webdev One common enquiry we have here is marketing directors and agencies asking advice on how to produce a video featuring a companies’ CEO as the main “character”. Frequently organisations use this type of corporate video or to give a large multinational’s CEO a regular presence in the working lives of the companies’ employees.
There are numerous ways of producing one of these videos, below are some examples as well as pitfalls to avoid.
Office location
A CEO is frequently extremely busy and it is difficult to find time to record a video in any other place but one which requires as little travel for the boss as possible – i.e. In their office. The CEO’s office can often lend itself well to the production of a good video – as by definition they will have the best office with potentially the nicest views and best light from the biggest windows.
Companies should be aware though that, with all the best intentions, video production crews have a habit of getting in the way and causing disruption in busy offices. The same factors happen in companies that use factory space etc. This should definitely be a factor to consider when conceptualising the video!.
Exterior locations
A good alternative is to use exterior locations for the interview shoot. Obviously this ties in better if the company is represented well in an outdoor location (a shipping company would be a good example). The biggest pit fall for using exteriors for your shoot is the weather (particularly pertinent in the UK where the weather is changeable to say the least!)
Studio
A good alternative that nicely side steps both the issues with filming in a company premises and exterior locations is a studio. Studios are very easy to control in terms of light and sound and provide a environment without the distractions of the other venues mentioned in this blog.
A potential downside is actually getting time in the busy CEO’s schedule to go to the studio and sit around whilst the corporate video crew set up.
Within the studio there are various set ups and considerations in terms of the style of video that can be produced.
Interview
Perhaps the most traditional style would be to have a two chair “interview” type set up between the CEO and another employee/interviewer. This works to an extent but feels a little 70’s Parkinson in my opinion.
Talking head
A clean way of producing the video would be to have either a white background or dressed set, with the CEO being interviewed off camera by the production crew and addressing them (rather than looking at the camera)
Green screen
Our favourite way of doing CEO videos is to have the boss sitting in front of a green screen and interviewed off camera. In post production the green is keyed out with the computer and replaced by stats, photos, video or what every the client wants. The video is cut in such a way that the questions that were presented and the CEO’s responses are turned into the CEO giving a natural presentation.
