Try filming your own corporate newscast!
Last week while guest speaking at a virtual conference with my tips on «How to Come Across As Good on Camera As You Do in Real Life» I was asked by the conference organizer: «Do you have any video ideas that could help our teams feel more connected, now that we’re working from home more often and seeing each other less in person?»
My answer?
«A cheap and easy way to reconnect people in a fun and informative way is to create your very own VIDEO NEWSCASTS, or news episodes. All you need is one or two charismatic hosts from your company, interesting subjects or projects to talk about, and employees willing to stand in front of the camera. You’d be surprised at how human the news can sound and how creative people can be.»
I was speaking from experience because we’d just successfully created this very thing for our Dutch client, SSVA. (www.sttls.nl). Here’s a snipet:
But wait! Not so fast. Who filmed it? Our client was in the Netherlands and we were in Spain. And due to Covid19’s international travel restrictions we couldn’t simply fly up and film their news episodes. We couldn’t even leave our homes! Our solution? We created a virtual production methodology. One that I think is here to stay (at least for certain int’l productions).
HERE’S HOW IT WORKED:
FIRST, we gave our client some virtual training on production planning, scripting, visual storytelling, and interviewing. We also recommended the purchase of some economical equipment that would help them improve their camera-phone stability and sound quality.
SECOND, they started filming scenes, including interviews, and passing us their raw footage. Our virtual production guidance and suggestions for improvement were either done during the filming of a scene, if for example our client was having any doubts, or was given later-on after we’d reviewed their footage.
FINALLY, we took care of all the postproduction work: from audio syncing between the camera-phones, imagery selection, transcriptions & translations, rough cuts, subtitling, music and sound effects, graphics, animations, final cut compression and formatting for web & social media.
Last week, after posting their second news episode, John Settels (Founder and CEO of SSVA) told me:
These videos connect people. That’s [the feedback] I get back. I really like it. … And it makes me think that it shouldn’t only be news and fun but that it can also be for spreading knowledge among my staff in quite an efficient way.”
To John’s pleasant surprise there’s now even a waiting list growing among employees requesting to participate in these «home grown» news episodes.
Given this positive internal reaction and the great potential John sees for more content creation, he’s now considering going public with these episodes.
So why am I sharing this here on our blog? Two reasons:
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Any questions, comments or insights? I’d love to hear them.
Author: Mike Plonsky
