Will filming a Corporate Video disrupt production?

A practical guide for Manufacturing and Engineering businesses

It's one of the most understandable concerns we hear when talking to Manufacturing and Engineering companies about video...

'How much is filming going to disrupt production?'

After all, your factory is not a film set.

We totally get that you have orders to fulfil, machines that need to keep running, people doing their jobs, deliveries arriving and customers expecting deadlines to be met.

So, the last thing you need is a video crew bringing everything to a standstill for the day.

So can we film a corporate video without disruption production?

The honest answer is ...

'We can usually keep disruption to an absolute minimum, but there may be times when we need to pause work around a particular process to get the footage we need.'

The key, as always, is planning.

A factory isn't a film set - and we don't treat it like one!

When we're filming in a Manufacturing or Engineering environment, we're coming into somebody else's workplace. Production comes first.

Our job is to understand how your site operates and work around it as much as possible - rather then expecting an entire factory to rearrange itself around us.

That means talking through the filming day well before we arrive ...

What do we need to capture?

Which machines or processes are important?

When will they be running?

Which areas will be particularly busy?

Are there deliveries or vehicle movements we need to know about?

Are there processes that only happen at certain times?

Are there health and safety considerations or restricted areas?

Who needs to be available?

The more we know beforehand, the less disruption we cause on the day.

Why pre-production planning matters

For us, the filming day doesn't start when we turn up with cameras. A lot of the work has already happened.

Depending on the complexity of the project, we'll have discussed and agreed with you the story we're trying to tell, the people we need to interview, the processes we want to capture and the practicalities of filming all of this.

For more complex industrial sites, this almost certainly will involve a site visit beforehand.

This allows us to think about things such as camera positions, lighting, sound, access, PPE, machinery, vehicle movements and the best times to film particular processes.

We can also identify potential problems before we're standing on the factory floor trying to solve them without the clock ticking.

Good planning makes the filming better - but it also makes the filming less disruptive.

Can you film while production continues?

In many cases, absolutely!

In fact, we often want to. Machines operating, people doing their jobs and processes happening naturally generally make much better footage than trying to artificially recreate activity for the camera.

We're used to working around people and equipment, positioning ourselves where we can get the shots we need without unnecessarily getting in anybody's way.

But we're also realistic.

There are occasions when normal production and filming don't quite work together.

Sometimes we may need you to stop

This is probably the bit people don't always say in articles about 'minimal disruption'.

Sometimes, we do need a process to pause.

It might simply mean stopping one particular operation briefly while we reposition a camera or light.

We might need a process repeated because the first angle didn't show it clearly enough.

We may need to move closer (or even inside a machine, where permitted).

Or, we might need to film the same process from several different angles or stages, so that when the video is edited together, the viewer can properly understand what's happening.

Sometimes, we need to say ...

'Could we just do that once more?'

In our experience, almost without exception, we've always found the people we work with to be incredibly obliging.

And because we've generally planned what we need beforehand, everyone involved is usually well briefed and informed that this is going to happen.

We know the shots we are trying to achieve.

Why showing a process properly is well worth a short pause in production

There's not much point in being so determined not to interrupt production that we end up not capturing the very thing the video is trying to demonstrate.

If a particular manufacturing process is one of your biggest strengths, we need to show it properly. That might mean ...

A close-up of the operator
Then the machinery
Then the material going into the process
Then the finished result

The viewer will experience that as one seamless sequence. Behind the scenes, however, we may have captured those shots individually.

A few minutes of carefully managed disruption can give you footage that continues explaining that process to your potential customers for years.

The important thing is that those moments are planned, controlled and kept proportionate.

A small crew makes a big difference

This is one of the reasons we deliberately work as a small, experienced crew.

For most Clayton Creative productions, there are just two of us - Claire and John.

We don't arrive with a producer, director, camera department, sound department and a small army of people needing somewhere to stand.

But a small crew doesn't mean turning up with a phone and hoping for the best.

We carry professional cameras, lenses, lighting, sound equipment, gimbals and other kit, depending on what the production requires.

The difference is that everything we bring has a purpose and the crew remains compact.

That's particularly valuable inside factories and engineering environments where space may be limited and production still needs to continue around us..

It also means that the same people who have been involved in planning the production are the same people filming it and then editing it too.

We already understand the brief, the priorities and the story we're trying to tell. There's no handover between teams!

We don't necessarily need every piece of equipment everywhere

Having professional equipment doesn't mean unloading the whole lot into the middle of your production floor!

We'll use what the shot requires.

Sometimes that's lighting, tripod, microphones and several pieces of equipment.

Sometimes it's a camera and a gimbal.

Sometimes we need to be deliberately light on our feet because the process we're filming is moving quickly or we are placing a small camera inside a machine.

Experience helps us to know what's needed where and when.

The objective isn't to use lots of kit.

It's to get the best footage we can while causing as little disruption as possible.

Interviews need a slightly different approach

Interviews are generally the part of the day where we need a little more control.

We need somewhere suitable to position the person being interviewed, cameras, lighting and microphones.

We also need to think about background noise.

Factories are not renowned for being quiet. So we'll normally plan interviews around production where possible, finding an appropriate location and working with the client to choose the best time.

Again, this is where planning beforehand makes a huge difference.

If an interviewee is only available between 10am and 11am, we know about it.

If a particular area becomes noisy at midday, we can work around it.

We'd much rather establish those things beforehand than discover them when we're ready to press record!

Flexibility matters just as much as planning

We can plan a filming day meticulously.

And then real life happens.

A machine goes down.
A delivery arrives early.
A job you were expecting to film isn't ready.
A member of your team gets pulled into something urgent.
Production priorities change.

We understand that's the nature of manufacturing.

So, although we like a good plan - we're never precious about it.

If something changes, we'll move things around and adapt to your timetable.

We'll film another process.

We'll re-schedule an interview

A filming schedule should help the day run smoothly. It shouldn't become another problem you, our client, has to manage.

Health & Safety comes first

Working in industrial environments also means recognising that some shots simply can't be captured in the way we might initially imagine.

There may be moving machinery, forklifts, overhead cranes, hot processes, restricted areas, or other site-specific hazards.

Before filming, we'll discuss relevant site requirements and, where appropriate, prepare the necessary risk assessments and method statements.

On the day, we'll work with your team and follow site procedures.

And, if getting a particular shot would interfere with safe working, we'll find another way to get the shot.

No piece of footage is worth compromising safety for.

What can you do to make the filming day easier?

There are a few things that make an enormous difference.

Tell us what's happening.
If there are particular processes we need to capture, let us know when they are likely to happen.

Tell your team we are coming.
People are generally much more comfortable with cameras when they know in advance whey wer'e there and what we're doing.

Identify the important processes
We don't necessarily need to film absolutely everything. Concentrate on what will actually hep your potential customers understand your business.

Let us know about restrictions
Confidential areas, customer information, sensitive products, PPE requirements or processes that can't be interrupted are much easier to deal with when we know beforehand.

Give us a knowledgeable point of contact
Having somebody available who understands what's happening on the factory floor is incredibly useful - particularly when production plans change during the day.

And then let us work around you.

So, how disruptive is a manufacturing video shoot?

Less disruptive than you might imagine.

There will be cameras and lights and sometimes we'll need to ask someone, "Please could you do that again?".

But a well-planned industrial video shoot shouldn't bring your business to a standstill.

Our approach is simple ...

Plan thoroughly. Keep the crew small. Work around production. Stay flexible. Interrupt only when necessasry.

That allows us to capture the footage we need while respecting the fact that your business still has a job to do.

And, in our experience, that's the best way to create an authentic manufacturing or engineering video anyway.

We don't want to make your factory look like a film set.

We want to show what it's really like when you're doing what you do best.

Planning a manufacturing or engineering video?

If you're considering a corporate, process or company video, but you're concerned about how filming might affect production, talk to us before ruling it out.

At Clayton Creative, we've spent years filming in real manufacturing, engineering and industrial environments across the UK.

We'll talk through what you want to capture, how your site operates and where the potential challenges might be - and plan the production around your business rather than expecting your business to work around us.

Get in touch for an informal chat about your video project.