What actually happens on a video shoot day

Most people I film with have never been on a shoot before. That's completely normal — and it's why the day can feel intimidating when you book it. So here's exactly how a shoot runs, start to finish. Once you've read this, there are no surprises.

Before the day: the plan

The best shoots are won before anyone picks up a camera. By the time I arrive, we've already agreed the goal, the shot list, the schedule and who needs to be where. If there are interviews, you've had the questions in advance. A good plan is what lets the day feel calm rather than rushed.

Arrival and setup

I usually arrive an hour or so before the first shot. Setup is the unglamorous part that makes everything else look good: positioning the camera, shaping the light, checking sound, and taming the room — closing blinds, killing a buzzing fridge, moving a plant that's growing out of someone's head. This is where experience quietly earns its keep.

Filming: it's calmer than you think

Once we roll, the pace is steady, not frantic. For interviews, we chat first so you forget the camera's there — the best takes almost always come after you relax. For b-roll and cutaways, I'll direct lightly: “walk to the desk,” “look at the screen,” small moments that make the edit sing later.

• You won't nail it first time, and that's fine. We do a few takes. Nobody is judging the fluffed lines — they end up on the cutting-room floor.
• Silence is my friend. When I ask for “room tone” or a quiet moment, it's so the audio is clean in the edit.
• Breaks are built in. Talking to camera is tiring. We pause, reset, keep it human.

The wrap

At the end I'll do a quick mental check against the shot list — have we got everything the edit needs? Once I'm sure, we wrap. From here the work moves to me: backing up the footage (twice, always), then into the edit.

What happens after

Editing is where the film is really made. I cut a first version, colour-grade it, mix the sound and add any graphics or subtitles, then send it for your feedback. Your package includes a set number of revision rounds, so you get it exactly right. If you're curious how the AI side speeds up parts of this without cutting corners, I wrote about that in when AI video works and when it doesn't.

The short version

A shoot day is planned, calm and collaborative — not the chaos people imagine. Your only real job is to show up, be yourself, and trust the process. If you've got a project in mind and want to talk it through before committing, just get in touch.