Take the voodoo out of video. Part 3

​More tips and tricks to help you make video marketing a reality.Set up your interview video to look like a pro.
A few steps of preparation before an interview can help things flow smoothly, save you time on shoot day and help you record a professional looking video.

• Think through your interview questions.
• Visualize the progression of the interview, and be prepared with supplemental questions if the interview goes in a different direction than you planned (it happens all the time).
• Decide whether you want to share in advance the questions with the interviewee. The advantage of sharing is that you know the interviewee will be prepared to answer — but you may lose the natural spontaneity of a person answering

Decide if you will include yourself on camera, or just the interviewee.

You’ll need to know this in advance so you can set up your camera to include both you and the interviewee in the frame, or create a two-camera shoot.

• If you choose to have just the interviewee on camera, remind her or him to rephrase the question in the answer, which will help a lot in editing when you need context as you string together answers. 

For interviews, position your main camera over your shoulder, and have your interviewee look at you.
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If you’re conducting an interview, there’s nothing more disruptive to the audience than having an interviewee’s eyes bounce back and forth between you and the camera.

• Make sure the person looks at you throughout the interview.

Check on your actors (or interviewees) before the shoot.
No matter how wonderful your script/interview questions and location are, the most important thing is your on-screen talent. Yet, with everything you’re focusing on (equipment, logistics, schedules and so on), you might fall into the trap of assuming your actors will be prepared for the shoot. I have made that mistake too often, and was then forced to scramble with actors who didn’t know lines, and interviewees who froze once the camera was turned on. Make sure to check in frequently on those who will be in front of the camera right up till shoot day.

• For actors, rehearse in advance, either in person or remotely (Skype, FaceTime, Zoom: more about them later).
• For interviewees, talk with them in advance to see how comfortable they’ll be on camera, and consider sending them your interview questions in advance (the advantages and disadvantages of providing interview questions in advance are covered in another tip).

No “Um’s,” “Ah’s,” or “Mmm Hmms.”
When you’re interviewing someone you have to stay silent. Sounds simple, but it can be harder than you think. When we have a conversation, we generally use verbal affirmations (the “mmm hmms” and “uh huhs”) to let the other person know we’re actively listening.

• The best way keep your interviewee engaged without making a sound is to use non-verbal cues: appropriately timed smiles, frowns, head nods.
• Non-verbal cues will give your interviewees the affirmation they need, and your audience the clean, focused interview audio they want.
  

More tips are on the way. Stay tuned.

Mark Bellusci is an award-winning filmmaker, published playwright and freelance copywriter. The filmmaking and playwriting started as hobbies, became crafts, and are now how he makes his living, along with copywriting. And somewhere along the way, he picked up an MBA from Baruch College, CUNY. See his stuff at markbellusci.com
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