Tips for a Successful Video Shoot

Perhaps you have been thinking about hiring a video producer to help you make some videos for your business website but don't know what happens during the shoot and would like to know. This (slightly longer than usual video >7 minutes) will give you tips on the key elements and help make the process simpler whether you are in do-it-yourself mode or hiring a professional.

Video Transcript

​There was a time when shooting a video involved a huge camera or cameras and tons of gear all accompanied by a large team of film-makers not to mention a wad of money. All of which was daunting for anyone but a professional actor and sometimes even for them. How things have changed. Now you can shoot a video on a smartphone and get a pretty good result. So in many ways the technology is the least of your worries. So what it comes down to really is; how you perform on video as to whether or not you connect with your audience. I hope you'll forgive my assumption here, you want to connect with your audience, and you want to connect for a specific reason and you looked at this briefly in the pre-production video.
 
So you have your script and you’ve decided how you want to come across. I know, you just want to be yourself - authentic. But which yourself do you want to be? It reminds me of when I lived in Finland and Finns would say to me they wanted to speak with an English accent and poo pooed the American accent, I was both perplexed and fascinated and wondered which type of English accent; Cockney, Liverpudlian, upper class or unintelligable to the untrained ear or one of the other possibly 57 varieties. I was curious why they were telling me this, especially since I don’t have either. Mind you I never did get an clear asnwer.
 
Anyway back to the shoot. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, you bring a different you to the fore depending on the context. There may be the playful you when you are playing with your kids, or teasing your friends on an evening out. Then there is the you when you are presenting to a group, or there is the leader you, the friendly you maybe even the silly you. I guess you get the picture. The interesting thing is you can snap in and out of these various yous at the drop of a hat. So ask yourself how do you want to project yourself? Who do you want to be? Who do you want your audience to see?
 
The selfie has really changed many peoples attitude to posing infront of a camera because in the past I’m guessing you remember anytime you produced a camera, people stood to attention and froze like rabbits in the headlights. How do you like being in front of the camera? Rabbit or poser? No matter, here’s the thing, the camera is your friend, it doesn’t judge you, it just wants to do the best job it possibly can and it’s up to you to help it.
 
As you know a mic is vital to a polished video and it gives the feeling of being close to the person, like having a conversation, without a mic it’s like you’re at the far end of a hollow room with the sound reverberating around and around, it doen’t help with connection. The closer the mic is to you the better, so the lavalier mic is the obvious choice.
 
You have your script but how are you going to remember it? Even actors have prompts due to cues from actors and other prompts. If you try to memorise it, great – but the chances are you’ll be seeing it in your minds eye and your focus will be inward and not outward to your audience, oops! You can always print it out big and have it to hand and easy to see but the downside of that is you can end up looking a bit shifty with your eyes darting off the camera lens to read. The solution to all of this is a telprompter. And even with the teleprompter there is an art to using it effectively. Look out for a future video.
 
In order to make the shoot go as smoothly as possible you will probably want to practice your script in advance. Decide what gestures or props you’ll use and when. What inflections do you want to use in your voice to create the unconscious responses you want from your audience. What else can you do? You can play with your script so you loosen up your body and thus come over more naturally. One of the interersting things about the camera is; it soaks up about 50% of your energy, and I guess you don’t want to come over like a zombie this means; you need to deliver with extra energy! Unless of course zombie is what you are going for – it’s sooo popular at the moment hahaha, but perhaps not great for boosting your business.
 
Finally be prepared to do lots of takes. You’ll stumble, loose your place, sneeze, stutter or frown in all the wrong place. Never mind. just go again. There is no need to go right back to the beginning each time. Just resume from just before the hiccup. It can be stitched together in the edit. Each time you record yourself you will improve, just like anything else practice makes perfect. The funny part is sometimes by the last take, you are ready to give up, blow up or whatever and you let go and relax and that becomes the foundation for the edit. And it’s a wrap.
 
To recap:

• Keep the technology as simple as possible
• Decide who you are and how you want to come across
• Use a mic
• Practice
• Be prepared for lots of takes
• Have fun

 
Thanks for watching
 
In the next video we’ll examine the editing process, see you then.
 
I’m Julie Silfverberg with SuccessVideos your video coach.