A Guide to Shooting with Collaborative Media

Written by our filmmaker Anthony Crossland

The crew will arrive at your location on the morning of the shoot or the night before depending on the location. It’s nice to be given a tour of your location. This helps us find the best places to shoot the interviews and to get to know you. We then set up our equipment, and we’re ready for the interviews!

We usually film the interviews first. As well as utilizing time, it also allows our crew to get to know the company to decide which cut-away shots will be best for the film.

Its good to have more than one interviewee, but too many interviews can clutter an edit. Three or four usually works nicely. However, in some cases the rules are meant to be broken. An example is when we filmed a University in Northern Ireland and we had numerous, very short interviews with professors and students. This style worked nicely and promoted the University by showcasing their eclectic range of students and professors.

Interview locations should ideally be inside to prevent wind and light changes. A quiet office or boardroom works well.

Being interviewed can seem intimidating; perhaps your boss didn’t tell you about the interview and you feel self-conscious or under-prepared. Don’t worry, we make our clients feel comfortable and we’re here to make you look good. We send all clients a copy of the questions a few days in advance. We also edit out any umms or arrs from the interview, so just relax, be yourself and we will help you through the interview.

We interview one person at a time and ask interviewees to reiterate our questions in their answers. For example, “When was the company founded?” “The company was founded in…” This helps us as we edit out our interviewers questions to keep the focus firmly on you. We will usually talk to the interviewee on camera before the interview. This relaxes the interviewee and makes sure we have the right sound levels. We can do as many takes as we need to get the best answer, so don’t worry if you lose your thread. Sometimes we will re-phrase the questions to help you to bring up other points. We edit it all together seamlessly afterwards.

Preparing for an interview is great and some interviewees write and memorise their answers. This is helpful but can sound robotic if you’re reciting answers word for word. We find it works better if you write a bullet point list of what you want to say. That way it comes across more naturally.

After the interviews are finished, we will film cutaways. These are the shots we use to cut away from the interview. These can be shots of your office, location, products, or staff. The more coverage we can get the better and we will work with you to find the cutaways that represent your business the best. Just tell us if there’s anything you don’t want us to film, like computer screens with sensitive information.

Safety is important, so please brief us about how to stay safe within your site. If appropriate, like on a construction site, please do supply us with hard hats etc.

After getting all the footage we need, the crew will head back to our London studio to edit it into a professional and entertaining film. We’ll send you rushes first, which are rough footage of the interviews. We welcome your feedback and work closely with you to shape the film. The footage belongs to you and you can use it on any other projects you do in the future.

The final corporate company video will be done after the rushes. It lasts up to 15 minutes, but film lengths can vary depending on the company. We help you to find the right length to suit your company’s needs. We also send you the video so you have the opportunity to make any corrections and alterations.

We create longer programmes, around 30 minutes long, which include interviews with several other companies. This will take longer to finish, due to multiple location-based interviews. Once it is edited, we will arrange the schedule for it to be broadcast on Sky TV. We’ll tell you when this is so you can get your popcorn ready, and tune in to watch your debut on the silver screen.

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