Video Production Tips - Being Interviewed
Tips to help you make a great video when being interviewed
Here are a few tips guaranteed to make your video interview a success. These video production tips will help whether you are appearing in corporate videos, social media video or an interview for video marketing. After reading, you will look good, feel comfortable and speak the way you want to on-camera.
Clothing.
How should I dress for a video shoot?
Dress as you would to fit the subject you are speaking about. For instance if you are the President of a bank, a suit and tie would be appropriate. If you are the Club Pro at a golf course a golf shirt and slacks would be appropriate. Keep the video shoot in context and dress appropriately for what your target audience would expect.
If the bank President mentioned above was at a charity event loading trucks for a food drive, we would not expect a suit and tie. A logoed golf shirt and blue jeans would be entirely appropriate. When in doubt, ask your video producer for their opinion.
Depending on the video shoot’s requirements you might be on-set for a while. Lights on a set can be hot. So however you need to dress, take your comfort into consideration. “Lighter” fabrics are always a smart choice to help you feel cool and comfortable.
What colors look best on video?
Earth tones! Ok, what are earth tones? Earth tones, in their most basic sense, are colors that are found in nature. Think: rust, marigold, deep navy, brown, deep gray, terracotta, green, black, and classic blue. These colors will make lighting you for the video project easier.
Stay away from white and bright colors like yellow. These colors will reflect light and make lighting you more of a challenge.
If you need to wear a white shirt, have a jacket or sports coat to cover the shirt. Another option for a formal interview (shirt and tie) might be for you to wear a blue shirt instead of a white one. [See photo above, note the blue shirt under his jacket.]
For your video project try to avoid material or fabric that reflects light. For instance, choose cotton over silk or polyester because cotton doesn’t reflect light. Cotton is a better choice to make your lighting look better.
Lastly, avoid fine prints on your shirts and/or tie. They can cause “moire effect” where fine lines look “blotchy” when recorded. It can really be a challenge during editing if your footage has fine lines or patterns.
Makeup.
If you want a makeup person at your video shoot, please let your production crew know in advance. A good makeup person really does help make your footage look better. But also adds $500+ to the budget. Many people feel comfortable doing their own, which is fine.
One concern we get when doing a male video interview is baldness. No hiding it, you have hair or you don’t. Many times the heat from the lights makes a room warm and the interviewee starts to perspire.
We’ve had great success “dulling” a bald head with “MAC Matte Creme Matifiante”. Instead of shining it "mattes" the image down dramatically, it's a dramatic difference in the shot.
The product comes in a small tube that you apply directly to the person's head. It really does an amazing job “dulling” the reflection of the lights on the person's head.
Prepping Yourself.
In all honesty the best tip you'll get from this article is in this section. It's the way you can ensure your video content will be awesome.
Normally the video production company will send you the questions to be asked in advance. We always do, because it gives our interviewees a chance to review.
More often than not, the interviewee is the hardest critic in the room. The reason we’re interviewing you is because YOU are the expert. We need the information you have to explain a concept to viewers. You’ve experienced the subject we’re asking about and no one knows about it better than you.
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”
I can’t tell you how many people we work with who are anxiety ridden by the time the lighting and camera are set. RELAX! We just want your honest comments about the questions we’ve sent in advance. If you make a mistake we can always “redo” the question. Our goals are all the same, making a great video!
I think interviewee “anxiety” comes because people do too much prepping in advance. Once they sit in front of the camera people's nerves take over. They’re seeking the “perfect” answer, when there really isn’t any. We’re just looking for your thoughts on the subject.
The other thing I think really makes it difficult on interviews is that we are looking for SHORT ANSWERS for our video content. Our interviewees often think we are looking for a twenty minute answer. Honestly, if the answer can be stated in two or three sentences that's perfectly fine- please do so!
A short answer works for us better during the video edit because we are always fighting to keep videos short. [Click for related posts on video length to maximize viewer watchability].
Other video production tips to note.
Please do not type out the answers to the questions, print and bring to the video shoot. You cannot read from them during the interview.
9 times out of 10, when someone walks in with “papers” the crew knows this is going to be a long and difficult interview. Before you ask... we don’t like your “papers” on your lap because we will hear the paper rattling or when they fall to the floor.
One “crutch” that can help you if you’re anxiety ridden is a teleprompter. It would have to be arranged with your production crew in advance (we have several) to ensure it will be brought to the video shoot.
But before you think a teleprompter is the be all, end all... you need to be able to use it like a newscaster. This is a skill that needs to be practiced. It probably will be easier to speak extemporaneously from the questions being asked.
Recommended Prep.
From our 30+ years of experience with video production and video editing, it’s best to BRIEFLY look at the questions in advance. You can then become familiar with them. No need to memorize, your video producer or videographer will be asking you the questions at the shoot.
Again, who knows the subject better than you? It’s the reason we’re asking you the questions for this video production.
Please rephrase the question
We’ll ask you questions “off-camera” meaning the viewer will not hear us asking the question in the final edited video. Just your answer. We’ll need you to recap the question in some form in your answer so that it’s a complete thought.
For instance, if I asked, “How long have you been a police officer?” don’t just say, “10 years”. We would be hoping for something like, “I’ve been an officer since 1997 when I got out of the police academy after four years in the Marines...” It’s an open ended answer -in context- that the viewer can understand if they heard the clip alone.
Keep "evergreen" when possible
Even better in the example above, the person said they have been with the police since “1997” instead of “10 years”. This is important because now the video won’t be outdated in a year. We call this "keeping a video evergreen". This technique comes up all the time in corporate videos when someone describes how long the firm has been in business.
Another good way to achieve the same result is, "I have over thirty years of experience....".
Biggest take away…
RELAX! Everyone's goal is the same... to make you look awesome in the final video. By following the video production tips above you'll be relaxed and we'll produce a much better video.
Questions or thoughts? Feel free to call to discuss how Acclaim Media can help you produce your video production efficiently and drive results. Acclaim Media is a Naperville video production company serving Chicago and the suburbs.
Acclaim Media Productions is a video production, corporate video, marketing communication & web video company based in the Chicago area but providing services internationally. We help large corporations, successful small businesses & forward-thinking non-profits build stronger organizations through video production.
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info@acclaim-media.com
