Make moive of nothing

J

jonas18z

Member
Often I get mission to make a movies of a company that don't have anything good visual and no good story

This is usual:

* Interview with the CEO how good the company is.
* Interview with some manager with suit same talks that the CEO.
* Everyone sitting on a computer with windows.
* The office is boring,dark and small.

Anyone have same problem or have some tips to make this situations better?
 
MOst of my work is for small companies. I'm a big fan of selling the concept. Know who your audience is and show them the values that your client wants to portray.

Some clients prefer stock images and footage, like this one:

Some prefer a mix of both, like this one:

I recommend using stock footage in your videos - no easier and faster way to spruce up your product. I recommend Pond5 over istock, though. iStock is too damned expensive.

Some other things you can try (if the client has budget) is to shoot B-Roll with attractive people using the company's product. Nice product photography, maybe even tabletop. But make sure they understand - this costs extra. Common pricetag for high-end tabletop (product) photography is US$10k per day but it's great stuff you can use again and again. Also - if you have their beautiful (and expensive) tabletop footage, it gives them more incentive to come back to you for future videos using that footage.

If you have clients who make something for the outdoors or use in everyday life, get them out of the office and out there using it like this one I made for a company that makes products for athletes. It's great to get a good interview with them, but that can't beat seeing them in action doing something.

And, for my money, you can't beat having a "host" or spokesperson - a professional actor who can present the company message clearly and concisely and - most importantly - in the way you write it (instead of they're coming up with it off-the-cuff). Like this one:

Hope that helps!
Joe
 
Last edited:
jonas18z said:
Often I get mission to make a movies of a company that don't have anything good visual and no good story

This is usual:

* Interview with the CEO how good the company is.
* Interview with some manager with suit same talks that the CEO.
* Everyone sitting on a computer with windows.
* The office is boring,dark and small.

Anyone have same problem or have some tips to make this situations better?
Click to expand...

Everything has A story; most things have MANY stories. With some imagination, you can always find the story in what you're doing.

What's the CEO talking about? Why did they hire you in the first place -- what are they trying to put on video? They wouldn't bring you in if they didn't have something to say. Listen to it.
 
JoeRawlins , thanks fr your tips.

David Jimerson

The CEO talks about how good his company is, like we are the best on this computer software etc...

Why they hire me, they want to make a movie on their webpage.
And:
Movie = interview with the CEO in the picture for about 5 min.
 
There's still an implied story there: "we saw the need for x software, we did a bunch of research into customer needs, we worked real hard building it, and here it is, ain't it amazing, listen to our customers gushing over it". Seriously, structuring the film something like that will make it more interesting than just yak yak yak.

Some good points above re stock footage to add visual interest and actually illustrate what interviewees are talking about. It also helps a lot with nervous/wooden interviewees - while the audience hears them talk, visually you're showing what they're talking about. Far more interesting than talking heads.
 
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