Weather? Possibly, but most people do take the weather into account when planning a video shoot especially if it will be shot outdoors.
No more often overlooked is the season.
Now to tell you a little story.
A few years ago I was hired to shoot some business profiles for a municipality. The majority of these shoots would be indoors so we wouldn't have to even worry about weather or what season they were shot in. So we thought.
The shoots took place through the end of November into December. We shot interviews combined with b-roll of each business doing what they do. Everything was going smoothly. That is until the municipality decided it would be a good idea (and it was a good idea) to include some b-roll or beauty shots of the municipality when it was mentioned in the interviews. What was envisioned was nice shots of a busy shopping district with pedestrians window shopping, lush green parks, flowers in the flower beds, and a nice warm sunny feel. That would be perfect.
Of course we were shooting in November/December in Canada. What does that look like? Leafless trees, brown grass, possibly snow. Now it is very possible to shoot a street in the downtown anytime of year on a sunny day and make it look warm, but unless we hired extras, there would not be pedestrians window shopping in t-shirts. To make matters worse, many towns put up there Christmas decorations around mid-November. So while we may be able to disguise the fact that it was not summer, there was no way (other than expensive effects work) to get rid of the Christmas decorations. This was meant to be a year round piece and Christmas decor would certainly place it at a specific time.
Of course we did our best shooting around things and getting the best looking shots. The videos turned out great. But I can't help feeling that they would have been just a little bit better had someone had the foresight to plan the shoot just a little earlier in the year.
Another tale.
I had a friend who was taking a film making course. As part of their course they had to write and produce a short film. They came up with a fantastic idea about someone finding a note in a bottle on a beach. Some of the scenes took place on the crowded beach, some took place in the water.
They had planned out exactly how they would shoot it. They had only neglected to consider one small fact.
It was January. It was -10 degrees outside, there was snow on the ground and ice on the lake.
They still managed to shoot something that was acceptable using winter scenes and an indoor pool, but it would have been infinitely better had they been able to shoot on a nice warm sunny beach.
I realize that when you plan a video shoot is based on many factors, seasons often being one further down the priority list, however it is something that you should keep in mind. Because the season do change.
