This is really the hardest part of a video project, and the one most students want to skip. My personal opinion is that a project lives or dies in the pre-production stage; any time saved by skipping this will be lost ten times over later in the project, during shooting or post-production. Remember, the best time to solve a problem is before it happens.
Breaking down pre-production:
Goal
What is your video about? Are we making a video about the local high school? Are we making a video about how to make pottery or how to weld? Your goal is "I want to make a video about _____."
Objectives
Video is not a "detail" medium; it paints a picture with a wide brush. So don't plan a video with tons of facts and details, a "grocery list" of information. Your main points will end up lost in the clutter.
Your viewers will probably walk away with about three main themes from your project. These could be informational, they could be emotional. What three things do you want your viewer to remember when they see a video about, for example, XYZ High School?
A. My school has an outstanding fine arts department, with speech, drama and music.
B. My school is a new facility, with up-to-date internet access, student TV studio, and swimming pool.
C. There is a strong sense of camaraderie at my school, a very tangible school spirit.
Treatment
This is how you will tell your story?
Will you have someone on-camera, walking around with a mike in hand and narrating?
Will you have an "off-camera" unseen narrator?
Will you play act, with Johnny meeting Sue, the new student? Sue doesn't know anything about XYZ High School, so Johnny takes her on a tour, all the while telling her the information we want to convey.
Will you have two sock puppets on camera?
Target audience
Who will be the primary audience of your video. Don't say "everybody" because I doubt that small children in Afghanistan or chocolate makers in Switzerland will be seeing this. Narrow down your target audience by:
Age
Geographic location
Gender if relevant
Special needs or special skill if relevant
Essential information if relevant
So your target audience may be:
High school age students, boys and girls
Lives in or near the communities served by XYZ School
Speaks English
Plans to attend XYZ School, or is considering transferring to it
(Note: the reason I listed "speaks English" as part of the target audience is that you may be called on to produce a video that is not in your native tongue, which is English in my case. I once produced a video for the Department of Human Services, who needed a Spanish language video that would explain the services they provide to Spanish-speaking people who had just moved to the area. Not speaking the language myself, it proved to be quite an adventure.)
The target audience and the treatment are intertwined; knowing who you are speaking to determines how you communicate information to them. If your target audience was 6 year olds, then the "Sock puppet" treatment might be a good idea. However, if you want high income parents to transfer their children to the XYZ School, you might want to skip the sock puppets.
Budget in time and budget in dollars
You need a realistic idea of how much time you can devote to the project and how much money you'll plan to spend. If your project is due tomorrow and you have $5 in your pocket, then you'll need to keep everything simple and easy.
After you know these things: goal, objectives, treatment, target audience, budget in time and dollars; only then are you ready to put pen to paper and start scripting.
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