The world of corporate video has evolved well beyond the boardroom. Today’s briefs call for content that can carry the brand message in a variety of media environments and the one bringing it all together is the corporate videographer that is versatile and experienced enough to deliver in any medium. The history of moving-image storytelling through visual imagery spans many years beyond the knowledge of most clients, and the techniques of making a frame engaging.

It takes an experienced production professional to draw on this rich history of storytelling and use those skills to address the unique challenges presented by brand communication, including a thirty second timeframe, internal audience that feels the need to be heard, and product that must be cutting edge.

At Insignia Productions, this guide is prepared specifically for marketing directors, brand managers, and communication professionals.

What a Corporate Videographer Actually Does on a Project

This title covers more than what most clients understand. A corporate videographer does not merely refer to a cameraman who comes on the day of shooting armed with all the equipment required and then departs once the light goes out. In a professional production process, he is part of the pre-production process and will help in making some decisions concerning the visual language, location, format, and pace which make up the brief even before shooting a single shot.

This stage involves briefing with the client, creating or contributing to the shot list, checking the locations for the best light and sound, preparing the equipment in accordance with the shooting location needs, and coordinating other crew members in the shoot. This stage determines the visual approach, and failure to do this brings problems that can never be solved by editing.

In the actual production process, the corporate videographer becomes the main decision maker in all visual choices such as lenses and camera angles, lighting design, and framing of the subject. The faster and sure of himself he is, the better the results of the shoot will be. He gives you the best of the day and makes your edit easy.

At Insignia Productions Global, our corporate video production team approaches every brief from concept through delivery, which means the visual logic established in pre-production carries through to the final grade without breaking in the middle.

The Technical Vocabulary Behind Great Corporate Video

It is important for the client to have an understanding of what is being controlled by the corporate videographer so that briefing is done properly and the evaluation process becomes easier. Camera movements, the focal length, the depth of field, the lighting ratio, and the colour temperature are not just technical terms which should be left to the crew members.

The focal length of the camera gives us control on how much area we want to see in the frame and how compressed or expanded the view should be. A wide angle lens gives the impression of a larger area whereas a smaller angle lens isolates a person and creates an intimate feeling. A good director of photography would use such techniques consciously rather than unconsciously.

Lighting is all about the difference between the footage that comes out of the recording session. Natural light cannot be controlled but the controlled light can be used to create a uniform look through the entire shoot regardless of weather conditions and the placement of the windows. The colour temperature is all about the warmth or coolness of the light source.

Corporate Video Formats and What Each One Requires

The brief dictates the format, and the format dictates the specific skills of the corporate videographer. Every project does not require the same visual treatment, and a company that makes the same treatment for every corporate video, no matter how good technically it has been done, would still make videos that do not feel differentiated at all.

Communications with executives and leaders content, such as CEO speeches, presentations to the board and internal town halls, needs a production approach that finds the right balance between formalism and warmth. It is important to make the talent feel comfortable with filming, and in this case, the operator works almost as a director, dealing not only with the framing but also with the energy of the place.

In the case of product or brand content, it is about the visual qualities of the object being filmed. Shooting in close-up, proper studio lighting, precise camera movements and good grading of the materials used make up the most important skills. An experienced production specialist filming product content for a manufacturing company uses different techniques than when he films an interview of an executive, and not everybody is experienced in both of them.

Choosing a Corporate Videographer: What to Look For

It’s the beginning, but certainly not the end of the process. A portfolio is an account of a production professional’s body of work. It is what the conversation prior to signing the brief reveals which tells you what they know about what they have to do.

Find variety. If a production professional’s reel is versatile with regard to format, executive content, product, event and branded production, then you know you are dealing with a flexible entity. Reels which revolve around one aesthetic or format tell you what they will default to when there is no pressure on them to deviate from their usual style – a default which may or may not suit your brief.

Find discipline. How do they plan for pre-production? Ask them how they manage audio in difficult environments. Do they operate the camera themselves, and is the person who operates the camera also the one who took care of the brief?

References from previous clients in a market segment similar to yours will be the most reliable source of information you have.

Post-Production: Where the Footage Becomes a Film

Post-production often makes or breaks the success of a production. The client whose experience begins and ends on set underestimates the amount of work done in the editing studio.

The editor, working with the material filmed during the day, takes many decisions on what to keep and where and when to put it. There is more than one way to make good footage out of mediocre footage. It is possible to ruin the best footage with a bad edit. When the shooting and the editing belong to one team or there is an established collaboration between them, the footage is shot in consideration of the edit, making the process faster and better.

The color grade creates the visual style of the film. The corporate films require the grade to be clean and consistent and match the visuals of the brand. The colorist, guided by the references of the director or the branding team, can create the style to fit all the materials, whether they are a single film or a twelve-part series.

Corporate Videography in the African Market

There are some unique advantages and disadvantages connected with shooting corporate videos in Kenya and, more widely, East Africa. The area with its natural environment, cities, culture diversity and industries can offer a unique set of content that will be very beneficial for any video crew that is familiar with this area.

The brand shooting its corporate video in East Africa can benefit much from having a corporate videographer that is experienced in shooting in the area, having a knowledge about how to handle permits, how to hire the crew, the importance of the casting in the local culture, etc. It will take a time for an inexperienced team from another country to solve the problems which were already solved by a local team.

Video shot in the area and produced by a team that is familiar with the area, will work well with the audience. All the visual references used will not be taken out of context. The casting will be correct and relevant to the local culture.

What to Include in Your Brief for a Corporate Videographer

A comprehensive brief is the best thing you can bring to the first production meeting. It doesn’t necessarily have to include how the idea will be creatively executed because that is the production company’s job. It does, however, have to include the problems that your content has to address and who it has to reach and where.

It should also include the business objective behind the piece of content. A film that cuts down onboarding time by forty percent is going to have a different brief from one that is aimed at attracting regional distributors for your product. The two may appear similar visually, but there are differences in emphasis, pacing and information hierarchy. With a corporate videographer who has the business objective in mind, he can make better creative decisions than someone who only knows what the content entails.

Also, include any constraints that would affect the production process. It is better to know about them early and work around them than to discover them halfway through production.

Getting the Right Team for Your Next Project

Choosing the right videographer for your corporation’s video production project carries far-reaching consequences. When you make the right selection, you’ll get high-performing content, increased internal confidence in the production process, and a collaboration that will become more valuable with each future project. Choosing wrongly will only lead to content that will require re-shooting, more time spent revising, and a final product that will never meet the requirements.

We collaborate with marketing directors, brands, and communications officers in Kenya and East Africa who need to produce videos that can meet broadcast standards and achieve their business goals. We start all our projects with a comprehensive brief analysis and a production strategy before even moving a single piece of equipment.

When you are ready to talk through your next brief, contact our production team and we will come back to you within one business day.