Working in the corporate video industry has its differences from them up in Hollywood. Namely, you'll spend most of your day working with non-professional subjects and often, it's their performance which will make or break your corporate production. Nerves, a lack of understanding and bad directing are all reasons for poor performances in front of the camera and it doesn't have to be this way. In this article we'll take a look at a few tips to help you achieve a stressless and succinct interview with non-professional talent.
There are a few key things to remember when you're conducting an interview that can help your production run more smoothly... Once you have these understood you don't have to follow them precisely - it's possible to conduct an interview without a regimented formula, but it's a good idea to stay within the guidelines. Remember the Chris Stark and Mila Kunis interview that went viral recently? Yes, well... everything about that told us it should have been a terrible terrible interview, yet it actually worked.
The first rule is to make your subject comfortable in your presence, whether they are a celebrity or a business representative, the interview will not run smoothly if the subject can not relate to you. Talk to your subject beforehand and develop a rapport. Be interested in what they have to say and get them motivated about talking to you.
Secondly, If the subject remains nervous, despite all your friendly methods they may continue to fidget, either with their hands, their feet of the jewellery. If this occurs, consider framing a tight shot instead to cut out the offending tic. Do everything you can to avoid this nervousness though, a casual conversation before the interview starts can make all the difference.
Allowing your subject to choose their own comfortable seating position might also help. Although you know what you're doing, and the chances are you have a good idea in mind where you want your shot to be set up, do as much as you can to work around the comfort of your subject. Don't demand they adopt an uncomfortable or embarrassing position to simply satisfy your creative vision - compromise! A the end of the day, their delivery is at the heart of the video.
Once your subject is completely at ease and your shot is well arranged, a good use of light and minimal makeup will vastly improve the shot, a shiny and dimly lit subject would be a terrible result to the hard work throughout your interview. This is vital, particularly if you're going in for a closeup where every little facial detail is on show.
Hopefully these tips will come in handy when producing your corporate video and working with non-professional talent. Stay tuned for more articles from us and take a look below at some example videos.
There are a few key things to remember when you're conducting an interview that can help your production run more smoothly... Once you have these understood you don't have to follow them precisely - it's possible to conduct an interview without a regimented formula, but it's a good idea to stay within the guidelines. Remember the Chris Stark and Mila Kunis interview that went viral recently? Yes, well... everything about that told us it should have been a terrible terrible interview, yet it actually worked.
The first rule is to make your subject comfortable in your presence, whether they are a celebrity or a business representative, the interview will not run smoothly if the subject can not relate to you. Talk to your subject beforehand and develop a rapport. Be interested in what they have to say and get them motivated about talking to you.
Secondly, If the subject remains nervous, despite all your friendly methods they may continue to fidget, either with their hands, their feet of the jewellery. If this occurs, consider framing a tight shot instead to cut out the offending tic. Do everything you can to avoid this nervousness though, a casual conversation before the interview starts can make all the difference.
Allowing your subject to choose their own comfortable seating position might also help. Although you know what you're doing, and the chances are you have a good idea in mind where you want your shot to be set up, do as much as you can to work around the comfort of your subject. Don't demand they adopt an uncomfortable or embarrassing position to simply satisfy your creative vision - compromise! A the end of the day, their delivery is at the heart of the video.
Once your subject is completely at ease and your shot is well arranged, a good use of light and minimal makeup will vastly improve the shot, a shiny and dimly lit subject would be a terrible result to the hard work throughout your interview. This is vital, particularly if you're going in for a closeup where every little facial detail is on show.
Hopefully these tips will come in handy when producing your corporate video and working with non-professional talent. Stay tuned for more articles from us and take a look below at some example videos.
About the Author:
Take a look at our example videos Masters in Public Policy, and Masters in International Relations for a demonstration on good interview techniques.
No comments:
Post a Comment