Corporate interviews are the perfect way to show the human side of your business.
By having the CEO, founder or other client facing employee talk on camera, you can form a more personal connection with your prospective customer, while expressing your videos key messages.
But, there are key elements which separate an outstanding corporate interview from a mediocre one.
Here are three of the most important things to consider when creating a corporate interview.
#1 Eyeline
One of the most important – and yet overlooked – elements in a corporate video is the eyeline. So how should you position interview subject in the video?
If we think about the screen as being divided into thirds, vertically and horizontally, then we want the interviewers eyes to be placed at the two third position. (See photo below).
It is best practice to keep about a third of an inch of space, in proportion to the subjects, head at the top of the screen.
We also find that corporate interviews are most engaging when the subject talk just slightly off camera. This enables the speaker to talk directly with their audience without appearing confrontational.
#2 Lighting
Lighting the video correctly is essential. As noted above maintaining a connection between interview subjects eyes and the audience is critical.
One of the most common mistakes made when lighting a video is casting a shadow over the eyes of the interviewee. This creates a barrier between the viewer and the subject of the presentation.
You also want to avoid creating any harsh shadows which will be distracting or undermine the appearance of the interviewee. You want to the shadow to roll gently off their face.
An area to watch out for is the interviewee’s nose. A badly lit nose can lead to a sharp line on the face. One way to overcome these problems is to hide the shadow in the smile lines.
#3 Sound
If you notice the sound in a corporate interview video then chances are something has gone wrong.
If the sound is poor quality then it can distract the audience from what is being said and the core message. We also need to be careful to avoid any additional sounds which may cause disruptions to the video. This could include a passing plane, a calling telephone or a noisy air conditioning unit.
To make sure that the sound is crystal clear we want to isolate the sound of the interview subject. To do this we use what is called a hypercardoid microphone. This heart shaped microphone is most sensitive to sounds that are directly in front of the microphone. This makes it perfect for capturing only the sound of the speaker.
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