May 2025 Workshop Recap
Diving into pre-production + freebies!
“Fix it in pre, not post” is something you might hear often in the media world and for a good reason. The more you plan before production starts, the fewer headaches you’ll have later. The last thing you want is to be mid-shoot only to realize you're missing gear, unsure how things are supposed to be set up, and wasting precious time while winging it. Fast-forward to post-production and—surprise!—the lighting’s off, the framing’s funky, and now you’re stuck trying to salvage the unsalvageable.
Pre-production takes care of problems before they happen. In our online workshop, we broke down the building blocks of pre-production for creative projects. Whether you're filming a short, shooting an editorial spread, animating motion graphics for a brand, or planning your next wave of social content, many of these aspects will apply across the board.
Now, pre-production can get pretty layered, but in this session, we focused on the foundational stuff. The kind that helps every project start strong. Here’s a quick peek at what we covered in our 1-hour workshop:
Development & Planning
Collaborative online base
Setting up team communications
Initial concept development
Moodboards and establishing visual direction or themes
Writing & Storyboarding
Drafting
Build, mould, and shape your ideas
Storyboarding
Visually lay out your sequence
Breakdown
Identify and categorize all elements that are needed to build your scenes
This will help you see what things you can cut back on or compromise on. It’ll also help you understand the budget required.
Additional Previs
Depending on your project type, you may or may not include some of these.
Animatics
Shotlist
Rundown
Techvis
Budgeting & Scheduling
Project parameters
Project scale, scope, mandates/requirements, deadlines etc.
Utilizing a budget sheet
Every project will have unavoidable costs. Deal with these first! This may include location fees/permits, insurance, crew fees etc.
Separating your expenses into different departments and categories can help you see where you can cut down on costs
Find where things can be cut in your budget and where to compromise
Confer with team members to see what reasonable changes can be made
Do you really need specialty equipment? Or can you use an alternative approach, which might not be perfect, but gets the idea across well enough?
More locations = more shoot days + more permits + more crew rates + longer equipment rental times = bigger budget! Condense locations as much as possible
Scheduling tools
Gantt charts
Shooting schedules
Logistics & Administrative
Every project has different paperwork that’s needed. Regardless, they’re critical, so get these in order and consult with professionals!
Below is a small list of common documents often required in the media industry:
Client/Agency/Project Contracts
Certificate of Insurance
Crew Agreements
Media Release Forms
Talent Release Forms
Location Permits
Union Forms
Stock Video/Audio Licences
Below are links to free templates and commonly used resources. Have fun with your next creative project, and we hope these tools help your pre-production go buttery smooth!
AVI's Storyboard Templates
AVI's Gantt Chart Template
studiobinder's Budget Sheet Template
studiobinder's Shot List Template
Plus, some creative resources to get you inspired:
What are AVI Student Workshops? Every first Wednesday of the month, our studio hosts a free workshop for students ages 16-20 looking to pursue the arts, specifically in film, photography, and digital media. Here you can explore, experiment and add to your portfolio!
Our next monthly workshop is Lighting Basics: Talking Head Video on June 4th. Get excited to learn how to set up professional equipment, experiment with different lighting styles and shoot test footage.