Video Shoot Checklist: How to Prepare Your Business

A good video shoot checklist comes down to three jobs: decide who is talking and what each video is for well ahead of the shoot, have the props and two or three outfits ready the day before, and plan less than you think the day can hold. When one of my shoots has gone sideways, it was almost never the camera. It was a plan with more in it than the time on site.

Here it is grouped by timing, with the real shoot behind each item. It doubles as a video production checklist for a first shoot or a monthly one.

Well before the shoot

• Decide who speaks on camera, by name.
• Write down a plan for each video: what it is for and what it shows.
• Finish any ad scripts by the deadline we agree, so they can go on the teleprompter.
• Pick a day when real work is happening, not a quiet one.
• Block 20 to 30 minutes per person for interviews.
• Agree that we are shooting vertical. More on why below.

"Who is on camera" often has no answer when I first talk to a business. In my notes from a call with a trucking company I wrote "Who is on camera ????". The answer changes the script, the outfits and the schedule. In the plan I sent that trucking company, I asked for two things before anything else: "the content list for video and photo" and "which drivers you want on camera." Without a list like that you leave with footage, not videos.

Nobody memorizes anything: ad scripts go on a teleprompter, and I feed hooks one line at a time. That only works if the script is final before we arrive. On one job I told the client: "I'll need the script to be [finalized] by Wednesday EOD [to] put it in the [teleprompter]."

Pick the day on purpose. A quiet day gives you an empty shop to film, and what you can shoot is capped by what is actually happening. How many videos the day needs to produce comes from how often you post: one a week at the least, three if you can manage it. I lay out the full weekly targets in how often a business should post on Instagram. If you would rather hand the whole routine off, our monthly reels package includes the filming, editing and posting.

On a planning call for a firm's interviews I said "20 to 30 minutes is perfect for each interview." Real recordings line up: a customer testimonial interview for a remodeling client ran 22 minutes 51 seconds.

The day before

• Gather every prop on the shot list, plus a spare of anything that gets destroyed on camera.
• If a phone shows up in any shot: clean wallpaper, notifications off.
• Two to three outfits for each person on camera, ready to bring.

The day before one ad shoot for a kitchen remodeler, I sent the client the list of what to have ready. Part of it:

• A printed remodel quote on their letterhead. "We rip this on camera, so print a backup."
• Two printed quotes with different prices visible, for a comparison shot.
• A printed multi-page contract with three words highlighted.
• A tablet with a 3D kitchen render on screen.
• A takeout container with food, a fork and a drink for a "no kitchen" couch shot.

Every prop on that list was a line in a script. If one is missing, that shot changes or disappears. And anything you destroy on take one has to exist again for take two.

What to wear on camera

• Solid colors.
• No logos, except your own company's.
• No white.
• No stripes or busy patterns.
• Nothing shiny, and nothing that makes noise when you move.
• Two to three outfits in different color schemes.

I put the two reasons in a voice note: "first camera shine and the other thing is audio." Tight stripes and busy patterns "shimmer on camera," and shiny fabric is the shine part.

The audio reason I learned the hard way. On one interview the person on camera wore a wool fabric that was "super noisy material." It made it "almost impossible to film the interview" without that noise in the track, and moving the microphone did not fix it. What saved the interview was that she had brought a backup outfit. Since then I ask for two to three outfits. Audio is number one in our guide to the audio and lighting mistakes that make a video look cheap.

For ads there is a second reason. When one person was going to front a long series of ads, I asked for 2 or 3 outfit changes "so the ads don't all read as the same shoot day in the feed." For a single video, one spare is enough: "the extra outfit is just in case."

On the day

• Leave buffer time on the calendar after the planned window.
• On a long day, put lunch on the schedule at a set time.
• Decide what stays out of frame before we start rolling.
• Restaurants: the food gets filmed first, while it is hot.

I like a morning slot with room after it: "if we need like an extra half an hour or an hour, I just kind of add and block." On a full ad day I put lunch into the plan at 1 PM.

For restaurants the food goes at the top of the shot list so it gets filmed hot. That was the order on Cairo Restaurant & Lounge's grand opening plan (there is more on planning restaurant and hospitality video on its own page). The same plan, built from four photos of the room the owner texted that afternoon, listed what to keep out of frame. The shoot was two hours and became one vertical reel plus a photo set.

What not to ask for on the day

Horizontal versions from a vertical shoot. On the kitchen remodeler job the client wanted horizontal too, and my note at the time was that it was "unrealistic." In the email the day before, I explained why: "Talking-head and prop framing for short-form social doesn't translate to a wide composition without re-shooting every setup with completely different framing."

A vertical shoot gives you vertical plus square: we shot 9:16 and delivered both from that master. If horizontal matters for YouTube or web ads, we plan a separate shoot for it.

What usually goes wrong: a plan that is too full

Running out of time. Here is what got cut on real shoots, clients unnamed:

After the 7 hour day, my wrap-up email said: "We made the call on the day to do [two scripts] properly rather than rush through all four scripts... That was a scoping miss on my side, not yours." The follow-up was planned at about 4 hours, same talent, most of the same props.

The coffee stand is the opposite story. The owner sent six concepts for five reels. Two did not get shot, and it did not matter. One spare is fine. Double is how a day runs out.

To size the plan: for short social videos, about two hours of filming usually covers five or six. Ad shoots with several hooks per script stretch further: a fence company's morning shoot, two hours and fifteen minutes, came away with three scripts, eleven hooks and 16 ad versions. If your list is bigger, cut it before the shoot, not during it. When it fits, book your shoot day.

Frequently asked questions

Who should we put on camera for the shoot?

Usually the owner or a manager, sometimes with a few employees. The goal is to find the people who can share a good part of your story, and energy matters more than job title.

Is there an aspect ratio that works for all ads?

For social ads we shoot vertical 9:16 and deliver both vertical and square cuts from that one master. Horizontal is a different composition, so it needs its own shoot with its own framing.

Do I need to memorize a script?

No. Ad scripts go on a teleprompter, hooks are fed to you one line at a time, and everyday social videos come from questions asked off camera. Just finalize any ad script by the agreed deadline.

How long should we block off for the shoot?

For short social videos, about two hours of filming usually covers five or six. Ad shoots stretch further, since every script is filmed with several opening hooks: one fence company shoot of just over two hours produced 16 ad versions. Add 20 to 30 minutes per person for interviews, plus some buffer.