Directing non-actors? How many takes and other advice?

S

SGCman

Member
I am going to be shooting some web video that is supposed to look professional, but will feature "real people" instead of actors.

I have no idea if all of them will do well in front of the camera, so my questions is, how many takes do you normally give each person? Do you direct them differently than people that do acting for a living?
 
What is it? Are they talking down the barrel? What is the action? Is it a scripted scene? Is there blocking and "normal" narrative coverage?

Leaving acting out of it... which is a big leave, people with no acting experience on set have a hard time hitting their marks and maintaining continuity from take to take. Oh one more thing, actors know not to ever look into the lens and amateurs don't. There's a knack to keeping your eye line close but not down the barrel. You can tell them but it can happen fast so look out for that. The best thing is to keep it simple
 
It's one of those "explainer videos" that you see a lot on websites for a small business and its staff. When talking, they'll be sitting in an interview type setting, but it is somewhat scripted (talking points). The video will cut away while they talk and show them working in their shop.

Some seem worried about how they will look on camera. I really just want to know how to make them feel comfortable and not pressured. Is it better to give them many takes or to just do a few?
 
may have to make that call on set. some folks get better the longer you go, some worse. just have to feel it out maybe. you could be sneaky and pretend youre not recording when you really are ("this is just a rehearsal"). whatever works. consider teleprompter too.
 
SGCman said:
It's one of those "explainer videos" that you see a lot on websites for a small business and its staff. When talking, they'll be sitting in an interview type setting, but it is somewhat scripted (talking points). The video will cut away while they talk and show them working in their shop.

Some seem worried about how they will look on camera. I really just want to know how to make them feel comfortable and not pressured. Is it better to give them many takes or to just do a few?
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So, in other words, they're not "acting". It's a completely completely different world. They're just going to be a cleaned up version of themselves without all the "umms".

Skip the script. Keep a list of bullets each is supposed to cover. Take as many takes to get them to say it their way and say it decently but not stiffly. Try to shoot 4k if possible so you can reframe (or use your b-roll) since you will have to chop this all into one great take. Take it a sentence at a time, and re-do until it's good. Feel free to say "maybe a little more emphasis on 'and' ", etc. Tell them you're not putting words in their mouth, but just heloing them get footage they'll be proud of.

This isn't that hard to do - be encouraging as hell, and let the subject find their way to the sentences. The hardest thing is people who can memorize and thus think they're gonna be the best people on the spot. GEtting them to loosen up and not sound like they're reading cue cards is tough.

#1 tip - if they're not looking into camera, get someone to sit facing them - that really should be you or whomever is the interview coach. This makes a really big difference. When I do this alone, I keep a monitor where I can see - but you really can't break eye contact during a clip, you'll see it in their face sometimes.
 
Non-actors can't read out loud, or learn even short bits of script. If you give them an autocue, then there eyes go rigid and they deliver the words in a monotone. They WILL mess up, and need plenty of retakes. It's easy to spend a whole day on really short segments. Sometimes you can give them the gist in bullet points - so a piece of A4 paper that says in big letters
WELCOME
HISTORY
PRODUCT
PRICE
DELIVERY
GUARANTEE
THANKS

Might keep them on track. You might need to make things clear like never talking over the other person's word ends - because of the editing nightmare it causes. Do everything in editable chunks. Tell them to do it a few times for practice, then you will go for a record, but record everything. Have at least two different camera angles for each section, so when they mess up you can edit in a different take. It adds to setup time, but is well worth it. If I don't have multiple cameras I take two tripods and simply swap the camera. Take one on the left, take two on the right and leapfrog - because then you can have a long section rescued by an edit. Try not to let them see or hear anything as a playback, because they will hate their voice - not so much their image, just their voice. I always suggest a proper actor to clients, but very often they want to use their own people. Some are really good at it, others are simple awful.
 
i would disagree. i do tons of prompter work with corporate folks and some are very good and some are very dry. depends entirely on the person. sometimes they never get better, sometimes they get better when they start to "own the words" i.e get to the point where theyre not just reading and thinking because theyve done enough takes that theyve semi-memorized it and are just using the prompter text as a reminder of whats coming up, and start to really believe and mean the message theyre delivering.
 
SGCman said:
Some seem worried about how they will look on camera. I really just want to know how to make them feel comfortable and not pressured. Is it better to give them many takes or to just do a few?
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I've done a little bit of this. Just assure them that it is your job to make them look good. Give them clear instructions during the shoot but don't overwhelm them, focus on just a couple of things that empower them to improve their performance on the first one and wing the rest. Then in subsequent ones when they are feeling a bit more familiar with the process and begin to develop a little trust, then give them a tip or two that helps you edit.

In the edit first work on the audio, editing around the umms and ahhs and not worrying about the video so much until you have a good sounding audio. Edit quite aggressively if you have to to generate a conversational flow that wasn't present in the original take. Only then worry about the video, get it looking as good as possible and then insert the cutaways strategically to cover up the edits and any nerves, glances etc that you can't remove. The cutaways might be a little awkward in the first one but the talent will look great. By the second and third shoot they will relax, be more receptive and easier to work with. With the tips you give them they will feel empowered to deliver a better performance and trust in your ability to present them in their best light. My number one rule is make the talent look good, even if it makes your editing look bad. When they watch it back the only thing they are looking for is cringe moments in their own performance (just like we only see moire, mismatched lighting, sibiliance, slightly our of focus and other non-content based technical issues when we watch it back).
 
a few things to keep in mind...and i know its gonna sound like im really selling you on the prompter but i swear im not.

you wont be able to edit around the audio unless you have plenty of broll or graphics to cover those edits. even with reframing as an option you dont want to be going back and forth between wide ans close every few words or every other sentence. it looks terrible and they WILL find it jarring, its not just an editor pride thing. prompter can help with this cause if they know exactly what theyre supposed to say, there will be less " ummm and ahhh".

prompter can also speed up the process a lot cause theyre not trying to think of things to say as theyre saying it, its already laid out. this would be for testimonial style shoots. interviewing the on camera subject doesnt really lend itself to using a prompter (though ive done plenty of that style too)

just some things to think about. i think for interview style shoots "umma and ahhs" are ok cause they seem natural, real. for something thats SUPPOSED to be delivered slickly, not so much.
 
Josh Bass said:
just some things to think about. i think for interview style shoots "umma and ahhs" are ok cause they seem natural, real. for something thats SUPPOSED to be delivered slickly, not so much.
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I agree with that, umms and ahhs in the body of a speaking part can be difficult to remove anyway. However the biggest umms and ahhs are almost always at the beginning and end of a passage or topic, and are often thankfully usually accompanied by a long edit-friendly pause as they search for the words or next topic. Just removing these alone, so that every point they make has a confident start makes a huge difference. I usually put more work into improving their overall cadence, trimming down pauses which don't flow well and waffle/superfluous information wherever the edit allows.
 
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