Every shoot.
A connected visual treatment.

For an interview series, define the recurring visual choices before the locations are filmed. A common brief gives the production team a useful starting point while leaving the actual setup responsive to the subject and space.

Describe the image you want

Choose reference frames and annotate them. Identify the interview size, headroom, eyeline, subject position and the amount of background you want to see. Explain whether the interview should feel formal, conversational, observational or direct to camera.

Include what matters about lighting and background. A reference may communicate soft light, separation from the room or a particular contrast. Give the crew those priorities rather than asking for a room to resemble a location it cannot become.

Ask the editor for a capture specification

Before confirming equipment, have the editorial team identify the recording requirements and how the media will be handled. Useful fields include:

• Resolution, frame rate and any slow-motion requirements.
• Recording format, camera profile and color-space information.
• Aspect ratios and composition needs for the planned versions.
• Audio recording and channel requirements.
• Media organization, naming and delivery destination.

Document exceptions when a location needs a different approach. Give the editorial team the information needed to identify and handle those clips.

Keep the color workflow explicit

Adobe’s color-management documentation explains that clips must have their color space correctly identified for the workflow to operate correctly. Ask crews to record the camera and profile information your editor needs, and clarify who owns any viewing or conversion LUTs used in the project.

Adobe also describes reference-frame comparison for matching color between shots. Decide what the project’s visual reference should be and leave the editorial team a record of relevant capture choices.

Give sound its own section

Specify the recording setup and the material your editor expects to receive. Ask the crew to identify the dialogue tracks and document any sound conditions affecting the shoot. Include time for a sound check before the interview begins.

For a series, keep the intended interview environment in mind as locations are selected. Discuss room activity and interruptions with the location contact when preparing the brief.

Plan supporting footage with the story

List the actions, details and locations needed to give each interview context. Share the editorial intention: which moments establish the place, show the person’s work or help explain their experience?

Keep the list specific to each subject. A common visual treatment can connect the series while the supporting footage makes each story individual.

Make a review point part of the plan

If the project needs an early framing or sample-footage review, put the timing, reviewer and decision process in the scope. Decide what can be changed and who approves a variation. Then carry useful decisions into the brief for later shoots.

Flywheel Film’s 25-video series for The Moth used a cohesive treatment connected to the organization’s identity. For your own series, make the recurring treatment and the subject-specific choices equally clear.