🎥  How to film a scenario

• Pre-production - how to prepare before the day of filming.

• On set - what to pay attention to on the day of filming.

• Post-production - what after the videos are filmed?

📝  Pre-production

1. Export the scenario before filming. ✅

• Check every scene description to make sure everything that happens in the scene is mentioned and described.

• Check the scene descriptions for what needs or doesn’t need to be filmed.

• Set Camera Location for each scene, which can help you determine whether you’ll do a chronological or more production practical filming.

1. Prepare for filming. ✅

• Create a prop list with everything you’d need during filming, such as: vehicles, actors, whether you’ll buy or borrow equipment, who is responsible for what, etc.

• Create a schedule of the whole filming day(s), what happens at what time, when would you visit the site or set before the filming for a check-up, etc. Check here more details and example lists, available for download.

1. Gear. ✅

• A 360˚ camera, a stable stand that can be up to eye height, and preferably a wireless microphone system for your actors.

• Test your gear before filming.

📽  On set

1. The camera. ✅

• Camera height is very important, because it determines how players will see the whole setting and characters in your scenario. We always take the eye height of the main character, but when there are no actors in the scenario, we take our own eye height as a measuring point. ⚠️  Do not change the camera height during filming, because players will have the feeling that things get bigger or smaller, higher or lower during the scenario. Change the height only if you want to create the effect of sitting down.

• We always recommend using the highest resolution you have on your camera for a better outcome.

• Make sure that your characters are on the right distance from the camera: Not too far, because players might not be able to see them properly, especially if the camera quality is not good enough; Not too close, mainly because the player can feel uncomfortable in their personal space. A golden middle would be 1-2 meters away from the camera, but make sure to do a test recording which you’ll check on different devices.

• Clean the camera lenses between each scene. If the lens was touched by accident, your video will be recorded with fingerprints or blurred.

1. When filming. ✅

• Pay attention to sounds from the background. It’s always nice to have some noise which is natural for the situation so that the scenario looks more legit, but be careful that it’s not too loud because it can easily ruin your video and make it difficult for players to hear or understand what’s important.

• Hide during filming. With 360˚ cameras, there is no “hide behind the camera” option because they record the whole space around itself, so make sure there is somewhere to hide and not interrupt the scene you have in mind.

• Record each scene at least twice, just to be safe and have more choice.

• If you have characters in your scenario, tell them to look directly at the camera lense, because when players see the scenario, it will look like the character is looking at and talking directly to them, which makes the scenario more realistic.

• At the end of each scene, film extra seconds of the character or room staying in the last position they were. This is needed to set a video loop. After a scene ends, players need some time to read the question you’ll ask them and decide on an answer. During this time, it would not look realistic if the video freezes, which is why you can set up a loop that will continue repeating until the player moves on to the next scene.

🪡  Post-production