Why This Knowledge Hub Exists
Most businesses approach video production without a shared vocabulary. Miscommunication inflates budgets and delays timelines. We built this reference so every conversation starts from clarity.
Speak the Language
Understand the terminology your production team uses so you can participate meaningfully in creative decisions.
Make Better Decisions
Knowing what each phase involves lets you allocate budget where it matters and avoid unnecessary revisions.
Set Realistic Expectations
Every term below maps to a real production step. Understanding them means fewer surprises and better outcomes.
The Video Production Glossary — A Living Reference by Elevated Video Services
Browse foundational concepts, production phases, and technical terms used across every project we deliver. This is not a generic dictionary — each definition reflects how we actually work with clients in Ireland and beyond.
Pre-Production Terms
Creative Brief Essential
A structured document capturing your objectives, target audience, key messages, tone preferences, and distribution channels. We co-author this with every client before a single frame is planned. A thorough brief reduces revision rounds by roughly half.
Storyboard
A visual shot-by-shot plan illustrating camera angles, compositions, transitions, and on-screen text. Storyboards translate abstract ideas into concrete visual sequences, ensuring alignment between your vision and our execution before production begins.
Shot List
An itemised catalogue of every shot required during filming, including location, equipment, talent, and estimated duration. Unlike a storyboard, the shot list is a logistical tool — it drives the shooting schedule and crew allocation.
Location Scouting
The process of evaluating physical spaces for lighting conditions, acoustics, power access, and visual suitability. We visit candidate locations in advance and document each with reference photographs and audio samples.
Talent Casting Optional
Selecting on-camera presenters, voice-over artists, or actors. For corporate work, this often means coaching internal staff rather than hiring external talent — a distinction that changes both budget and authenticity.
"Understanding the language of video changed how we briefed our agency entirely."
After using this glossary to align our marketing team, our last campaign moved from concept to final cut in nineteen working days — down from the usual six-week cycle. The difference was specificity in every conversation.
— D. Halloran, Brand Director, Westport Consumer GroupProduction & Post-Production Reference Matrix
| Term | Phase | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|---|
| B-Roll | Production | Supplementary footage that adds context, visual variety, and pacing to your primary narrative. We typically shoot three to five times more B-roll than interview footage. |
| Colour Grading | Post | Adjusting hue, saturation, contrast, and luminance to establish a consistent visual mood. This is where footage transitions from raw capture to cinematic finish. |
| Audio Sweetening | Post | Noise reduction, equalisation, compression, and ambient layering applied to dialogue and music tracks. Poor audio is the single fastest way to lose viewer attention. |
| Motion Graphics | Post | Animated text, icons, charts, and brand elements composited into the edit. Used for data visualisation, lower-thirds, and branded intros and outros. |
| Aspect Ratio | Both | The proportional relationship between width and height. We deliver in 16:9 for landscape, 9:16 for vertical social, and 1:1 for feed placements — often from the same shoot. |
| Proxy Editing | Post | Editing with lower-resolution copies of your footage to accelerate the review cycle, then conforming the final export at full resolution. This keeps client review fast without sacrificing quality. |
| Render | Post | The computational process of exporting a finished timeline into a deliverable file. Render time depends on resolution, effects complexity, and codec — it is not instantaneous. |
The Elevated Production Pathway
Discovery Conversation
A free-form dialogue — not a sales pitch. We listen to your goals, constraints, and past experiences with video. This shapes whether a full production or a leaner approach is right for you.
Scope & Script Development
We draft a creative brief, write or co-write the script, and define deliverables. You approve before any crew is booked. Changes at this stage cost nothing; changes on set cost everything.
Capture
Filming day. Our crew arrives with equipment matched to the brief — from single-camera interview setups to multi-camera event coverage. We follow the shot list precisely and adapt when opportunities arise.
Edit, Grade & Deliver
Rough cut, revision round, colour grade, audio mix, motion graphics, final export. You receive files optimised for every platform specified in the brief, plus archival masters.
Readiness Checklist — Are You Prepared for Production?
Objective Clarity
Can you articulate what the video should achieve in one sentence? If not, start with our discovery conversation — it is free and takes less than thirty minutes.
Audience Definition
Who will watch this? Where will they see it? A recruitment video for LinkedIn behaves differently from a product demo on your website. Platform shapes format.
Budget Range
You do not need a precise number, but knowing whether you are investing hundreds or thousands shapes what is realistic. We will always recommend the approach that fits.
Timeline Awareness
Quality video is not instant. A typical corporate piece takes two to four weeks from brief to delivery. If you have a hard deadline, share it early so we can plan accordingly.
What Clients Say — In Their Own Words
We do not curate praise. These are direct excerpts from project retrospectives.
"The glossary they shared before our first meeting meant we could skip the basics and dive straight into creative strategy. It saved us an entire planning session." R. Kavanagh, Operations Lead, Connacht Logistics
"They explained every post-production term before we saw the rough cut. When we gave feedback, it was precise — and the final version needed only one minor tweak." M. Aisling, Fundraising Manager, Atlantic Heritage Trust
"We had worked with two other video companies before. Elevated was the first to treat us as collaborators rather than customers. The knowledge hub is part of that ethos." T. Brennan, Co-Founder, Galway Tech Collective
"Our internal comms team now uses the Elevated glossary as a training resource for new hires. It is that well written." S. Ní Dhomhnaill, Head of Communications, Public Sector Agency
Behind the Lens — Our Working Environment
Our base in Port Alexie gives us access to diverse filming locations — from coastal landscapes to modern commercial interiors — all within a short drive. We maintain a compact but capable equipment inventory: cinema-grade cameras, wireless audio systems, LED lighting panels, and a dedicated editing workstation built for high-resolution workflows.
We are not a large agency. That is deliberate. A smaller team means your project is never handed off to someone who was not in the room during the brief. The person who discusses your vision is the same person who frames the shot and shapes the edit.
Questions about our process? Reach out directly or use the enquiry form below.
Start a Conversation
Prefer a direct conversation?
Call us at +353 97 20410
Email: [email protected]
Elevated Video Services
6242 Gulgowski Path
Port Alexie, New Mexico
V63 18VV, Ireland