product. You will need to understand both the production and post-production process so that you can imagine what the project requires, and then write a proposal that accurately reflects the needs of the production.
Estimate / bid
Producing an estimate requires deconstructing the proposed project into its components, such as the amount of time required to produce the final product, the material and human resources you will need, the cost of consumables, and any other fees or expenditures required to complete the work. There are many other factors in an estimate to