Project Breakdown: CIS Testimonial

CIS Product Testimonial

Testimonial Video for VIVO

• Project Goal: Create a testimonial showing products in use
• Role(s):  Director, Interviewer, Camera Operator, Editor, Motion Graphics Designer
• Date Released: May 13, 2019

(This was originally an article I posted on LinkedIn – it has been slightly edited from it’s original form to better match this format)

Part One: Planning the Shoot

This was the second testimonial video we did at VIVO, and I was determined to learn from the process of the first one. We had a list of interview questions that had worked fairly well for us last time, but it could easily be expounded on.

The most glaring thing that we had found missing when we reached the editing stage of the previous testimonial was the lack of a solid opener, particularly when it came to how the customer went about ordering from VIVO. I added a couple questions to try and remedy this, and put a note in my papers to try and draw material like that out during the interview.

Defining the objectives

With any video project, it’s important to define what you’re trying to accomplish with the video as early as possible in the process. We discussed this during our planning meetings, and were able to boil it down to two main goals:

1. Wholesale focus. The video was to be embedded on our wholesale direct page on our website, so we wanted it to be focused on that aspect of working with our company.
2. Product focus. The product that this client had purchased from us is one of our top selling desk products, and we really wanted to push that product as best we could.

Keeping these objectives in mind, we updated our interview question list and worked out a shot list for B-roll we wanted to get on location. We also made a full list of all the equipment we wanted to bring. Then all we had to do was wait until shoot day.

Part Two: Shoot Day

Shoot day ended up being pushed back a couple of times due to scheduling changes and conflicts on the clients end. This was nothing to complain about; they were letting us take up their time and office space expecting nothing in return, and we had plenty of projects to keep us busy in the meantime. Besides, it gave us time to make sure our interview questions and shot list were polished and ready.

We packed up our equipment, going down the check list to make sure we had everything. The office where we were shooting wasn’t a far drive, but we didn’t want to get there and realize we had forgotten SD cards or something equally as important. Our main setup consisted of the Canon C100, two Rokinon Lenses (35mm and 16mm), a Lav mic, two soft boxes, and our sturdy Manfrotto tripod. We opted not to bring our slider in for two main reasons:

1. We knew the space we were shooting in was small, so lugging it around the area was going to be a pain. We had brought the slider on the previous testimonial, but we ended up mostly shooting on the tripod anyway, due to lack of variety in places we could reasonably put the slider. And, more importantly-
2. We only had roughly 4 hours to complete the entire shoot; both the interview and b-roll footage. Our slider takes a good 30 minutes to set up, and is cumbersome and time consuming to move around for shots. We needed to move quickly for this shoot, so we decided to leave it behind.

Prioritization

When you have a very limited time shooting in a particular space, prioritization is key. We had B-roll we wanted to shoot, and while we much preferred authentic footage of the actual office space being talked about in the video, if we had to use other footage of the product it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The video wouldn’t work at all without the interview, so we knocked that out first thing.

The interview notes served me very well, ensuring we were able to cover everything we needed multiple times, giving us plenty of options to choose from when we reached the edit. But as we started to reach the end of the interview questions we had, I still wasn’t sure we had a solid opener/transition that we were missing last time. So I added some more questions trying to hone in the customer’s experience in directly contacting VIVO.

What ended up doing the trick quite well and getting us the footage we needed was simply asking Matt, our interviewee, to tell us a story. I asked him to walk us through the entire, research, contact, and purchase process with VIVO, and specifically mentioned to put it in a story format, adding any details he wanted, even if they weren’t related to the topic at hand. This allowed him to really relax give his perspective on the process in his own words, and gave us plenty of the material we needed to make the edit work.

Using the Space

We were working with a decently small office space, so when it came to B-roll, things had the potential to get difficult real quick, especially when it comes to keeping lights out of the shots without sacrificing quality. We ended up with several things working in our favor:

1. We had brought decently wide lenses, giving us a lot options to make the space feel a lot bigger then it actually was.
2. The office space was laid out in a very efficient way. There were plenty of angles we could move to and shoot from to give us a variety of shots.
3. It was a very sunny day and the office had a lot of windows. We had limited space to deflect and diffuse it, so this could have been just as much of a curse, but the windows were installed with white blinds that diffused the bright sunlight beautifully throughout the entire space. This meant we only had to use our lights for accents and fine tuning the light within a shot, saving us a lot of time.

We actually ended up saving so much time, I began to wish we had brought the slider. I’m not sure if actually would have ended up using it, but having the option wouldn’t have hurt. We got the footage we needed, and had extra time to get some shots not on our list and experiment with the space, and still not feel rushed as we packed up our equipment to head out.

Part three: Post-Production

Post-production is probably my favorite part of the video production process. It’s where everything comes together and you find out how well you actually did during the rest of production. Unless you’re dealing with a budget that allows re-shoots or pickup shots, what you have during post-production is what you get, and you have to work with it.

In pre-production, you’re dealing with abstracts. Whether it be plans, shot lists, logistics, or interview questions designed to get the responses you need, nothing is concrete yet. It’s only an idea. During the actual production itself, you’re bridging the gaps between the abstracts and reality, but everything is still broken down into its individual elements. Its cohesiveness hasn’t been tested.

Doing well during the planning and shooting is imperative to a quality end product, but exactly how well you did is tested in the edit. The shot list might have been fine on paper, and the shots may have looked great on set, but only when you put everything together in the sequence do you know if the film you watched in your head holds up in reality.

Problem Solving After the Fact

Any video editor will agree that one of the worst sentences that can be uttered on set is “We’ll fix it in post”. It’s right after “Oops, I forgot to hit record”. Nevertheless, when time on a location is limited, some mistakes will inevitably find their way into the footage.

In this case, we had a shot we really liked for the edit, but something had gone unnoticed when we were shooting: A mirrored surface in the background showing an employee of the establishment walking around and watching the video shoot. It was clear she wasn’t supposed to be part of the shot, and it was large enough in frame to be distracting from the video’s focus. Fortunately, because we had shot on a tripod, it was a simple enough fix. I simply took a freeze frame from a part of the shot with nothing in the reflection, added a mask and some effects to blend it into the shot, and we were good to go.

Sharper eyes on set could have avoided the whole thing, saving time and making for a technically cleaner shot, but having the ability to save things in post can help keep the all rolling even when mistakes are made. “Fix it in post” should never be used as a crutch, but it can be used as band-aid when necessary.