Working With Non-Professionals On Video
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.
In this article we’ll look at a few key things to remember when you’re conducting an interview that can help your production run more smoothly…
To kick off, let’s start with the relationship between interviewer and interviewee. Where possible, an interpersonal dynamic needs to be cultivated that breeds motivation and interest. To do so, sit down with your subject before the cameras roll, chat to them about the content, ask questions and be interested. Not only does this allow your subject to feel motivated by talking to an interested individual, it also creates mental furrows so they can answer your question more fluently.
If the subject remains nervous, despite all your easing-in methods they still might fidget. If they have fidgety hands then it’s usually a good idea to frame a tighter shot on them rather than attempting to repress their urges. Do everything you can to avoid this nervousness though, a casual conversation or run-throughs before the interview starts can make all the difference.
Additionally, allow your subject to have a degree of choice when choosing where to sit. While you may have the perfect composition in mind, remember that many interviewees may want to be in certain rooms or away from audiences and colleagues. Work with them to find a comfortable location and then work your composition around that. Forcing your subject to endure the scrutiny of their colleagues while talking is a sure fire way to stress them out.
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.
Take a look at our example videos Masters in Public Policy, and Masters in International Relations for a demonstration on good interview techniques.
