Your AV team has got the event covered. They’ve got a nice 3-4 camera setup on the main stage and will make your keynotes and executives look amazing.
But what about off stage? How else can you squeeze out a few additional video assets during this precious event?
B-roll
B-roll can be leveraged into a variety of different marketing content. They can be edited into bite-sized snippets for social media.
Depending on the scope of the event, b-roll can also be used for sizzle reels, not only to promote future events, but also the brand and the company culture.
B-roll can be used in any future videos including testimonials, recruiting, and other forms of corporate communication.
You want variety and quality in your b-roll. You may be tempted to walk around with your iPhone, but you (and your bosses) will be much happier later if you invest in quality gear. You may not need the same high-quality equipment as the main event coverage, but it should be shot at 4K, and we recommend investing in at least a gimbal to give the footage a smooth look.
Aerial footage also elevates b-roll content. These days you can hire an FAA-licensed drone operator and gear for about $500-750 per day. Some operators will do half days. So it’s affordable even for bootstrapped startups, and it significantly increases the look and feel of your videos. Make sure the operator is licensed and the area allows aerial videography.
Testimonials
Your in-person event will have all types of VIPs there. It’s the perfect time to grab a few interviews between sessions. These could be your customers, vendors and/or executives. It’s ideal to plan for them and have the relevant questions ready, but we recommend getting interviews from people that just happened to be there.
There are a couple different ways to do these. You can have a “person-on-the-street” type shoot where you walk around with a camera and microphone and just talk to people like for a news segment. These are usually for unplanned interviews and may be a mixed bag of what you’ll get. The video quality may vary as well, especially audio, but lighting as well.
For our clients, we always recommend setting up an interview set. This could be done with a small footprint – two cameras, basic interview lights and a chair. Throughout the day, interviewees can be brought into the room for 20 to 30-minute sessions. These will have a much higher production value, and can be used as separate videos or segments for a larger piece.
As an example, here are interviews from two of Pagerduty’s events. The first video was a “person-on-the-street” shoot and the second had a fixed set. The main difference between the two is the audio. Fortunately, we were able to reduce the background noise in the first video, but often, the background noise may drown out the speaker.
An in-person corporate event is a gold mine for marketing video content. Be sure to squeeze the most out of them.
Picturelab is a full-service video production company that has produced corporate event videos from our offices in Mountain View, CA, and Irvine, CA. Though we are based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California, we have the capacity to service clients all over the United States. To learn how we can help on your next corporate event, contact us at info@picturelab.com.