How Do I Plan a Filming Day?

The Hidden Cost of "Waiting Around" on Set

When it comes to making a great film or commercial, planning isn't just helpful—it’s absolutely paramount.

Orange sunset over water with distant island

Here is a little industry secret: a single lost minute on a film set doesn't just equal sixty seconds of wasted time. It multiplies by the number of people on set. If you have a full crew standing around waiting, the minutes tick away fast.

Lose too much time, and a nasty domino effect kicks in. You might miss out on capturing crucial content, or in extreme circumstances, you might have to book the crew and talent all over again for a costly pickup day.

As your local, friendly video production team, we hate seeing budgets wasted. Let’s talk about how we structure a shoot day to maximise every single minute, protect your relationships, and keep things completely stress-free.

Step 1: Secure Your "A-Roll" First

In the film world, we break footage down into two main categories. The most critical content—the core message that carries the story—is called the A-Roll. This usually means interviews, talking heads, or unique processes that cannot be easily re-filmed.

When planning a shoot, we always ask: Who or what can we absolutely not afford to bring back? Often these talking heads create the skeleton of the content to build everything else around.

Protecting Your Key Guests

• For a local business: your A-Roll might be a busy customer who has kindly agreed to pop in and give a testimonial.

• For a school, it might be a parent, a governor, or a specialist teacher who is taking time out of their chaotic day to help.

Keeping these people waiting around is a big no-no. To maintain a fantastic relationship with them, we map out exactly how much time they need, how many questions we need to ask, and get them in and out swiftly. Tip: Annoying your key guests will not get you the best content. Keep them happy and on your side - do not waste their time.

Step 2: Build Your "B-Roll" Around the Priorities

Once we know when the A-Roll is nailed, we build the rest of the day around it. The extra visual footage that cuts away from an interview to show your business or school in action is called the B-Roll.

The way we structure these two elements changes depending on who we are filming for.

We build options for B roll

We use at least 2 Camera systems and 2 Operators to cross-shoot B roll, to ensure a variety of shots, angles, dynamic movement. That way when we get into the edit we have options.

How We Plan for Schools

Basketball player holding the ball

When we film for local schools, the Headteacher’s interview is our crucial A-Roll. However, the school day has a hard time limit—students are only there participating in classes and activities from roughly 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

• The Strategy: We prioritise the students first. We map out the day into tight, 15-minute slots across different subjects to capture the school's USPs—like the sports facilities, art studios, and active learning.

• The Result: We push the Headteacher's interview to the very end of the day. Since the kids have gone home, we have no strict time limit hanging over us, and we can take our time capturing the perfect delivery.

How We Plan for Businesses

When working with local companies, we often flip the script and prioritise interviews first thing in the morning.

• The Strategy: We get staff members on camera early in case people need to leave later in the day for client meetings, site visits, or childcare.

• The Result: Once the interviews are safely in the can, we spend the rest of the day capturing the supporting B-Roll. This could be your team designing, manufacturing, testing products, or just showcasing the sheer passion behind your service. These are the dynamic shots that actually show your audience why they should buy from you!

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  Professional video camera setup filming a person

  
  

The 60-Minute Head Start

While a standard interview should take less than 30 minutes to capture, setting up professional cameras, multi-point lighting, and crisp audio gear takes time.

To prevent any minutes from being lost, our crew always aims to arrive at least one hour before the official camera roll time.

By getting a head start, we can completely set up the main interview space and prep our secondary cameras for B-Roll. This means that when the clock strikes start time, we are 100% ready to roll with zero downtime. If we need to pull people in for quick chats throughout the day, the gear is already built, warmed up, and ready to go.

Your Quick Shoot-Day Checklist

Planning a video project soon? Keep this simple checklist handy to keep your shoot day running like clockwork:

• [ ] Identify the A-Roll: Pinpoint the essential interviews or one-time events that cannot be easily rescheduled or re-filmed.

• [ ] Schedule the B-Roll Buffers: Block out short, 15-to-30-minute windows around the site to capture the action shots that compliment your message.

• [ ] Designate a Setup Space: If possible, allocate a specific room or quiet area strictly for interviews. Being able to leave our equipment set up in one spot is a massive time-saver!

Ready to start mapping out your next video? Drop us a line—we'd love to help you build the perfect schedule!

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