Thinking about your Video Profile and beyond

Special Note

    I want to put this article in the right setting.  I have just learned that the video profiles are designed to change on a weekly basis, even more than your photo, just a way to get to know you.  I fully support this idea, but if you are using a webcam, you might find a few things here.  If you are looking for video for your own business web site, and you are going to be your spokesperson, this may be very interesting.  I look forward to any and all responses.  Look for my next Event (in the planning stages) toward the end.  Other than that, read  on….

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There are a lot of videographers out there.  I call them the point and shoot version.  For a Video Deposition, once you read the introductions and the witness is sworn in, you keep the focus on the witness.  The only time you need to move or adjust the camera is to film evidence that the witness shows or responds to.  There’s a little more to it.  You have to understand the legal rules and log objections as they occur. But it requires little creativity.

When a videographer shoots a wedding or a bar mitzvah, it can be wonderful or not so wonderful.  It’s just like shooting a film.  If the videographer doesn’t get the money shots or doesn’t have an eye in the editing mode, the family may be really disappointed.

I have heard the stories, talked to many people in the recent months about video and beyond point and shoot, what can a member do or know about finding a good videographer.  There are dozens of really good ones out there.  They can even work on the fly and catch the essence of the Event.  It’s all about what you capture and how it‘s presented.

For a Video Profile, it’s more like a snap shot.  You remember the exercise:  Tell us about you in 1 minute; or convince me I should hire you instead right here and now.  Sound familiar?  With a Video Profile, it’s that quick.  Some people have trouble boiling it down into a minute or finding the right way to say it. Not everyone is an instant star in front of the camera.  My advice: stop thinking that way. 

The key here is to be real, be yourself and talk about one thing you want people to know about you or you and your business.  A really good videographer will sit down for a few minutes and get to know you, plan the shots, and take the time to do a run through, and then film a few versions.  Maybe you sit and review and critique.  Maybe it happens in an hour or a couple of sessions.  The end result should be the same, a very brief visit with you.  In one minute you can engage, excite, drawn in and light curiosity or the desire to meet or work with you – all in a minute.

So think about what you want to say.   Write it out as a script or an outline or as notes.  When you sit down with your webcam or a videographer, it’s the same thing.  The key is the capture a moving snap shot of you.  When you see a photographer photographing a model, the photographer and the model are in constant motion.  The photographer is talking and shooting in a one-way dialogue coach and director, taking dozen of shots to capture that one.  Extend that out to a minute of dialogue and talk about your business and/or you, and you see the relationship.

A good videographer will look for this, talk with you and in some cases, and work with you to catch the magic in the one-minute bottle.  A good videographer knows how to film someone and allow the subject to shine.

A couple more things:

There has to be enough light in order to see you.  I recently looked at several videos at another site.  They were professional, creatively shot and poorly lit.  Everything looked dark.  Now the simple solution is to insure your videographer creates the setting with enough eye to the light to see you clearly.  It’s for this reason a good videographer will have a light kit.  If you do it in a studio, then everything is preset.  It might even have a background similar to a professional photographer.  In a video deposition, it’s critical to eliminate all distractions and focus on the witness.  But in a Video Profile, the setting is important as well.  You may shoot at the studio or outside or at you place of work.  It’s a slight twist on an old saying:  One Right Image is worth a thousand words.  This is your profile.  You are the client.

The last thing I want to share is the value you get from doing this.  Some people will want or need one version.  Others will change their Video Profile just like a photograph.  If you have the time, the interest and/or the extra cash, it might be fun or important.  But remember, getting it right for your first time is just as important.  You are the Subject.  You are the Client.  You can pay a small fortune and not get what you want or need.  You might pay nothing and get a great one-minute profile.  But then it’s all about what you bring to the shoot and how good the videographer really is.  If both of you are on the same page, it’s easy.  If not, then that’s where a good videographer and your preparation pay off.

That’s the whole point to this article.  Get knowledgeable about what you want to do, write it down, then find a videographer who will shoot and capture the real you in a setting and at a cost you agree to. And if you are looking to post video on your  own web site, these steps are the key not only to a good result, but a good relationship with your videographer.  A win-win.

I will be starting a series of Events called Video Role Play where you can get hands on experience doing and critiquing you and a few others with positive feedback, how to look good and what you can do to be better at being yourself on Video.