5 Training Video Production Ideas
Here are five ideas to get your started down the road to successful training video production.
Obviously, these are intended as ideas to get you started rather be slavishly copied.
Feel free to mix and match ideas as you feel is right.
Why use voxpop videos in training?
> You can gather a lot of runtime video footage in one place in a relatively short time.
> Peer to peer group influence really works when it comes to extolling the training message, and adding credibility to a production.
> Voxpops can be really exciting to watch if they’re edited well.
> You can do all of the training video as voxpops, or just a part of it. It’s nice to have this choice – so choose.
> A voxpop section will liven up part of a video by opening up the training initiative to workforce discussion.
What you need to do to shoot great voxpops
> You need at least 8 interviewees. 12-20 interviewees is fine. 3 to 5 interviewees is almost a waste of time.
> 8 or more interviewees will give the video editor a much wider choice of responses, allowing them to be interesting and creative instead of stuck with a handful of second rate speakers.
> 8 or more will allow you to represent an accurate workforce demographic, ie gender, regional accent, ethnicity, age.
> Understand the importance of honouring interviewees. Treat them like VIPs. Make they feel proud to have helped you. Look after them with refreshments, drinks, seating, courtesy, etc
> Send out questions in advance – see Guidance Notes for Interviewees and other voxpop tips earlier
Allow 10-20 mins per interview
Queue them up. Let queuing voxpops watch the others and learn what’s expected of the training video.
Keep moving the camera left and right between interviews (not during)
Keep moving camera round 90 degrees after each batch of interviews.
Don’t frighted of using “wobblycam” on-the-shoulder during interviews, or high and low contrasting shots. But whatever style you choose for your training video, stick to it, or it’ll tend to look odd.
Make use of the 16:9 letterbox screen to get useful background in the frame.
Feel free to do two person shots, ie, 2 interviewees together.
To make sure they project well, you’ll need to:
> Get them to stand unnaturally close together. It looks better even if they think it feels weird.
> Get them to look each other in the eye and smile before the interview. Make them bond as friends first.
> Encourage them to pay attention to each other’s answers, and not ignore each other.
