Well here we go:
Today starts my personal preproduction time.
Preparing a big shoot not only means to shoot a lot, to record a lot – it means you have to prepare things and do a good job while doing this. Production quality falls and rises with the quality of your preproduction.
Of course you can shoot like a cowboy and start things instantly when you got the idea, but if there is a really well organized shot one of the things a real professional is to prepare! So the first thing I do is just as simple as it could be, but very often people leave this step out: read your book!
The script of whatever you have to work with is very important, unimportant if you produce for cinema, television or radio. Know the story, know the different characters in there and also get it’s feeling, this is what gives the whole thing it’s final perfection.
So just calm down, lay back, take a hot tea and some cookies and just read the script a few times, start taking notes (I personally love designing notecards for each scene) and after this and a long talk with the author(s) and the director about their and your soundvision, everything will get more powerfull – I promise!