Unscripted videos

After my most recent project, where I filmed two guided but unscripted videos for an area hospice, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to document the process and show you the difference between simply setting up a camera and the work that goes into producing a quality corporate video.

In this instance, going unscripted was the perfect opportunity for the people working there to talk about what makes the programs at the hospice so special.

And honestly, from a marketing perspective it’s always a great idea for any company to have videos that show the real people there talking about why the company exists - especially if it’s a company that deals with people.

That’s because these videos are often going on websites and being shared across social media. Plus, it’s a really effective way to humanize a business. 

In fact, videos that show people can build personal connections with potential customers much faster than a just text or a picture ever could.

I mean, would you reather read some text that says “we do a great job?”

Or would you prefer to see and hear someone share why they want to do that job for you?

I digress.

One of the benefits to unscripted videos like this from a client’s perspective is that everybody speaking comes across in a very genuine fashion. 

When there are no lines to memorize and people are just talking, you get to see the real them. And again that builds rapport with viewers really quickly.

From a production standpoint videos like this DO offer some fun challenges. 

That’s right. I said fun.

See, when you let people talk for 12 to 20 minutes you end up with 12 to 20 minutes of footage that needs to be trimmed down to whatever length someone’s requesting.

And you have to do it in a way that still tells the story they want shared and not look or sound like you chopped up a 12 to 20 minute video.

For me, it’s kind of like putting together a massive puzzle that’s so awesome you keep it on your dining room table, so when people come over they can be like, “Woah! Nice puzzle!”

How do you do it? Let’s find out!

Step one: Prep ahead of time. Prep for anything.

Yeah. You gotta channel your inner boy scout. Big time.

A lot of prep goes into every project I do, preparing for the unexpected is especially critical if you’re filming an event on the fly and you want it to actually look good.

You don’t know what the lighting situation might be, if people are going to be moving or seated, if you’ll be capturing a guided tour and drone shots for Broll. So you want to be prepared.

And if you’re running a company or in charge of the marketing for it and you already have a vision for your project - just note that you never know when you’ll be inspired to add something extra to what you’re shooting. So… be prepared.

Step two: Setup for success

In this situation, I knew I was going to be filming unscripted talking points and I would be making cuts from one sentence to the next - sometimes a few minutes apart. I also knew that the finished video had to look like a continuous conversation, so I set up two cameras.

That will let me cut from one talking point to the next without anything looking too jumpy.

Oh, a note, if you’re filming a video like this on your own - if at all possible - next to having great audio, use two cameras and watch your video look 10X more polished than filming with one camera and being forced to make jump cuts.

Now, because the speakers were going to be sitting and not moving around, I still had to give the viewers’ eyes something to follow in order to keep them engaged.

And since there was one of me and two cameras, I opted to put one of them on an electric slider and the other one I manually added very subtle movements to with a tripod.

Step three: Light like a mother ******

So, I’ll get into this in another post, but I’ve sort of grown a man crush on good lighting.

Part of this goes into my philosophy of prepared for just about anything. Part of this is because lighting is the secret sauce that nobody talks about - but you want to make sure that you’re able to light just about anything.

Since I wasn’t in the building to assess the area beforehand, I made sure to show up with enough lighting supplies that I could create any atmosphere I wanted in total darkness.

In this case, having extra supplies paid off because while the room we were in was perfect for meeting with small groups or families for personal conversations, it wasn’t made for studio lighting.

But I mean… come on… what office is?! Again - this is why you want to be prepared for everything. And that includes lighting.

The only challenge with smaller rooms is that because the speakers are set closer to the background, it makes it easier for the people you want to focus on to blend in and not POP as much.

So…. lighting becomes critical. The goal here was to create an outline around their heads and shoulders so that they were clearly defined from the library shelves in the background.

To create that definition I set up a rim light by clamping one of my gooseneck lights to the top of a bookshelf, just off screen.

That’s right, this definition was created like MacGyver with a good ol fashioned work lamp.

Ok. Subjects defined. Next is to make sure their fronts were lit. While the ambient light in the room was bright, one issue is that it came directly from above. In normal face-to-face interactions, that’s no big deal. But on a camera it CAN cause some unwanted shadows.

So, to knock those out and create a friendly, inviting look, that matched the feel of the content, I set up a key light just in front of them and far away enough that their faces still maintained shape.

Step four: Mic it right

Ok. So before I say anything else, I want you to know that there are almost as many options for sound as there are cameras and lens choices. If you’re making one on your own, please, do your absolute best not to use the microphone built into the camera.

The few dollars you spend even for a budget microphone and audio recorder will instantly improve the quality of your videos 10X.

Anyway, one of the most awesome perks about the speakers seated and not moving around was that I would be able to capture sound from a shotgun mic boomed close to them, but hidden just off screen.

This kind of ensured we were going to be getting the best sound quality possible!

Ok that was the setup and the shot. Next is post production.

That’s right. This project’s just getting started.

The first part of the post production process starts with coloring. 

… that is, the first part of THIS post production process is coloring.

Another perk from an unscripted video, where you just let the cameras roll is that even through there will be a lot of cuts and shuffling, you only have to grade the two shots taken per video, as opposed to several you’ll need to if you film a commercial all over the place.

For this project, after the basic color balancing - which took the image to a whole new level, I wanted to still make sure that the speakers popped - while adding a warmer tone that that surrounds the theme of the videos.

After some pushing and pulling, we go from this…

To this…

To this…

I mean, that’s just incredible.

Now we can start trimming down the footage from 15 mintues each to about 3

Hmmm… you know what. I can’t even begin to explain that process. That’s less mechanical and more intuitive. I kind of go into a bit of a zone there.

But AFTER that, it’s time to tweak the audio and remove any background noise static.

THEN you ADD back ambient background noise. I know. I know. That doesn’t make much sense. But try it and you’ll see why you want to always record the ambient sound of a room (Yeah. Rooms have their own weird sound that’s unique to each space. How cool is that?!).

After that, it’s off to spending some time finding the right background score.

THEN I created a customized intro by animating the company’s logo and dropping in a title of what each video is about. For this project, thinking of the intended audience I kept it simple yet classy.

And then finally, I created cards for each of the speakers.

THE LAS STEP

I watch the video about half a dozen times and make any fine adjustments before sending it off!

And, there you have it! Piece of cake!

I’ll break down these steps as more individual posts in the future as I repeat them on other projects. But below, you can find the final product for one of the videos.

Until next time,