“We want something engaging.” Well, so does every brand. 

But unless your vision expands beyond buzzwords and blind hope, even the best production companies can’t help you out. After all, they aren’t mind readers. They’re capable of producing magic, sure, but only if you hand them the right cards. 

Before you send an email requesting a video, certain decisions should already be made. Concrete ones. The kind that prevents awkward pauses, bloated invoices, and “We’ll get back to you” replies that never come.

Here are some things to lock down before you bring in the big lenses. It’ll help you gain clarity about your preferences. 

Things to Finalize Before Approaching a Chicago Video Production Company

If you walk in unsure, you’ll probably walk out with a bloated quote and a shrug. These are some non-negotiables to consider before sending that inquiry email. 

1. Purpose of the Video

If your answer to “Why do you want this video?” is “Because we haven’t done one in a while,” pause. 

Showcasing a fancy office or adding a drone shot to your homepage is not the purpose of your video. There must be a genuine goal behind it (think sparking interest, closing a sale, launching a product, hiring better people, building trust, etc).

So ask yourself: what is this video supposed to achieve? Is it awareness? Conversion? Recruitment? Investor FOMO? 

Each goal has a wildly different creative path. A recruitment video isn’t shot like a product teaser. A brand story isn’t built on the same beats as a YouTube ad.

If you can’t define the purpose, the production company will either guess or, worse, build you a beautifully polished nothing.

So decide: What’s the point? And don’t say “just vibes.”

2. Target Audience

Knowing exactly who you’re speaking to is the difference between a video that feels like a personal invitation and one that feels like a corporate shrug.

Are you talking to first-time buyers or loyal fans? Decision-makers or casual lurkers? Gen Z with six-second attention spans, or CEOs who watch muted videos on LinkedIn at 2 AM? 

You need to know what keeps your audience up at night, what kind of tone gets through, and what makes them click away.

If you don’t define them now, you’ll find your production team flying blind.

3. Key Message

If your video could talk, what’s the one sentence it should whisper into your viewer’s brain long after the screen goes black? That’s your key message! 

Without this, your video becomes pretty to look at and impossible to quote. And if your audience can’t repeat what you’re trying to say, they sure as hell won’t act on it.

Ask yourself: What do we want people to know, feel, or do after watching this?

If you can’t answer that clearly, don’t hit record yet. Because every scene and every second of that timeline should orbit around your key message. Otherwise, you’re just producing visual noise with a good color grade.

And trust us, there’s plenty of that already.

4. Video Type & Format

What kind of video are we talking about here? A 15-second pre-roll ad that hooks? A cinematic brand film that builds emotional capital? A no-nonsense product demo that sells? A behind-the-scenes story that humanizes your team?

Each type speaks a different language. And each format — portrait, landscape, square, short-form, long-form, silent-friendly, ad-safe — plays by different rules depending on where it’s going.

Instagram doesn’t care about your 2-minute founder story. LinkedIn might love it. YouTube wants that hook in the first 3 seconds, or you’re toast.

So don’t just say, “We need a video.” Say: “We need a 60-second animated explainer that plays well on mobile and doesn’t require sound.” Now you’re speaking as a producer and getting somewhere.

Remember, the more intentional you are here, the more useful the final product becomes. 

5. Platform

Instagram scrolls fast. TikTok scrolls faster. YouTube wants a hook in three seconds, or you’re dead in the algorithm. LinkedIn wants heart, but not a TED Talk. 

Put simply, you can’t just make one video and upload it everywhere. That’s how you end up with an awkward landscape video squeezed into a vertical feed, with captions no one can read and a message no one remembers.

Every platform has its own tempo and unspoken rules. A video that crushes it on Instagram might flop on LinkedIn. A paid ad needs a tighter rhythm than an organic post. So ask yourself: Where will this video live, and how do people behave there?

Choose your platform like it’s part of the story, because it is.

6. Length of the Video

The shorter, the better, until it’s too short and says nothing. The longer, the deeper, until it drags and says everything twice.

The sweet spot? It’s about how long the story earns the viewer’s attention.

If your video’s 90 seconds, every second better pull its weight. If it’s 15, you better make it hit like a punchline.

What matters most is purpose and platform. A 60-second brand teaser for Instagram? Perfect. A 3-minute founder story on your homepage? Go for it. 

Take Duolingo, for instance. Their TikToks are often under 20 seconds, because they’re built for the platform and scroll-stopping impact. 

On the other hand, Airbnb’s “Made Possible by Hosts” campaign is a slow-paced, 1-2 minute story meant to live on their homepage and evoke emotion. 

Both work, but for completely different reasons. 

So, “as short as possible” or “whatever works” doesn’t work. You need to be intentional. Because length is what decides whether anyone watches to the end.

7. Budget Range

When you approach a production company without a ballpark figure, you’re making it harder for them to help you. The same concept can be shot on a smartphone or with a cinema-grade setup and a crew of ten. One costs $800, the other costs $80,000. 

Be honest about what you can spend. It helps the team pitch realistic, creative options. 

Also, you don’t need a final number. Just a range enough to start a conversation about what’s possible, what’s smart, and what should wait. 

8. Timeline

If you want a video that’s thoughtful and well-executed, you need to talk timelines early. Real ones. With breathing room. With respect for the creative process and your own sanity.

Video production requires research, scripting, location scouting, gear prep, shoot days, edits, re-edits, voiceovers, color, and sound. It moves in layers. And each layer needs time, especially if you want quality.

Last-minute is possible, sure. But so is burnout, compromise, and that sinking feeling when you approve something just because there’s no time left to fix it.

So be honest: When do you actually need this? What’s driving that date? And is it realistic?

Good timelines build good work. And good work sticks longer than a rushed one ever will.

9. Visual Style

If your visual direction sounds like “something clean, modern… maybe with a little vibe,” you’re not ready yet. 

You need to be as specific as possible. 

Do you want cinematic? Raw and handheld? Animated? Colorful and energetic? Moody and minimal? Talking-head documentary or surreal and stylized? These are entirely different universes, and each one signals something different about who you are.

Ideally, your visual style should tell people how to feel before a single word is spoken. Take Rimowa, the luxury luggage brand, for example. Their ads are sleek and slow-paced. Every frame feels intentional, almost like a short film. 

You need to show up with a clear vision if you want something amazing. Otherwise, someone else will fill in the blanks for you, and it might not be the vibe you were hoping for.

So, start collecting references. Videos you like. Colors you’re drawn to. Even what you don’t want helps. 

10. Brand Guidelines 

Clear brand guidelines tell the production team: This is us. Don’t make us look like someone else. 

Because here’s what happens when guidelines don’t exist or never make it to the table: the editor picks a random shade of blue, the voiceover sounds like a game show host, and your logo fades in with a swoosh that feels... off. It may not be wrong, but it doesn’t describe your brand. 

The best production teams want to protect your brand just as much as you do, but they can’t do that if your brand is a mystery.

So hand over the guidelines. All of them. The official ones, the unofficial ones, the stuff your designer told you in Slack that never made it into a PDF. 

If it’s part of your brand identity, it belongs in the brief!

11. On-Screen Talent or Voiceover

Every message needs a voice, but does it need a face?

That’s the real question here. Do you want someone in front of the camera — living, breathing, making eye contact with your audience? Or will a voiceover do the heavy lifting while visuals take center stage?

Neither choice is wrong. But they serve very different purposes.

On-screen talent makes things feel personal. It adds trust, relatability, and sometimes, a bit of charisma that can’t be faked. It’s great when you need a spokesperson or just someone to hold your audience’s attention with more than a script.

Voiceovers, on the other hand, keep things nimble. They’re clean and cost-effective. They work beautifully for explainer videos, product demos, or anything where the message is the hero (not the person saying it).

So ask yourself: Does your story need a face to believe in? Or just a voice to carry the message home? Decide early. Everything else hinges on it.

12. Location Preferences

Where you shoot says as much as what you say.

Location affects the mood, the logistics, the cost, the noise levels, and even the credibility of what you’re saying.

Do you want it on-site, so it feels authentic? Or off-site, so it looks polished? Indoors for control, or outdoors for atmosphere? Are permits involved? Is there natural light, or are we fabricating a golden hour at noon?

These questions shape the tone and timeline of your shoot. The more intentional you are with location, the less your crew has to improvise, and the more your message gets to shine. 

13. Distribution Strategies 

A great video that no one sees is just a really expensive secret.

And yet, this part gets overlooked constantly. Everyone’s busy obsessing over the shoot, the script, the perfect lighting... and then the video drops with zero plan.

Where’s it going? Who’s pushing it? Is it organic or paid? Will it live on your homepage? Be cut into social bites? Go into email campaigns? Shown at events? Run as a pre-roll ad?

The earlier you plan for distribution, the smarter your entire video becomes. You might realize you need multiple cuts. Different aspect ratios. Subtitles. A vertical teaser. A version without sound. A version for paid. A version for stories.

Remember, your video is actually complete only when it reaches the right people. Everything before that is mere rehearsal.

Let’s Film the Video You’ve Been Talking About for Months!

There’s a big difference between hiring a production company and actually being ready for one. The first is easy. You email, they respond. The second takes decisions and a little soul-searching.

But when you do show up prepared, you dodge the awkward revisions and go straight to the part where things actually move.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, chances are you’re looking for a video with actual substance. One that sounds like you. Looks like you. And performs like it was made on purpose. 

That’s kind of our thing at INDIRAP. Our team knows how to take a vision and turn it into something that lands. So when you’re ready to do this right, you know where to find us. Book a free, no-obligation Discovery Call today!

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