5 Common Corporate Interview Mistakes and How to Fix Them

5 Common Corporate Interview Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Many times, the marketing team is asked to grab a camera, sit an executive or customer down, ask them some questions and film it. The individual on-camera trusts they will look and sound good when the final video is released. Unfortunately, this isn’t usually the case.  Many aspects go into doing a corporate interview video production that will affect the overall quality.

Oftentimes the interview comes out looking bland, hard to hear, hard to watch or just boring. All we have is someone talking to a camera for minutes on end. No one wants to watch that!

Many companies use the corporate interview video production as their go-to staple. The setup is as follows: an executive from the company is filmed saying wonderful things about the company or introducing a new product or initiative within the organization. Other times a customer may be filmed giving a testimonial about your company.

You want to make sure that the person on camera looks good and sounds good. When the time comes to edit the video, you want to ensure you have usable footage. The last thing you want is to do a corporate interview video production and have the stakeholders of the video unhappy with the final outcome.

Let’s take a look at 5 common mistakes and how to fix them when doing a corporate video interview.

Why is the person on screen so shiny?

Sadly, no one offered the person on-camera (also known as “talent”) something as simple as a tissue to blot the oils from their forehead and face. The camera picks this up remarkably well. Sweat is also a leading cause of excessive shine on camera. The marketing team would also need to know not to wipe off sweat and oil, but instead gently blot. Wiping can cause your talent to turn red from the irritation to the skin.

Why can’t you hear them?

The reason you can’t hear the talent is because the sound was recorded straight from the camera (and we hope it wasn’t a cell phone camera) isn’t usually good. Most cameras have less than stellar on-board microphones. A separate microphone should have been used.

Is there any way to edit out the background noise from the video??

Probably not. Background noise is tough to remove during the editing process. The best way to remove background noise is by not recording it in the first place. A lapel or unidirectional microphone would work best. Get the talent as close to the microphone as possible without it appearing in the frame.

Can we cut around the “ums” from the person speaking?

Yes and no. You could cut around it, but if done wrong the video will look very choppy and amateurish. Viewers will focus on the bad quality of the video and editing and less on the person or message they are trying to convey.

Why is it hard to see their face?

Chances are your marketing guy doesn’t have lights to illuminate talent on camera. What happens then is dark shadows and light contrasts appear on faces, which can make anyone look unappealing. What you see with the naked eye can be misleading when it comes to video. The human eye adjusts as light levels go up and down, but a camera needs someone to adjust it as light levels fluctuate. What may look good in person, may be too dark for the camera to see.

We have the ability to set up, make people look good, pack up and get out in a smooth and efficient manner. This is important because the less time we can take, the sooner the talent can get back to what they normally do. We are always commended for our efficiency and the skill of showing on-camera talent in the best light possible, both literally and figuratively.

Give us a call if you need a well-crafted corporate interview video production or if your executive isn’t thrilled with how their last video came out. We may have some fresh ideas for you.