What to Expect From a Commercial Video Shoot

Never been on a video set? Here's exactly how a project runs from first call to final delivery.
June 10, 2026
Still frame from a NoraVera commercial filmed on the Vancouver SkyTrain

You don't need to know production

Most of our clients aren't video people. They're marketers, founders, and communications leads who need a commercial and have never stood on a set. If that's you, this is the walkthrough we wish every client had before their first project.

The short version: a typical project takes 4 to 8 weeks from kickoff to final delivery, and your involvement is mostly front-loaded. Get the goals and approvals right early, and the rest runs without you needing to manage it.

Frame from a NoraVera lifestyle commercial
Still from a NoraVera summer commercial shoot

Phase 1: Discovery

We start with a conversation about your brand, your audience, and what this video needs to accomplish. Launching a product, building awareness, driving signups: the goal shapes everything that follows. Out of discovery comes the creative concept and a budget that matches it.

Phase 2: Pre-production

This is where good projects are made. Scripts, storyboards, shot lists, casting, location scouting, permits, and a workback schedule that maps every milestone from green light to delivery. You'll approve the creative before we shoot a single frame, so there are no surprises about what we're making.

Phase 3: The shoot

Shoot days are long, organized, and a little repetitive, and that's exactly how they should be. A great shoot day is a boring shoot day, because all the drama got handled in pre-production. You're welcome on set and many clients love being there, but you don't need to be. We'll have a plan for every shot before we arrive.

Phase 4: Post-production

Editing, colour grading, sound design, music, and motion graphics. You'll see a first cut, give notes, and we'll work through revision rounds together. This is where the piece becomes itself, and where pacing, tone, and music decide whether people feel something or just watch something.

Phase 5: Delivery

Final files in every format you need: broadcast specs for TV, web versions, and cutdowns sized for social. If it's going somewhere, we'll deliver a version built for it.

How to be a great client (it's easy)

Consolidate your feedback into one voice instead of five separate email threads. Approve things on schedule, since one late approval moves every date behind it. And tell us the business goal, even if it's unglamorous. "We need signups" makes a better brief than "we want something cinematic."

Ready to start your first project? Fill out our contact form and we'll set up a free consultation call. We'll walk you through all of this as it applies to your actual project.

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