How to prepare your team for a shoot day

Share the schedule in advance

Send the day's schedule to everyone involved: who is filmed when, and where. People who know when it's their turn are more relaxed, and nobody has to be pulled out of a meeting at the last minute.

Tell people what to expect

Most people aren't used to being filmed, and that's normal. It helps a lot when they know beforehand what will happen: what the video is about, which questions or topics are coming, and that a take can always be done again. Nobody needs to be perfect in one go.

A quiet room with daylight for interviews

For interviews, choose a quiet room with daylight. Quiet, because background noise from a busy office or a coffee machine ends up in the sound. Daylight, because it makes people look natural.

What to wear

Plain colours work best on camera. Avoid fine stripes and small checks, because they can flicker on screen. Also avoid large logos of other brands. Wear something you feel comfortable in: that shows.

Interviews are a conversation

The script or the key points are approved in advance, so nobody has to learn lines. On the day itself, it's about a good conversation. I ask the questions, you answer in your own words, and we take another go if something doesn't come out right.

Shots of the work itself

Besides interviews, a good video needs shots of people at work: a meeting, a conversation at a desk, someone explaining something on a screen. Let your team know these moments are part of the day. They don't have to act; it works best when they just carry on as usual.

Permission to be filmed

Ask your team beforehand who doesn't want to be filmed, and agree how I'll recognise them, for example with a coloured lanyard or a sticker. Make sure everyone who appears in the shot has given permission.

Give the setup some time

Before the first shot, light and sound need to be set up, and every new room means setting up again. So don't plan the first interview for the minute I walk in, and keep the interviews in one room where you can. That way the time goes into filming, not into moving equipment.

Tidy up, plan buffer time, one contact

Tidy the location: piles of paper, cables and empty cups show up in the shot. Plan some buffer time between parts of the day, because a shoot almost always takes a little longer than you think. And make one person on your side the contact for the day, someone who knows the building, the schedule and the people.

With these things in place, the shoot day is relaxed for your team, and you get the most out of it.