Brand Video Production | The Anatomy of High-Impact Brand Film

The Anatomy of High-Impact Brand Film: From Storyboard to Sign Off

What are the key stages of high-impact brand video production:

Discovery Phase and Concepting
Pre-Production Planning – Scriptwriting, storyboarding and logistics planning
Production – Lights, camera, action, it’s time to shoot!
Post-Production – Into the edit suite to pull the footage together and deliver the polished final piece

Taking a high-impact brand film from storyboard to screen is a production pipeline.

Think of it in terms of preparing a Michelin star meal from scratch. You wouldn’t start by throwing the ingredients in a pan and cracking on with the cooking. You’d identify the appropriate dish, source the ingredients, prep them before commencing cooking.

Video production is no different. Identifying concepts and preparing the shoot time accordingly are key to ensuring a scintillating final result.

It’s a process that our video production company here in Cambridge regularly walks clients through. It requires focus, creativity and organisation – but the anatomy of creating high quality brand film remains the same. Nick Fairbairn has broken down the key steps for you.

Discovery Phase

It does what it says on the tin. The aim of a discovery meeting is to establish what the client is hoping to tell their audience about their brand, and where they intend to deploy their new brand film.

Also at this stage, it’s helpful to hear about any concepts a client has in mind and to then steer them creatively.

Many businesses often have a seedling of an idea for a video production agency to apply their creative juice towards and bring an idea to life.

Concept Delivery | Crafting Your Brand Film

The creative agency team go to work, devising concepts and concocting creative treatments to match the aims and ambitions of set out by a business in the discovery phase.

It’s often the case that final budgets haven’t been determined, so a video production agency may deliver two or three different options for a client. This can range from an all singing all dancing “Top-end budget” option and then slightly scaled back versions to work with the budgets available.

The digital marketplace is a crowded one and lots of businesses use video to reach their audience. According to HubSpot, digital video views reached 3.3 billion in 2024. So standing out is important.

This is where your video agency should come into their own, because off the shelf treatments like a talking head and relevant b-roll are the easy option. But a good video agency prides itself on creative ideas that push boundaries and cut through the noise.

Once a concept is agreed, the project can be progressed to the pre-production phase.

Client Case Study: Price Bailey Partners Announcement

Brief: Price Bailey were looking to break the mould with their annual announcement of new partners at the accountancy firm.

Keen to bust the myth of accountancy being a stuffy, rigid profession, they aimed for a standout creative treatment to underline their position as a modern, innovative and forward-thinking firm.

The Creative Treatment: Front Foot Creative delivered a Sky Sports football transfer window style announcement, with a professional presenter shot on a green screen to generate a newsroom setting.

Each new partner appeared on screen alongside key career statistics and confirmation of their new position highlighted in a team graphic. Additional motion graphics included a news ticker featuring headlines from the world of finance and accounting.

Whilst a well-crafted script for the presenter to read via teleprompter and an “as live” interview with the longest serving new partner helped ensure the tone of the piece landed exactly as Price Bailey intended.

Pre-Production

Depending on the nature of the video concept agreed, pre-production covers several key areas. Primarily though, each aspect of pre-production is intended to set up the shoot days for production to go as smoothly as possible to deliver the impact in the final product.

Scripting Your Brand Film

If required, a well written script should add class and credibility to your promotional video. It can often be the most important aspect to deliver the key messages correctly and set the tone of a video, to ensure a client achieves the aims they set out in the discovery phase.

Script writing should be a collaborative process with your chosen video production company, ensuring a concise and consistent delivery avoiding the tendency to ramble or go off topic.

Spending the time to create a high-quality AV script (Audio Visual Script), setting out a voiceover and accompanying visuals can also boost efficiency in both production and pre-production. Prepared correctly, it can lead to fewer takes required on location and a set structure already established for the editing process.

Client Case Study: Moller Institute

Brief: The Moller Institute in Cambridge required a professional promo, offering an insight into the close collaboration between teams to deliver their world class events operation.

Solution: Narrated by Moller’s Events Sales and Revenue Manager, the project required a tight, impactful script crafted carefully to succinctly cover each area of their event operation. With the narrator walking and delivering the script to camera simultaneously, short, sharp sentences were essential in aiding a clean delivery while capturing the video in a manner to engage the viewer.

Storyboarding a Brand Film

For certain creative videos where the visuals particularly drive the narrative of the piece, a storyboard is a vital component of pre-production.

A video production agency can help a business visualise what their end deliverable will look like with a storyboard. This also allows for further fine tuning of key messages to take place if necessary.

Crucially, a storyboard can allow a client to sign off on a visual concept of their video before a camera is even picked up, providing them peace of mind on the marketing spend they are committing to.

Logistics and Schedules

Often underestimated, logistics are vital. With a good storyboard, script or AV Script in place, a solid shoot schedule can now be planned. A well-planned video shoot schedule ensures your shoot day runs efficiently, negating the need and cost of extra shoot time later down the line. The shoot schedule will include a full breakdown of timings, as well as any requirements the video production agency needs from the client.

For example, if using staff to appear in the video, they will need to be communicated with about where they need to be and when.

TOP TIP: Front Foot Creative recommend preparing the location in advance: moving furniture, clean up, adding props—so that every second of shoot time is used wisely.

Production – The Shoot Day

The big day/days can be a flurry of creativity and coordination. Shoots vary greatly, where some need just a solo camera operator, and others involve more complex kit, lighting rigs, multiple cameras, and extra crew.

Set up alone can take anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours. It’s important a business undertaking a brand film, makes the rest of the business aware that filming is taking place, to avoid delays to the shoot schedule.

A good video production agency will arrive early to make the most of the day. Once shooting begins, the video team will direct and support the client and talent throughout, capturing footage that’s ready to shine in post-production.

Post-Production

Here’s where the magic happens. Editors sift through the footage, piece together an assembly based on the storyboard as crafted in pre-production, and add creative polish. This includes:

Colour grading
Audio mixing and track selection
Animated elements, for instance lower-thirds and branded motion graphics
Logo animations (preferably logo provided in EPS format)

Even with a clear brief, your video agency should encourage editors to add creative flair. Those final touches that elevate a good video into a great one, or pick up on trends.

First Edit Delivery

Often the client is a delivered a first edit for review. A first edit is a collaborative way for an agency to allow a client to share their video deliverable with colleagues and collate feedback.

The turnaround on first edit delivery depends on lot of different factors, including the size and scope of a project.

At Front Foot Creative, we always aim for a minimum three-week turnaround and we keep our clients updated throughout the process.

Final Amends | Signing Off Your Brand Film

Almost there now! The final phase is addressing the amendments received from the client following the review of the first edit.

The heavy lifting of pre-production where well-thought through concepts were nailed down and storyboards agreed, should only leave minor amendments at this final stage.

Therefore, it’s common practice for a video agency to offer two rounds of amends, although there is flexibility if the changes are minor.

Once the final amendments are complete, and sign off is achieved, it’s time to press the button and unleash your high impact brand film to the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does Hiring a Video Production Agency Cost?

Creative video production agencies like ours here in Cambridge generally base quotes on time and crew required, so costs will depend on the scope and scale of your project.

A multilocation blockbuster video with professional actors will naturally require a high budget given the pre-production, planning crew and post-production time required.

Remember though, affordable video production is attainable and a smaller scale shoot using staff rather than actors at a single location can bring the cost down. Don’t dismiss lower budget alternatives like stock footage with a voiceover or 2D typography.

How long does production of a brand film take?

4It varies from project to project, but anywhere between 3 – 6 weeks from initial conversions to final delivery.

You should expect to spend 2-3 weeks planning and concepting accordingly during the pre-production phase, before production takes places.

The shoot time will depend on the scale of the project but can be anywhere between one to several shoot days. And post-production often takes between 2-3 weeks.

Which Type of Video Will Suit My Business?

You’ll only know the answer to this when you’ve established what you want your video content to achieve.

Who are you targeting, and what is the end goal? More website clicks, increased brand awareness or just cold, hard sales? Work out your objectives at the very start to ensure your content delivers!

From there, you’ll be able to make an informed decision, alongside your video production company, which style of video matches your requirements.

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From Storyboard to Screen: The Anatomy of a High-Impact Brand Film