How to make Corporate Films Captivating, 5 tips to corporate video production

How many times have you ever heard a cinematographer say 'I love corporate video production' ? Well we do! This is our process for making corporate films as captivating as possible.

We're going to take a look at 5 simple things you can do to make your corporate content as interesting and engaging as possible. Starting with using one light on a beautiful backdrop.

Interview frame from our latest corporate film, using only one key light

Creative Corporate Video Production

TIP 1 - One Light, Beautiful Backdrop

Business people are busy, no more so than when they're at a corporate event. They don't want to wait around while you takes ages fine tuning the lights. So rather than a traditional three-point lightning set up we will often just use one key light shooting through a big soft source. Your challenge then is to choose the best background possible and arrange it in the most visually interesting way.

For example, can you shoot into a background with interesting bokeh (lights far away in soft focus)? That could be lights in the building across the street , angling up slightly to shoot into ceiling spotlights or utilising interesting lights already in the room. It could even be a translucent glass window. It's amazing how interesting you can make a background look when you're filming wide open on a low aperture with shallow depth of field.

Utilising window sheers to soften the natural light coming through

Think what else you can do to shape the light, can you use window sheers to soften the background light and reduce the overall level, can you shoot into L's of the room and bring in practical lamps for more interest? And if you've got nothing to work with just make sure there is as much depth behind your subject as possible and you're not placing them in front of a wall.

TIP 2 - STORY OF THE DAY

If you're creating a highlights video of an event, you can elevate it from just a general montage video by getting shots that showcase the story of the day. Think of it as showing people who didn't attend what happened.

The first shot of the day showing sunrise over London

Start by showcasing an exterior shot of the location, see attendees arriving, greeting each other, then walking into the first talk. Showcase the first speaker, see the audience reaction and then they're heading out to grab some coffee and chat. Next they head to break out rooms for smaller group discussions. Before the day ends with drinks and networking.

Greeting a friend or ordering a coffee refill? We'll never know

Think of your highlights video as a story of the day. When all your B-roll can look quite similar, changes of scene every 20-30 seconds are a great way to keep a viewer visually engaged.

TIP 3 - Variety of Focal Lengths

A great man, called Ben Marlow, once taught me that the secret to a great edit is a variety of shots at different focal lengths and he was right. It can often be overwhelming to mentally to keep track of how much variety you have, so to simplify things choose 3 focal lengths and try to get 5 shots with each of them for every scene.

So we often choose a wide 25mm lens, the classic 50mm lens for a medium-shot and a 90mm for more close up filming. Wide shots showcase the entire room, who's at the event and what's there. Medium frames are great for a two-shot to show two people having a conversation and close ups are ideal to show off details such as logos, food, drink or people taking notes.

A 90mm close up shot of a man writing on a tablet, always a useful insert shot to have for your edit

TIP 4 - Multiple Interview angles

A great interview frame is always helpful, however having two or even three angles to choose between really elevates your production.

Multiple interview angles are often filmed so you can cut out any pauses, stumbles or other dialogue you want to remove and give you the option to seamlessly switch between angles to cover this rather than be stuck with a jump cut.

If you're unsure what to set up, again refer to 25, 50, 90. Shoot a wide front on shot using the 25mm, a medium shot from a slight angle on a 50mm and then get creative with your 90mm. This could even be a gently moving angle or used to get general interview cutaways such as hands gesticulating while the subject is talking.

TIP 5 - SHOOT LOTS, CHOOSE FEW

Overshooting refers to filming far more clips than you need and thus making your editing far more time consuming. However corporate films are a rare occasion when overshooting is advised.

Laughs, smiles and interaction always go down well in a corporate highlights film

People talking and mingling isn't the most dynamic and exciting footage, so filming lots of clips and holding these shots for 10, 20 or even 30 seconds to capture as many smiles and laughs as possible is highly advantageous.

When it comes to your edit selection process you can then skim through quicker than normal looking solely for these more interesting moments and choose only these for the edit, rather than lots of general talking shots.

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We love the challenge of creating exciting, captivating corporate content, to find out more about what we do visit our website...

www.benandjackstudio.com