Interview video pre-production

Alright my friends, now is the time for the fourth part of our series of articles covering how to film interview for your video production project that stands out!

We have already covered all the technical and important parts like camera setup, three point lighting, and audio recording setup, as well as the gear that performs the best for this purpose.

In this part, I will share some pre-production and post-production secrets that I learned from industry professionals, as well as my own mistakes, so that you don’t have to. This will save you a lot of headache in the process of creating a corporate video with interviews, whether it’s a testimonial video, or a company story video, or any other type of corporate video production.

Pre-Production Tips to Film Interview

Location Scouting

Prior to the production day, it is always a great idea come by the location to see it, doesn’t matter if its a smaller office or a large warehouse. If that’s too far, or you simply don’t have the time for it – ask the client to provide walkthrough videos of the filming location.

This is especially helpful when the production day schedule is tight, and every minute counts, like at the video production project that we recently took on with the CNCDA Foundation. Seeing the filming location beforehand makes things much easier on the production day, and the crew already knows how to better set up the lighting, and which angles would work best for the cameras, especially when it is a two camera setup.

Prep the Interview Questions

Make sure the client has a list of questions, and these questions are sent to interviewees. Even better, when this list of questions is with hints. Why is that important? When there are several interviewees, and your production goal is to edit it so that the words of one interviewee are logically connected with the words of another one, they have to answer the questions a bit similarly.

Not word to word of course!

Interview video production

Get Talent Release Forms Signed

All the interviewees and people that are recognizable in the footage (even if they don’t speak, and are just a part of the b-roll footage let’s say) have to sign the Talent Release form prior to the interview. Without this form, the person can demand to take down the video, or have them removed from the video.

Always a good idea to print out more of these forms than you think you need, because there might be people at the location that would be great to include in the corporate video you’d be producing.

Break the Ice Prior to Interview Filming

Before actually turning on the cameras, make sure you have a brief chat with the interviewee, if it’s the first time you met. Remember, every interview has to sound natural, easy, and sincere. The key to it is to establish a personal connection between the interviewer and interviewee. Yes, this might take 3-5 minutes of the production time, but it is well worth it.

You can fix almost everything in post production, but not the emotion!

Also, most of these people are having the first time experience on camera, and seeing tons of video production gear around them might make them act worried, tense, and not quite open to the conversation. So before you film an interview, make them feel better, start with something casual, prior to shooting the questions at them right away.

And also it’s a good idea to give them instructions on how to act on camera. Here is a secret industry list that we shared recently, print it out! Still, you have to remind them not to lean back or forward to much so that they stay in focus, not to be in a hurry, drink some water before the interview.

Also, don’t just film interview – show some genuine interest in what they are talking about. Even if you are not quite interested in the topic – you have to! There is nothing more discouraging for the interviewees to tell the story to someone who is not even listening. The last thing you want is blunt and emotionally faded interview.

Pick the Soundtrack

Make sure you pick the soundtrack for the corporate video with clients during the pre-production, not the post-production phase. Choosing the song for the video will help you better understand the vibe that client wants to get from the corporate video, and make sure you conduct the interview according to it, so that when it comes to video editing, everything lines up. The editing itself is going to be much easier then!

Interview video production

Post-Production Tips

Organize Footage

Editing a 10-minute corporate video with several interconnected interviews is a challenging task. Structure the footage in folders prior to starting any editing, and back it up as well. You don’t want to lose it!

Use Variety of Shots

As mentioned previously, 2 cameras add a lot of content variety to the footage, but make sure you use this resource wisely. Mix wide and narrow shots, and crop in when needed, but not just randomly. Use a wide shot for some general phrases and sentences, while using narrow shots for emphasizing a strong word, a conclusion, or something else that’s important for the storytelling of your corporate video.

Enhance Faces

If there was no make up artist on set, what can help you is the Face Refinement feature in Davinci Resolve, that will remove the imperfections and make the faces of the interviewees look more smooth and polished for a corporate video style. Play with this feature a bit, and make sure you don’t overuse it! You still want your subjects look natural on camera.

Use J and L Cuts

Use J-cuts and L-cuts, when switching from one person to another. This is going to enhance the professional look of the corporate video, whether it’s a brand story video or a recruitment video.

Corporate video production

Conclusion

Filming interviews for corporate video production requires careful planning and preparation. With the right pre-production steps like location scouting, preparing questions, and briefing talent, you can ensure a smooth shoot. Proper lighting, camera work, and audio recording will capture high-quality footage.

In post-production, organizing clips, using a variety of shots, and polishing the edits will result in an engaging final corporate video. Applying techniques like J-cuts and L-cuts adds to the professionalism. With these tips and tricks, you can create corporate videos with interviews that effectively convey your desired message and showcase your brand.

The key is being prepared for the interview filming day(s), working efficiently during production, and finessing the details in post. Mastering interview video production takes practice, but following fundamental techniques will take your videos to the next level. A compelling interview-based corporate video can boost your brand awareness and audience engagement.