Let’s get right to it. In this installment, we cover a bunch of important issues:
- The exact words to use with camera-shy customers
- Proper mic placement
- Subject composition
- Subject angle to camera
- Effective questioning technique
- How to keep great answers from becoming unusable
- How to talk to your subject on camera
- Covering yourself legally… right on camera
Hope you like it.
4 replies to "How to Get GREAT Video Testimonials – Part 2 of 3"
Great lesson Stephen. Will you do any catering to a do-it-yourselfer who also wants to include himself/herself into the interview? Which of course means 2 cameras.
Thanks, Peter! Actually, you don’t need 2 cameras! Since you never see both people at the same time, you can just turn it around and shoot yourself asking the questions after you’ve shot all your answers.
And if you want to get really crazy, shoot yourself having funny reactions to yourself, then split-edit the sound so you hear yourself asking yourself questions while the interviewee “you” has a reaction to being asked that crazy question.
It’s called single-camera filmmaking. It’s how they always used to make movies before they decided you had to have 9 cameras going all at once 🙂
I’m not sure this was what you asked for specifically, but it could be fun!
Steve,
Super material. You mentioned space in front of the interviewee. How far should the camera be from the person?
Thanks for great instruction.
Wynn
Good question, Wynn! Your distance depends on the shot size you want and the capabilities of your camera. For a medium to close-up, which is pretty standard, you can be as little as 3 or 4 feet away. But you could be up to 20 feet away if you wanted to zoom in so as to put the background out of focus. But then you’d need someone else asking the questions!