There are many aspects of video production that you can control, but the weather certainly is not one of them.
It’s something that happens all too often, especially in the winter months and especially in England. Picture this, you’ve paid your video production crew to come and film for the day and as soon as they’re ready to film, the heavens open. It’s something that has the potential to ruin your shoot day and end up costing you a lot of time and money. Whether we like it or not, rain is a video production crew’s Kryptonite. Our equipment just isn’t cut out for filming in the rain.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to stop the rain from happening. However, there are some video production tips to make sure that, if it does rain, the day doesn’t end up being total washout.
Dealing with the Rain:
Keep Checking the Weather – It might seem relatively obvious, but regularly monitoring the forecast in the run up to the shoot could save a lot of hassle. As we know, forecasts can change dramatically on a day-to-day basis, it might have said sunny yesterday, but tomorrow that could change to torrential rain. If it’s not looking good, you have the opportunity to reschedule your shoot before it’s too late. Okay, sure, this can be super inconvenient, but it could end up saving you a fair amount of money. If do you decide to chance it and you end up postponing the shoot on the day, then you could still incur charges from your video production company, especially if they’ve travelled a long way.
Have A Back Up Plan – Something that you should think about before the shoot is where you can film if it does rain. Do you have another location that’s under cover where you could still capture great video? If the answer is yes, then you should also think about if you need to contact anyone for permission to use this location. That way, if the heavens open, you won’t be wasting too much time wondering what to do or where to go. If there is a chance of rain, a Plan B is essential.
Communicate With All Parties – Another good tip is to keep in constant communication with all parties 
involved. It’s important that, as soon as it becomes clear that rain could affect the shoot, you get in touch with the people who need to know and keep them updated. You can also let them know of any contingencies that you have in place should the weather take a turn for the worse. This could include alternate locations, changes to the shooting schedule or postponements. This will help keep everyone in the loop and will help prevent any extra stress on the day.
Be Flexible With Your Schedule – So you’ve got the whole day planned down to the letter. You’ve got the interviews in the office planned for the morning, and then the outside B-roll shots after lunch. But wait, it looks like it’s going to rain in the afternoon. Which means you won’t be able to film the outside stuff, right? Wrong. Don’t be afraid to tinker with your schedule. Think about when the weather is going to be best for filming outside and then work around that. So in this example, you could film outside in the morning and then push the interviews to the afternoon. Just be sure to check your interviewee’s availability for the whole day beforehand.
Like what you see? Why not read our previous blog: Why Your Website Needs A Great Corporate Video.