Prepare Your Business For A Video Shoot
For many business owners is can be daunting to try and figure out how to plan for a video shoot at your business, but it doesn’t have to feel that way. If you take the right steps in planning and preparing a few days ahead of your shoot day, then it can really make the process flow smoothly for you, the staff, your customers, and of course the video crew.
We work with a variety of businesses in the Seattle area to create effective business videos, and for the most part things do go smoothly. However, we wanted to offer a few simple steps that can help you prepare for your video shoot:Talk With Your
Videographer Before The Shoot
This seems like a no brainer, but it’s absolutely key. This needs to be a two way conversation where you tell them what you envision for your shoot, what you would like to have filmed, and how many people you expect to have on camera doing interviews. This will help the videographer know what camera equipment is needed and have the proper amount microphones ready to go for the interviews. You should also work together to create a production outline that lays out the order of what will be filmed and try to stick to it on the day. Things will change (testimonial clients will be late or need to leave early) but having a schedule for the shoot will keep things on track and allow you and the videographer to restructure the day’s shoot if needed to still be effective.
Inform Your Staff and Your Customers
Getting the active participation of your staff in the video is key to how the footage will look and how your business will be perceived by future customers. You need to let staff know a week or two in advance that there will be a video shoot and then remind them a few days before as well. This gives them time to communicate any issues that might need to be addressed prior to the shoot with you, and make plans to accommodate for them. For example, you might be a restaurant owner who wants to show one of your signature dishes in the video, however the day of the shoot might not be the day that those ingredients are most fresh. This would be something your head chef can discuss with you ahead of time if he/she knows what’s going to happen and when. You may also find that some staff do not want to appear in the video. Giving them notice and an opportunity to discuss their concerns with you prior to someone showing up with a camera is not only good for your video, but important for your employee relations as well. Few things look worse on video than a scowling receptionist when you’re trying to convey that your business offers a professional and friendly interaction with it’s clients. If you have agreed that a member of your staff is not going to be in the video then let the videographer know on the day of the shoot as well.
Customers that might be coming in for an appointment on the day of the shoot should also be notified ahead of time. It allows them to decide if it’s something they want to participate in and also make arrangements for being presentable. No one likes walking through the door for a dental cleaning only to find that the dentist they trust is suddenly pressuring them to have a camera filming their procedure.
Have Your Releases and Paperwork Ready To Go
It’s important that you get a release form signed by anyone who appears on camera. (Download a Release Form PDF.) These forms are something you would keep on file and generally give you the rights to use someone’s image or likeness, as well as, their testimony in your video. They are for your benefit more so than the videographers. You can certainly discuss having the videographer get staff and clients to sign the release forms on the day, but it can be much easier to get these forms from the videographer prior to the shoot and then work to have them filled out prior to the day. The release forms help ensure that those people appearing in the video do not have the ability to force you to pay to have the video edited later to remove them or what they said. What if an employee leaves and goes to work for a rival business and then asks you to have the video edited to take them out? This video may be placed in several different locations of your online marketing and it can be expensive to have the editor go back and remove even a few shots. It may not event be possible to have them edited out at all if the project has been completed for several months or years.
Know What You’re Going to Say In Your Video Ahead of Time (and Stick To It)
There will be a lot going on during the day of the shoot and it is not the time to try and figure out what you’re going to be saying if you chose to speak on camera. Nor is it a good idea to try and figure it out late the night before. The right time to work on your on-camera delivery is at least three days prior to the shoot. You should have a good idea of how long the video is going to be in total and so you’ll want to read and time your comments to make sure they fill up the relevant part of the video where you will be involved, but not be too much longer and definitely not shorter than that allotted time. I’d highly suggest sending your script to the videographer prior to the shoot so they can review it and provide any feedback for you to work into your delivery.
A good videographer will be visualizing what the video is going to look like and know when and for how long people will need to be onscreen in order to keep the video dynamic and engaging. If the videographer has no idea of what you’re going to say, or you’re trying to figure it out while standing in front to the camera then you’re wasting their time and your money. The result is going to be a befuddled mess that an editor is now going to have to spend more time working on to try an make you seem professional and they are likely going to have to charge you in addition to the agreed upon costs in order to get a decent result.
If you’ve decided to do a video and be in it, then having your thoughts and presentation ready to go beforehand it the least amount of responsibility you take on to make the video a success.
And Finally, Be Involved In The Shoot
Being involved means taking the time to accompany the videographer and his team onsite and introduce them to the people and locations they will be filming. Let them know what they can film and show them any areas you prefer not to have filmed so they’re not wasting time on say, last years product that you know you don’t want in the video. Additionally it’s helpful to work with the videographer so they know where they can plug-in to power for their lights and equipment as well as how to shut things off like office music, intercoms or telephones, and power down loud, intermittent noise like air vents or fans so they don’t disrupt interviews.
Being involved does not mean being a side seat director. If you see something that isn’t working or if there is an issue with an employee, then first talk to the videographer and let them know what the issue is and see if there’s a way they can help deal with or accommodate for it. If you need to take direct action, let the videographer know and then deal with the issue. Nothing’s worse than trying to get a positive performance from someone and having the boss giving commanding directives to that person from off camera as well. It just confuses the communication and diminishes the person’s desire to be in the video.
Lights, Camera, Awesome
Working with a videographer or production company to create an amazing video for your business can be a fun and creative endeavor that involves many aspects of your business and employees. Taking the time to communicate and coordinate will greatly improve the final results and is likely to show in your marketing strategies as well.