You get to see the beautiful, well developed, and planned out video once it has been shot and edited. You get to see what took hours to create in a matter of 50 or more seconds. What you don’t see is all that goes into creating these videos. It’s a lot of work pre-production, so let’s dive into how it all comes together.

Weeks before my schedule shoot, I decide on the content I want to shoot. For my latest video content, holidays were around the corner, so I decided on shooting holiday content. Then, I had to think about what about the holidays I wanted to showcase. After deciding on setting the table for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, I had to think about and plan just how I wanted the table to look. I jotted down some ideas and made my final choice. By planning early enough, I was able to order items that I needed for the shoot. This can be tricky if the items you desire are not in stock or the delivery time is outside of when you need them. Lucky for me everything was in stock and readily available.

I also knew I wanted to do some type of florals on the table for depth, interest and some visual effect. Plus the florals would help to really set the tone for the holidays but also tie in with my breakfast nook decor. I immediately reached out to A.K. of TCBnco and told her my idea. I also sent her pictures of the space, and because she is the floral expert and creative, I allowed her to do her thing.

Microphone check!! I did voice over after all of the content was captured. This will be layered on top of the video.
Image by Mike Butler of One 901

Once the items were delivered, I quickly unboxed them. I placed them on the table where I wanted them to go to see if anything else was missing. I played with placement of the florals and the candle holders until it felt right. I also took out all the dinnerware that I wanted to use. I ironed and folded the cloth napkins that I already owned. All of this was done days before the shoot. By setting the space early, it allowed me time if needed to run to a store to pick up any last minute items.

My cinematographer, Mike Butler of One 901, and I had briefly discussed the holiday concept when I scheduled, but we didn’t go into all of the details. Mike did suggest calling my girlfriends over to be in the shoot for Friendsgiving. I thought that was a great idea, so I sent a group text to the girls. They were all on board and willing to come over for Friendsgiving. It also meant I now needed food for my friends which would be great for the concept. But more importantly to feed my friends. The day before the shoot, I ran all over town grabbing the food items needed for my friends and for the shoot. I also decided to make my new favorite cocktail for the girls, so while I was out, I grabbed the ingredients.

In addition, I had to decide on what outfits I wanted to wear. I decided for Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving shoot, I wanted to do fall colors. I even told the girls what the color scheme was so that we would all be coordinated. I wanted something simple to wear while setting up, and I wanted something super cute for the actual event. I ran to Old Navy for some jeans to match a top I already owned. I had to think of everything because there is no, oh I forgot this or that. When it’s showtime, it's showtime.

Once everything was set in place and the house was in order, I wrote out my shot list so that I could share it with Mike. Additionally, I wrote out what I wanted to say for the voice over. The day of the shoot, I shared my list with Mike, and he shared his ideas with me. This allowed us to collaborate and get to work.

My good girlfriends, Samilia Colar of Samilia Official, Kim Thomas of KP Fusion, and Carmeon Hamilton of Carmeon Hamilton came through for Friendsgiving. Although, they came over for the shoot, you know we got in some girl time while eating.

A few other things I had to keep in mind is the angles that Mike would need to shoot, so that I could make sure those additional areas where free of anything that would take away from the overall video or concept.

Mike and I got to work and the girls came through. Although, there is a lot of pre-work ahead of time, the end results is so worth it. Check out my next blog post for the full video.

Happy Holidays friends!!

Thank you for following along and please stay tuned for more!!

Behind the Scenes-Giving Season