Video Starts with the Pre-Production Process.
For us, that means collaboration.
First of all it's important to breakdown what mistakes in pre-production can lead to:
- Objectives are vague and the purpose of the video gets confused
- Stakeholders quietly disagree behind the scenes
- Left turns in messaging during post-production (when the footage is already locked in and shoot days are used up)
- Reactive feedback that undermines the strategy behind the work
Loose Documents in the Wind
Whilst a vision can be solid, if it's spread across a drive of documents or attachments in various email threads it's hard to consolidate what the actual plan is.
That's why we use a hub to keep all of the relevant materials.
Moodboards are great and all, but do they help everyone get on the same page? We use live online tools like Milanote to create collaborative pre-production boards that map out;
- Objectives
- Audience
- Narrative structure
- Visual references
- Thematic anchors
- Deliverables
This way, the architecture of a project is visible to all relevant stakeholders and shareable with permissions access to contributors. It's a space where our teams can explore, communicate and define the ideas collaboratively and make creative decisions strategically.
The Greenlight Moment
Once the pre-production project is ready, Rendah will present it as a living proposal and workshop through any final logistics decision, like assigning tasks and pinning down dates.
The project on Milanote then become the hub we reference as production is green-lit.
We see this part of the process as crucial to align our thinking and support the production phase into becoming an execution exercise rather than explorative guess work.
That protects: budget, timelines, internal politics and expectations.
Why This Matters to Us
Our documentary foundation works like a creative studio and pre-production is where we produce a structured framework for that creativity.
When we're on set and about to hit record we (and by we I mean the Rendah team, the client and the person in front of the camera) is confident in what we are about to do - we’re executing a plan everyone understands.
This makes the final film an investment that we all believe in.
