6 Tips to Looking Good on Camera!

corporate video by bellyflop tv

You walk into the office one day and your boss says to you, “I want you to be in the company video.” Where do you start? What do you say? What do you wear?

It’s a daunting prospect. So as a self-proclaimed expert at interviewing people on camera we thought we’d give you a heads-up on six key points that will make you feel good, and feeling good leads to looking good.

Preparation

1. First of all, think very carefully about who you want to be in the video. Who is a good reflection of the business. Who is likely to be around for the next 2 years? (That’s how long you want the film to potentially be a marketing tool for).

Corporate Video - UMIPTestimonial_Bellyflop.TV

Here’s Erol and Ellie from University of Manchester ready for their interview

2. Get writing. To prepare for a video interview it is a good idea to write down what you want to say – give yourself bullet points to remind you and even write down some anecdotes that you think will bring a natural feel to the video. When we film your interview we will use these bullet points to ask the interview subject questions. Ask us for our filming notes document here. 

3. Relax. Don’t worry too much about stuttering, uming or ahhing – we will get you feeling relaxed for the interview, and everything can be redone in several takes. Also we are known to perform mini-miracles in edit. See my blog post about editing here.

Corporate Video_Belly Flop Mastercall Photos 7

Here’s John and Dee from Mastercall Healthcare during filming.

4. Location. Next is to think of a good location for the interview to take place. For example, if you’re based in an office, find a quiet spot, or a meeting room, where there won’t be much traffic or noise but has a nice background. But don’t book the conference room if it looks really boring and / or has no windows. We are also used to going around turning radios off and asking people to be quiet (audio can sometimes be more important than visuals).

Corporate Video - Perspective Opticians_Bellyflop.TV

Here’s Jonathan setting up his camera to film at Perspective Opticians in Solihull.

 

5. Visuals. For the interview it stays in one place, but a lot of the video will have other ‘visuals’ that are cut to. For example if you are talking about a widget machine we need to film it in action.

In an office situation have a look round and think about what you don’t want the camera to see – outside brand logos, storage boxes, bins, photos of staffs’ family and even marks on walls. Make note or ask for it to be changed prior to the date so it is known that you don’t want it to be filmed. But be aware that your potential customers are seeing this video and may expect the office to look the same if they visit. But again, we are used to performing mini-miracles in edit (we even had to make a toilet roll on a bookshelf ‘disappear’ once!)

6. Looking Good? Your appearance on camera should be a window into the company – whether that’s smart, casual or a building site so what you wear can be a big factor. Black is slimming (and hides radio mics well), white can be a bit too intense so off white is better. Block colours rather than patterns always good on camera. Avoid clothes with fine lines as these can cause a ‘strobe effect’ on camera.

corporate video bellyflop tv

Here we were filming on a building site for Federation of Piling Specialists.

 

On the day of the interview you will be made to feel at ease, and we often have people forget that the camera is even there or turned on.

We’re not here to interrogate you, so feel happy in the knowledge that we’ll make you look good on camera!

Author: Sammi is the primary video editor at bellyflop.tv who is responsible for editing the video footage into short films following the brief set by customers. Feel free to call Sammi in the office on 0161 477 5621 or click here to send her a message.

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