10 Tips for a SIMPLE Video Production Process [The SRV Method]

Happy 4000 subscribers - thanks for the support! 

To celebrate, I want to show you how I make my videos - and tell you about this super simple SRV process I follow to increase the productivity around my video production process. 

All the big YouTubers have their own formats. Some talk to the camera while others do voice-overs and lots of beautiful B-roll. 

A good friend of mine told me that I also have a particular format, in his eyes. 

I think what he meant was my blend of talking head, animation, and screen-recording - that’s “my” format.

I thought about it, then made a course about it.

And now, I want to share this simple 3-step process with you - so you can apply it to your work if you want, and use it as your go-to video production process if you don’t have one already.

Because if you don’t have a solid process you will ask yourself the same questions - every time you are to create a piece of content. 

The clips in the video above are from my new course, Powerful Process, and the 3 steps I’m talking about is the secret to my powerful process.

The 3 letters, SRV represent.. the name of the greatest guitarist of all time, Stevie Ray Vaughan.. but SRV also represent each of the 3 steps in my video production process; 

S stands for Script, R stands for Record and V stands for Visualize. 

So step 1 is scriptwriting, and NOT storyboarding as many picks as their first step. I’ve skipped that step entirely, saved a lot of time by doing that — and the reason I think a script is a better point of departure is this:

To kickstart your script-writing, I want to give you my 3 script templates, The Fish, The Better World and The USP Uzi. 

They are animation script templates for how to structure your script - just fill in the blanks, so to say.

With your script in place, it’s time for step 2, recording that script. 

You can either choose the format where you record your script as a voice-over, or where you record your script in front of a camera.

Not everyone likes to be in front of the camera - maybe you don’t even agree with the camera that that’s the way you look in real life.

But there are a few tips and tricks to make talking-head clips look better:

You’re now done with the first 2 steps, S for Script, and R for Record. Now, it’s time to lift your video with step 3, V for Visuals. 

My preferred way to add a little extra visualization to my videos is animation. How do I do that?

Then I create animations for the sentences that are a little complex to understand and where I think animations would help a lot in making things easier to understand - like this example:

Yes, much better than just watching my talking head and only understanding 50% of what I’m saying. 

That is the very simple process; Script, Record, Visualize. 

Instead of animations, or in addition to them, I sometimes mix in screen recordings in the Visualize step - when I want to show a concrete process, for example in a tutorial. 

And I don’t do it the old way, just hitting record and talking freely for half an hour. No, I plan out exactly what I want to say first.

Now you might ask “How is this SRV process different from what people normally do?” 

3 things (as always). 

1. SRV is focused around your core message - the script, and not around fancy, but random, visualizations. 
2. The SRV process is planned out and information-dense, not improvised, and messy.
3. And it’s simple - it’s not 10 steps, with a detailed description of every scene, shot and angle - again, it’s centered around the core message, and then the visualization needs to back that, first and foremost. 

My approach to making videos this way is to a large degree made possible by the tools I use.

But the fact that I don’t use Adobe AfterEffects, PremierePro, LogicPro, advanced cameras, detailed storyboarding, and all the upgrades you could add into the mix .. ENABLES a simpler and faster process. 

Think carefully about this, so you don’t buy a lot of fancy gear, only to realize that it slows you down.

My camera is 10 years old and doesn’t even have autofocus. And I use screen-recording software to assemble my videos. 

iMovie?! If I told this to anyone, I would get laughed out of the room. 

I believe that the best Video Production Process is the one that doesn’t get in your way. To me simpler, is better. 

And that also applies to what my work station looks like:

After a few days of sitting there, working on one video, you probably get impatient like me and just want to get it out there, published for the world to see it, right?

But there’s a lot of value in giving it just one extra hour to add in sound effects and music. And here, I’m a big believer in digital reuse: 

If you want those handfuls of sounds and music I use, you find them in the Powerful Process lesson “How to Reuse Sound-Effects and Music across Videos?” as a Download.

To sum up this post, I can really recommend simplifying your process - and maybe even adopt my SRV process for how you Script, Record and Visualize your videos. 

A clever person once said that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”, and if you apply that principle to your video production process, the tools you use, your gear and your workstation, you’ve enabled yourself to move quickly from idea to finalized video. 

For those of you watching who love video productivity, and want to know more about how I create my YouTube videos, course lessons and tutorials, you have to check out my course Powerful Process.

12 quick lessons later, you’ll have a blueprint for how to make videos like me.

Remember to leave your best production tip in the comments, and of course.. to take care of yourself and those around you.

Watch the video on YouTube