How to Prepare Your Clinic for an Advertising Photo and Video Shoot

Quick answer: Before scheduling your clinic’s advertising shoot, agree on the shot list and get it approved. Then prepare the people, spaces and items needed for each shot. Give everyone a clear arrival time, keep patient information out of the filming area, and check the captured material against the approved list before the team leaves.

When I’m asked what needs to be agreed before scheduling a shoot, my answer is the shot list and its approval. That is the starting point for preparation.

A shot list is a written list of the photos and video scenes the team plans to capture. Use it to answer practical questions: Who needs to be there? Which room needs to be ready? What needs to appear in the frame?

If you are preparing for a shoot with us at Revflow, use this clinic marketing photoshoot checklist to work through those questions with the shoot team. It covers preparation for Meta ads, using staff, empty spaces or staged demonstrations without patient information.

Approve the shot list before scheduling

Start with the agreed brief, which explains what the shoot is meant to produce for your ads. Turn that into a list of specific photos and scenes the clinic can review.

For each shot, write down:

• What the photo or video should show.
• Which staff members need to appear.
• Where it will be filmed.
• Which items need to be ready.
• Any agreed spoken lines or actions.
• Any agreed requirements for how the material will be used in the ads.

For example, “clinic footage” leaves several questions unanswered. “A staff member welcoming someone into an empty reception area” gives the clinic something specific to prepare.

Share the list with the person responsible for clinic approval. Resolve requested changes and make the approved version easy for the clinic and shoot team to find. Schedule the shoot after that approval.

This checklist starts with the services already agreed for the shoot. Keep service selection in the separate planning discussion.

Give each preparation task an owner

Once the shot list is approved, work through it with one clinic contact who can coordinate preparation.

Assign someone to confirm staff attendance, someone to prepare each space, and someone to gather the items needed. One person can handle several tasks, but make that clear rather than leaving the responsibility open.

Use a simple preparation list:

• Shot or scene.
• Person responsible for getting it ready.
• People and items needed.
• When preparation must be finished.
• Anything still unresolved.

Ask each owner to confirm readiness before the shoot. If something is missing, tell the shoot team while there is still time to discuss it. Keep any proposed replacement or change connected to the approved list.

Confirm who needs to arrive and when

One source of avoidable extra work I have seen on shoots is people arriving late. Give attendance the same attention as the rooms and equipment.

Send each participating staff member the details they need:

• The shoot date and location.
• Their arrival time and when they should be ready to appear.
• The shots they are taking part in.
• What to wear or bring, where relevant to those shots.
• Who to contact if they are delayed.

Ask them to confirm they can attend. Distinguish arrival time from the time filming starts so everyone understands the plan.

If someone becomes unavailable, tell the clinic contact and shoot team promptly. Agree how to handle their shots rather than assuming another staff member can take their place.

Prepare each space for its planned shots

Walk through the approved list room by room. Prepare the spaces that appear in it and confirm when the shoot team can use them.

For each space:

• Clear unrelated items from the planned filming area.
• Put the furniture and agreed items in place.
• Confirm who can provide access.
• Check what will be visible behind the person or subject being filmed.
• Keep the area free of patients during filming.

Look at the background as well as the main subject. Remove patient records, appointment lists, labels and other patient information from view. Keep screens showing patient information out of the filming area.

For a staged scene involving paperwork or a screen, prepare a blank or fictional example containing no real patient details. Do not use a real record as a prop.

Gather the items needed for each shot

My preparation rule is simple: have the items needed for the agreed shots ready.

Go through the list one scene at a time. Depending on what has been approved, that could mean staff clothing, clinic signage, a product, a piece of equipment or a blank demonstration form. These are examples to check, not a shopping list for every clinic.

For each item, confirm:

• Who will bring or prepare it.
• Where it will be kept during the shoot.
• Which shots need it.
• Whether it is ready to appear on camera.

If a staff member will speak, share the agreed lines or talking points beforehand. Give them a chance to raise questions before filming.

Keep demonstrations staged. Use staff and prepared materials without involving patients or patient information.

Check readiness when the shoot begins

Before starting, have the clinic contact and shoot team review the approved list together.

Confirm that the required people have arrived, the spaces are available and the items are ready. Point out anything that has changed since approval.

If someone requests an extra scene, discuss what it requires and who needs to approve it before adding it. Record agreed changes so the clinic and shoot team are working from the same list.

Keep track of which shots have been captured and which are still outstanding throughout the shoot.

Review the material before the team leaves

Before packing up, compare the captured photos and clips with the approved shot list.

Check that each listed scene has been captured. Review whether the intended subject is visible, agreed spoken lines can be heard, and patient information is absent from the frame.

If something is missing or needs another take, raise it while the relevant staff, space and items are still available. Record anything left outstanding and agree who will handle it next.

Also confirm who will review the edited material and how feedback should be sent. Checking what was captured is one review step; reviewing the finished edits is another. Keep both steps clear without treating the shoot-day check as approval to publish.

The preparation comes back to three things: approve the shot list, have what each shot needs ready, and make sure the people involved arrive on time. Use the approved list again at the end to check that the shoot has captured the agreed material.

Prepared with AI assistance. Migo reviewed and approved the article, and Revflow checked its factual claims before publication.