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.
An interesting case study has arisen lately, that of the viral interview between Chris Stark and Mila Kunis. Everything about the manner of the interview is awful, yet it's by far the most natural, most enjoyable interviews I've seen in a long while and because of that it effectively promotes the content more than a regular Q&A would have done. So what can we learn?
The first rule is to make your subject comfortable in your presence, whether they are a celebrity or a business representative, the interview will not run smoothly if the subject can not relate to you. Talk to your subject beforehand and develop a rapport. Be interested in what they have to say and get them motivated about talking to you.
If your subject fidgets during the interview then often a simple request for them to stop will do the trick. However, for some it's involuntary and trying to repress it will manifest itself in other negative ways. If possible then try to frame out the offending tic, crop to a closer shot to avoid fidgety hands or legs and focus on getting the best verbal delivery from your interviewee.
Something you should also consider letting your subject sit where they like. You are the professional and you do know the best composition. But you should try as much as possible to mould your shot around the comfort of your subject - in the end, that's the most vital aspect of the interview. Don't force them to sit out in the middle of an open plan office just because it grants you a nice wide frame (unless they're cool with that) otherwise you're putting more pressure on your subject in front of a larger audience.
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.
An interesting case study has arisen lately, that of the viral interview between Chris Stark and Mila Kunis. Everything about the manner of the interview is awful, yet it's by far the most natural, most enjoyable interviews I've seen in a long while and because of that it effectively promotes the content more than a regular Q&A would have done. So what can we learn?
The first rule is to make your subject comfortable in your presence, whether they are a celebrity or a business representative, the interview will not run smoothly if the subject can not relate to you. Talk to your subject beforehand and develop a rapport. Be interested in what they have to say and get them motivated about talking to you.
If your subject fidgets during the interview then often a simple request for them to stop will do the trick. However, for some it's involuntary and trying to repress it will manifest itself in other negative ways. If possible then try to frame out the offending tic, crop to a closer shot to avoid fidgety hands or legs and focus on getting the best verbal delivery from your interviewee.
Something you should also consider letting your subject sit where they like. You are the professional and you do know the best composition. But you should try as much as possible to mould your shot around the comfort of your subject - in the end, that's the most vital aspect of the interview. Don't force them to sit out in the middle of an open plan office just because it grants you a nice wide frame (unless they're cool with that) otherwise you're putting more pressure on your subject in front of a larger audience.
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.
About the Author:
Have a watch of Masters in Public Policy, and Masters in International Relations for two great examples of interview techniques done right.
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