Nearly every client asks some version of the same question the week before a shoot: what should I expect? So here is a real production day, the way it usually runs, written from your side of the camera.
8:00 a.m. Load-in
Two people arrive with three or four cases. We find the room we scouted, or the one you described on the call, and start building the interview setup. Lights go up first, then camera positions, then audio. This takes about an hour. You do not need to be there for it, but somebody should be able to point us to power and a quiet corner.
9:00 a.m. Walk-through
We walk the space with whoever knows it. Where do people actually work? What runs loud (HVAC, compressors, the espresso machine)? Where does the light come in around noon? Ten minutes of this saves an hour later.
9:30 a.m. First interview
The founder or the lead voice goes first, while the day is fresh. Two cameras, one on a straight angle and one wider, so the edit can cut on a thought instead of a sentence. You sit down. We talk for a few minutes about anything except the film. Then the questions start, and most people forget the cameras within five minutes.
Interviews run 30 to 45 minutes. We are not looking for perfect takes. We are looking for the one sentence you would never have written down but said because you meant it.
11:00 a.m. Second interview, or b-roll
If there is a second voice, they go here. Otherwise the cameras leave the interview room and start on the work itself: hands, machines, screens, the parking lot at the right angle. This is the footage that covers the edit. You can go back to your day. We will ask before we film anyone who has not agreed to be on camera.
12:30 p.m. Lunch
We eat when your team eats. If the light in a particular room is only good at noon, we will eat at one.
1:30 p.m. The rest of the coverage
Afternoon is process and detail. Wide shots that establish where we are. Close-ups that make it feel real. If a drone is on the schedule, this is usually when it flies, once the airspace check is done and the wind has settled.
Somewhere in here we will ask you to do one thing that feels silly: walk through a door, sit at your desk, greet a coworker. It is the shot that gets used at the top of the film.
3:30 p.m. Pickups
We check the shot list against what we have. If an answer from the morning interview needs a visual we have not shot yet, we shoot it now. This is also when the founder often thinks of the thing they wish they had said. We can put you back in the chair for five minutes.
4:30 p.m. Wrap
Gear goes back in the cases, the room goes back to how we found it, and footage is backed up to two drives before we leave the building. You get a short note that night confirming what was captured and the date of the first cut.
What you actually need to do
Three things. Clear the schedule for the people being interviewed. Tell us in advance about anything that cannot be filmed. And do not rehearse your answers. Every client who has memorized a script has had to unlearn it in the chair, and every one who just talked has given us the film.
Questions
How many people from my team need to be involved?
One point of contact for the day, plus whoever is on camera. Everyone else can work normally.
What should people wear?
What they wear to work. Solid colors film better than fine patterns. Avoid logos that are not yours.
Can we see footage on the day?
You can watch the interview on a monitor as it happens. Edited footage comes with the first cut, usually two to three weeks later.
More on process and timeline in our FAQ. Ready to put a date on the calendar? Book a discovery call.