By the time cameras roll, most of the real work is already done. A shoot day looks smooth because weeks of pre-production — roles, gear, shot plans, floor plans — already happened before the crew ever walked in the door. Here's what an actual Boda Studios shoot day looks like, start to finish.
Before the Crew Arrives
We typically spend weeks in pre-production before a shoot day happens — working through roles, who's involved, what the gear setup looks like, and what the shot plan and set are going to be. We use overhead-planning apps to build floor plans and send them to the whole team ahead of time, so everyone shows up already knowing what the day is supposed to look like.
The Morning Of
The crew arrives about two hours before production starts. We load in all the gear, get everything set based on the plan, and once it's built, we start fine-tuning — light, sound, camera position. We aim to have all of that locked off within the last 15 to 30 minutes before the client's call time, so the client and talent are walking into a set that's already dialed in, not one still being built around them.
Getting Talent Ready
Something we love to do beforehand is a pre-call with anyone who'll be on camera. It breaks a little of the tension — they've never met the director before, so just getting that introduction ahead of time dispels a lot of the stage fright. For anyone reading off a teleprompter or working from a script, we'll also run a rehearsal call, not to coach their performance, but to get a feel for how the flow will actually go — especially with interview-style content. That way, when they sit down in the chair with all the gear pointed at them, they've already been through it once and aren't feeling it for the first time.
How the Day Actually Moves
The schedule is structured, not rigid: load-in, first looks, then the first shot. We pad in time for retakes up front, so if we have to go back and do something again, we're not scrambling to catch up later. Lunch breaks for the crew are kept quick and set up in advance, so the client gets their full break and comes back to a crew that's ready to go.
There are two moments that tell us a shoot day is working. The first is visual — during setup, you can tell whether the look you planned for is actually landing. The second is the conversation itself: with an interview, you can usually tell pretty quickly whether someone's going to be a home run on camera. If they're not, that's part of our job too — pulling something authentic and useful out of them anyway, in a way that still works for the final piece.
Who's Actually on Set
Casey is on set on every shoot as producer/director, alongside a lead shooter. From there, the crew scales with the project: a second camera operator, an AC who also covers grip and gaffer duties, and often a production assistant handling slates and keeping the shot list organized — usually a local, up-and-coming crew member getting their start. When a client wants photo content alongside video, we bring in a photographer to capture stills, BTS, and the culture/lifestyle shots that work well for a client's own social accounts. Higher-end, larger-scale projects will also pull in hair and makeup.
We always ask for one point of contact from the client — usually a marketing director or VP — to be on set. That's partly for oversight, so there's someone who can make a quick call if a question comes up, and partly because we genuinely want that input: it's their piece, and if there's a decision to make, we'd rather have them there for it than guess.
What We Ask of Your Team
When interviews are part of the project, we usually block them first thing in the morning so that person can get back to their normal work day. Outside of whoever's directly on camera, we generally only interrupt a client's broader staff for 30 to 60 minutes.
When Something Doesn't Go to Plan
Weather is a real factor here — Charleston sits in a hurricane zone, so for any outdoor shoot, we hold a secondary shoot date alongside the primary one. Locations work the same way: we'll usually have an A, B, or C option, so a pivot is a quick decision, not a scramble. Talent running late has never really been a problem for us — it's usually a representative from the business, and there's just an expectation to show up for your shift on time. We also don't shoot outside of normal business hours, so we're not asking anyone to disrupt their day in the first place.
Why Crew Size Changes the Day
A quick interview shoot can look candid, almost like social-native content. What we really like to do is scale the production up so the finished piece looks like something that sets a client apart from their competitors. A bigger crew means more planning up front, but the client doesn't have to worry about any of that — and a larger crew can move four to five times faster, which means capturing more content without needing extra shoot days. Multi-location shoots, event coverage, and multi-day projects add real complexity, but that gets absorbed in pre-production. Complexity only becomes a problem when it hasn't been planned for.
After Wrap
Once we wrap, everything gets offloaded — footage and audio both get broken down, labeled, and organized by shoot day and scene. We work in DaVinci Resolve, which lets us tag faces and add metadata for camera, shoot date, good takes, and markers. That backend organization is what actually determines how fast we can turn around your footage, especially on a multi-day project. The next time you'll hear from us after that is for your first round of revisions.
Every production gets its own plan — tell us about your project and we'll walk you through it.
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