Previs is the cheapest place to find out that a shot doesn't work. If the director wants a camera to follow a car off a bridge in one continuous move, a previs artist can build it in a day or two and show everyone what lens, speed, and crane height that would take. Finding out on the shoot day costs far more.
The kinds of "vis"
Productions use the word previs loosely. Artists usually work in several related modes:
| Type | When | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Pitchvis | Development | Selling a sequence or a whole project to a studio |
| Previs | Prep | Designing the sequence: blocking, camera, timing, edit |
| Techvis | Late prep | Turning approved previs into shoot data |
| Stuntvis | Prep, with the stunt team | Working out fights and physical action with real performers, often filmed and cut |
| Postvis | Post | Rough CG over shot plates so editorial can cut |
A single artist on a smaller show may do all of it. On a large feature, a previs supervisor leads a team, and the VFX supervisor or director reviews the work every day.
How a sequence gets built
- Read the scene and review the storyboards, if any exist, plus concept art from the art department.
- Build or import rough assets: the set from the production designer's plans, vehicles at correct scale, stand-in characters.
- Block the action to timing, often with temp sound or music.
- Put cameras in with real lens values (a 35mm on a Super 35 sensor behaves differently from a 35mm on large format, so the artist confirms the camera package with the DP's team).
- Cut the shots together so the sequence plays like an edit.
- Review with the director, revise, repeat.
- Export frames and movies for the departments that need them, and turn approved sequences into techvis.
The ADG's description of storyboard artists covers the same ground in 2D: they "previsualize the composition, dynamics and action of a scene," and their work informs "production, Art Department, cinematography, VFX, SFX, stunts, 2nd Unit." Previs carries that into three dimensions and real time.
Techvis arithmetic
Techvis is where previs meets physics. Say the approved previs has a car traveling at 40 mph for a 4-second tracking shot.
- 40 mph x 5,280 feet / 3,600 seconds = 58.7 feet per second
- 58.7 x 4 seconds = about 235 feet of road
The camera car needs at least that much road at speed, plus distance to accelerate and brake. That tells the location manager how long a closed stretch to find, tells the stunt coordinator the speeds to rehearse, and tells the 1st AD roughly how long each reset takes. Techvis diagrams typically show camera position, height, lens, and move for each shot, and they often become the backbone of the shot list for that sequence.
A day on a previs team
Feature in prep, week six, a rooftop chase:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | Morning review of yesterday's shots with the previs supervisor |
| 10:00 AM | Rework shots 14 to 19 after the director's note that the jump reads too slow |
| 1:00 PM | Stunt team sends a stuntvis cut of the jump; match timing to the real performer |
| 3:00 PM | Call with the DP's team about whether the crane can reach the rooftop angle |
| 4:30 PM | Update the edit; export for the director's 6:00 PM review |
| 6:30 PM | Notes come back; plan tomorrow's revisions |
Who they work with
Previs artists work most closely with the director and the VFX supervisor, and daily with the storyboard artist, production designer, stunt coordinator, and DP. The VFX producer uses approved previs to lock bid packages, since vendors can price a moving sequence more reliably than a paragraph of script.
Union coverage and rosters
Previs work sits in two places. Artists hired directly by a production may fall under the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, which describes its illustrators and matte artists as creating previsualization through concept designs and its storyboard artists as working "in traditional or electronic media, two-dimensional or three-dimensional form, using stills or imagery in motion." The ADG says eligibility usually starts by working in a Local 800 classification for a signatory company, with membership required 30 days after the start date. For the Industry Experience Roster, the ADG says you apply to Contract Services after at least 30 days with signatory companies within 365 consecutive days.
Artists at independent previs and VFX companies are often non-union. IATSE's VFX-IATSE campaign organizes VFX workers, including some at studios, so coverage depends on the employer.
Getting started
Most previs artists come from 3D animation, layout, or game cinematics, and they get hired off their reels. A strong previs reel shows cut sequences with camera language, clear geography, and timing that feels like a movie. Knowing real camera and lens behavior sets candidates apart, and so does working fast, because a director's note at 6:00 PM often needs a new version by the next morning.
Paperwork and deliverables
Previs movies and edit files, shot-by-shot frame exports, techvis diagrams and data sheets, asset lists handed to VFX, and version notes. These feed the shot list, the stunt rehearsal plan, and the VFX bid package.