20 Pros and Cons for Indoor and Outdoor Video Production
Creating standout video content often comes down to one big choice: indoors or outdoors? Of course sometimes it has to be both, but in any case, each one has its own specific pros and pitfalls that we’ll explore in this blog post.
10 minute read
Indoors, you control every element of video production, from lighting to sound, free from the vagaries of the weather. Outdoors, you gain natural light, dynamic backdrops, and an authentic sense of scale. Each setting has its strengths and challenges, so let’s dive into these to help you find, or navigate, the perfect environment for your next production.
In this article
Pros for Indoor Video Production
Control of the Elements
Indoor video production allows complete control over environmental factors, which can significantly streamline production. Weather fluctuations, from sudden rain showers to gusty winds, pose no threat to indoor shoots, where conditions remain consistent and manageable. Indoor filming can also protect against unpredictable lighting shifts caused by clouds, making it possible to shoot longer and more consistently. For instance, working in a temperature-regulated space is more comfortable for both the production crew and any talent involved, minimizing distractions and allowing for longer, more focused sessions.
Control of Light
With indoor filming, lighting can be customized to achieve precise effects, from soft, diffused looks to dramatic, high-contrast setups. The absence of natural sunlight frees directors to use equipment like barn doors, scrims, and gels, enabling creativity of extensive lighting. Indoor lighting setups also allow for experimentation with color temperature without the interruptions caused by time of day, weather, or natural light variables. Video production equipment such as reflectors can be useful to control the light rays and make it more diffused. You don’t need high-end professional reflectors to reach the desired effect, though. Large flat pieces of packing Styrofoam or even light-colored sheets of paper can do the job.
Access to Electricity and Equipment
Shooting in a studio requires a lot of equipment, as you’re essentially attempting to recreate a natural, realistic environment in an unnatural space. Filming in a studio means you have access to all the power and equipment you may need: lights, reflectors, microphones and booms, tripods, rails, teleprompters and more! This often requires a certain level of expertise when it comes to managing video production equipment and onscreen talents.
A lot of equipment needs to be plugged in, and others rely on rechargeable batteries. Shooting indoors means you’ll most likely have access to one or more wall plugs, making using such equipment much easier. When it comes to the battery lifespan of cameras and microphones, having access to power is almost obligatory unless you have a second full-charged replacement battery at the ready.
Green Screen and Detailed Set Design
Green Screens (and blue screens and more) are a great piece of technology for indoor content creators whether it be static or video. The possibility of creating complex backgrounds inserting them into your shots in post-production opens many doors when it comes to creativity. Most movies nowadays film indoors and rely on enormous greens to create surreal, yet believable and realistic settings. Filming on set means one has full control over what the viewer can and must see. The creators of the original Star Wars trilogy were big fans of matte-painting backgrounds. Unlike green screens that are green until replaced with another image or piece of footage, matte paintings are hyper-detailed backgrounds painstakingly created by talented artists.
Nowadays, full 360 green screen studios like ours aren’t uncommon for big-budget Hollywood productions. A great piece of innovation in the past years has been the development of LED-screens serving as live backgrounds. This way, the backdrop is not only custom, but dynamic, realistic and interactive.
Set design can be pushed to extremes when filming indoors, with structures taking up entire studios and unique custom-made props. Being in a controlled environment makes the usage of expensive or delicate objects easier. We’ve already mentioned green screens for backgrounds, but it can also be great for inserting (or removing) characters and objects later on. For instance, a person dressed in a green morph suit can be easily edited out in post-production, meaning a crewmember could essentially make something appear to be flying or levitating.
Better Privacy and Less Distractions
Filming indoors ensures privacy, which is essential for high stakes shoots where confidentiality is key or for talents who are less comfortable in public settings. Privacy can be crucial when filming with externals or onscreen talent that may not be used to being the center of attention. Concentration is also important for reading off a teleprompter and attempting to give off a natural look and feel. Enclosed spaces protect against the sounds and visuals of the outside world, creating a bubble where actors, crew members, and directors can concentrate on the task at hand. People passing can’t stop and watch out of curiosity, and the video production crew isn’t tempted to pet cute dogs on walks.
Cons for Indoor Video Production
Reverb and Echo
In a confined space, sound waves bounce off walls and ceilings, potentially causing an echo that can distort recorded audio. To combat this, sound engineers often rely on acoustic panels, foam, or drapes that absorb excess sound, creating cleaner audio tracks. On top of reducing the echo, this lowers white noise and ensures the only recorded sound is going directly into the microphone. While beneficial, installing such equipment is often time-consuming and may even add to production costs.
Limited Mobility
Being indoors means being in a space of set dimensions with little freedom of movement. Though a space may be big enough to welcome the video production equipment, it may then limit the space in which they can move without bumping into tripods, lights and other crew members. This can make certain people claustrophobic and tense. For action scenes, wide shots, or long dolly movements, larger studio spaces are often required, which can significantly increase rental costs. In smaller studios, blocking and choreography may need adjustment to ensure smooth movement without colliding with lights or other equipment, potentially limiting creative angles.
Green Screen Limitations
As much as green (or blue) screens open doors to many creative possibilities, they also require a hyper-controlled environment with consistent lighting. A green screen works by acting as a uniform-colored background that can then be keyed out and replaced by anything: a color, other footage, etc. If this background color isn’t even, it won’t work (as well). This can partly be because of shadows cast by lights, the actor(s) and even the filming equipment. Folds in the material can also cause issues if your green screen is fabric. Reflections from green screens can even spill onto actors, causing a “green hue” around edges that requires extra post-production work to clean up. Investing in proper chroma key lighting setups is often necessary to avoid these pitfalls, but that can also add to the budget and production time. Remember how the green screen effects (the roller coaster, the aquarium) on photobooth would always be patchy and inaccurate? That’s because the area behind you probably isn’t uniform and may instead be a room with a bunch of different colored objects.
Artificial Environment
As mentioned before, studio shooting requires a lot of equipment and control, since the goal is to recreate a natural (sometimes outside) setting in a closed indoor area. In some cases, it’s sometimes much more expensive to recreate an outdoor area in a studio than it is to travel to a location and shoot there. Artificial rain or snow often lacks the authentic randomness of outdoor elements, which can make scenes feel less immersive. Additionally, emulating natural elements like wind or varying sunlight is resource-intensive, making indoor shoots potentially more costly in certain contexts.
Less Diversity in Shots
In a studio, everything from backgrounds to lighting is controlled, which can lead to uniform visuals throughout a scene or production. While some projects benefit from this predictability, others may feel stagnant or overly staged without the organic changes found in real-world environments. Some scenes, like action or dramatic sequences, may appear static without the energy and variation that a dynamic setting can provide. Changing the light from one shot to another requires time and effort, same for changes in set design and microphones for different actors or interviewees. Being outside, everything is constantly changing from the background to the lighting, so shots are more diverse and varied.
Pros for Outdoor Video Production
Cost Effectiveness
Outdoor filming minimizes costs associated with set construction, lighting equipment, and props, as natural landscapes often provide everything needed to set the stage. Video production teams will usually scout areas for ideal conditions for filming. Many urban or rural locations already have distinctive features that add production value at no additional cost. In certain cases, outdoor venues may also offer permits or discounted rates for filming, especially in scenic areas looking to attract production companies for tourism. The element of transportation may also restrict the amount of apparatus that can be brought, directly affecting the amount spent on potential rentals of video production equipment.
Natural Light
When it comes to lighting, nothing beats the real thing. Depending on the desired effect, naturally changing lighting settings can be welcome. Sometimes clouds may cover the sun for hours at a time, offering you a softer and more neutral light. Other times, the sun does the work for you! Golden hour is a period of the day when the sun shines through clouds before setting. This not only creates a beautiful golden light, thus its name, but it also augments contrasts and somehow makes everything (and everyone!) look better. It goes without saying but using natural light is also cost-effective compared to setting up lights, diffusers and reflectors to achieve a similar effect.
Interesting Soundscapes
Depending on the type of production, the soundscapes of the outside world like bustling city life or peaceful nature sounds, can add depth and realism to footage. For example, a documentary wouldn’t be as intriguing without the sounds of wildlife taking you into its world. In other cases, recording real sounds of running rivers, crashing waves and birdsong can serve as great video production assets. There are a bunch of free sound effects available online but recording first-hand may bring a sense of spontaneity and uniqueness to the production. This is also true for crowded areas such as markets, parks and other social areas where interviews could be recorded. If the main speaker’s audio is isolated and boosted, background noise adds liveliness and realism. Otherwise, the final product runs the risk of being a bit uncanny and bizarre feeling. When recording ambient audio, using multiple microphones to capture both focal and environmental sounds can enhance the immersive quality of the scene.
Dynamic and Lively Backgrounds
A great aspect of filming outside is the naturally moving and changing backdrops from moving clouds and shifting sunlight to background activity that evolves in real-time. Whether this be wind blowing through trees, dancing leaves or simply people walking by, dynamic backgrounds can be a compelling addition to any production. On top of keeping the viewer focused and interested, this can enrich storytelling as it draws viewers into a world that feels tangible and alive. This feature is particularly advantageous for narrative work where spontaneity and natural changes enhance realism.
Sense of Scale
Outdoor filming enables scenes to play out against expansive, panoramic backdrops, offering a sense of scale that can be challenging to replicate indoors. Certain effects such as depth of field can be easier to achieve in outside areas as the background is further from the camera. Depending on the video and its nature, it may not make sense to restrict production to the four walls of an indoor studio. Branching out and exploring what the outside world can offer in terms of varying size and scale can be beneficial to any project. By using natural landscapes, video production crews can amplify visual storytelling with the vastness or intimacy of the space around subjects, making scenes feel more immersive and grander. If you’re interested, check out our blogpost on the different aspects of storytelling in video production!
Cons of Outdoor Filming
Time Limitations and Unpredictable Weather
Weather disruptions can bring filming to a halt, costing time and money. Video production companies sometimes (often) time their filming sessions according to the weather. Wind is also a common problem as it not only disrupts potential onscreen talent and blows hair into their faces. It also may cause problems with the capturing of audio on set. If rain or fog becomes a problem, rescheduling becomes a costly challenge , especially for video production teams working abroad, on tight deadlines or limited budgets. Weather shifts can also impact makeup, wardrobe, and other props, adding additional logistical concerns.
Lack of Light Control
Beware of changing light, this isn’t just a question of exposure and adjusting the ISO . It’s a whole bunch of other things, mostly to do with color grading. In the shadows, the light tends to be colder, and shadows are softer. In the sun, everything runs the risk of being overexposed. A good tip is to use an ND (Neutral Density) filter , this will filter out half of the light that hits it, giving you more control over the exposure in your shot. Some outdoor filmmakers also leverage portable lighting setups or wait for specific times of day for a more balanced light.
There’s also the matter of shadows and their movement. Though it can look great when that is the desired effect, filming under a tree may leave you with unwanted shadow splotches. Early movies filmed outdoor scenes at indoor sets not only because of budget and technical limitations, but also because the light and sound control is much more manageable indoors.
Bystanders and Unwanted Extras
Filming outside entails implanting yourself into other people’s everyday lives. Unplanned interactions with bystanders or moving vehicles can interrupt continuity and affect the film’s overall aesthetic. If a person in the background is at one place at one time, and has completely moved or even disappeared in the next shot, the audience may be taken aback. Some even enjoy looking for this kind of mistake in professional or even Hollywood movies, so keep a sharp eye! This “rookie” mistake could drastically lower the quality of your video. Filming outside sometimes also requires permission and for certain areas to be locked and restricted. This means disturbing other people’s routine and possibly receiving angry comments from people who’s cars have been towed! Managing these variables requires planning and sometimes extra hands to assist in crowd control.
Background Noise
Recording outside means hearing the outside (unless the video is audio-less, of course). This entails a lot of different noises at varying volumes: birds, planes, trains, human conversations, cars and honking, police or ambulance sirens etc. all of which can disrupt production. To aid with this, sound engineers use fuzzy microphone covers, sometimes called “wind muffs” or “dead cats”. These are helpful for blocking the wind from hitting it and are also useful with recording voices to filter out the sound of breathing. While some sounds can be minimized using directional microphones and windscreens, others may persist, impacting audio quality. Sound engineers often have to spend additional time in post-production removing or equalizing these noises to ensure clarity.
Battery and Equipment Transport
Batteries! Charge! The juice! Filming outside means you most likely won’t have access to a power outlet. Your camera and other video production equipment will have to be fully charged before you head out, and it’s a good idea to bring an extra battery or two with you just in case. Equipment weight, setup, and breakdown times can add substantial hours to production schedules. Transport and loading or unloading equipment often takes up most of a video producer’s hours on shooting days. Filmmakers sometimes bring portable charging stations or backup power sources to ensure uninterrupted filming.
Conclusion
Ultimately, deciding between indoor and outdoor filming is about finding the setting that best aligns with your project’s needs and creative vision. Indoor filming provides a controlled, predictable environment, ideal for projects where consistency, privacy, and specific lighting or sound effects are essential. With full control over elements such as lighting, sound insulation, set design, and even green screen capabilities, indoor shoots offer a structured space that allows for efficient and high-quality video production.
On the other hand, outdoor and specialized filming brings an unmatched sense of scale, dynamic lighting, and natural settings that can add depth and realism to any project. The natural world supplies an array of dynamic backdrops, whether in the form of changing sunlight or the ambient sounds of city streets, rustling leaves, or ocean waves. These elements can elevate the mood and authenticity of a scene, making it feel vivid and immersive.
Each environment has its logistical considerations and technical demands, from weather and bystanders outdoors to echoes and spatial limitations indoors. However, both options provide distinct advantages, and by weighing these pros and cons, you can choose the setting that enhances the story and look you want to achieve. For productions that require a seamless blend of controlled and natural elements, hybrid approaches—like combining indoor and outdoor shots or using tools like green screens—can also offer the best of both worlds. Whatever your choice, a thoughtfully chosen filming environment can be the key to producing compelling, visually engaging video content that resonates with your audience.
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