Friday, October 2, 2009

(pow pow) powercorp video

i really launched myself into this project headstrong. i had just completed the video for emerson and i was feeling good about myself. i ended up making some silly mistakes on this one.




things i would change include:

1) don't perform an interview in front of a window. lighting is always tricky. thankfully, rory brought a truck full of watts or i would have been out of luck with a backlit subject. to avoid this problem, reserve a space ahead of time for interviews that you know will work.

2) use a monopod for b-roll. no hand is steady enough and a tripod is too much work.

3) plan the interview before you shoot b-roll. this way, you get b-roll that fits the audio.

4) planning is half the battle. you should know exactly how long the video is going to be and what is going to be said. even when the voice over is interview based, you should know the answers to the questions and script out the flow and feeling before you go in to shoot.

5) execution is the other half of the battle. planning goes to waste if you don't stick to the plan.

6) communicate clearly your expectations of all people involved. up and down the management chain, communication should be open and free. be respectful to your team members but also be respectful to the project and do what it takes to get the job done.

7) when you script out the quotes you want from your interview, you can better coach your subject into giving you that soundbite you need. don't think you can fix it in post because you will not always have the tools later down the road.

8) how many people are going to watch the video? who is going to care enough to show it to someone else? these are questions you should ask yourself when making any video content.

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