How to Direct Non-Actors in Business or Brand Videos
What do we know?
We’ve had the pleasure of working with a myriad of businesses in creating super video content for their brands. However, one of the challenges with producing content for businesses is navigating how to direct the people featured in the videos (who are commonly not actors). Whether it's a ‘Meet the Team’, ‘About us’, or social media video, there are always pinch points where individuals can feel lost in front of the lens, and start to feel a little awkward.
This presents two crucial issues:
First of all, as an external production company, our job is to make content production hassle free and easy for the client, and having them feel uncomfortable and requiring take after take is quite the opposite.
Secondly, and most importantly, the final product can reflect any nervousness or uncertainty, so knowing how to mitigate these issues is essential.
Of course, this problem is just as pertinent to businesses making their own in-house content, so at any level of video production, it’s wise to consider these points to save time and ensure your content reflects the value of your brand! Today I’ll be running through some tried and tested ways to make non-actors feel fluid and comfortable, ready to shoot some killer content.
1.Preparation is paramount
This process starts before you step on set. It may seem like an obvious point, but I’ve fallen victim to assuming my frame of reference is universal before shoot day. In preparation for your shoot, whether you’re an external team coming in, or you’re planning the videos for your own company, do make sure you have a polished creative proposal/brief detailing what you plan to film, and when. What are these documents actually consisting of? I’ll usually format my creative proposal to include a summary of the overall aims of the videos we plan to shoot, mentioning if the goal is to drive engagement on instagram, improve conversion on the website for visitors, or build brand credibility.
This allows any of the individuals featuring a little insight into the tone you are aiming for, the level of knowledge they should assume when speaking for example. The rest of the proposal will detail each individual video and how we imagine it playing out, it will include either talking points, or if so desired, full script for the actors.
This probably doesn’t sound like anything novel, but the importance lies in distributing this documents to all those involved in the cast and crew in good time, reminding marketing managers to push it on to the others involved if I can’t reach them. Too often have I seen employees turn up for their ‘meet the team’ interviews without having been filled in on what on earth they’re actually there to talk about…
2. Take a little time to talk to them.
The more relaxed they are, the better their performance will be. When setting up for shooting content, sometimes the individuals waiting to be filmed end up sitting awkwardly in the corner with people running around on top of each other. Personally, I make a point to sit down and have a chat with the individuals before their video, just letting them know I'm there to help and that any and all mistakes are natural and can be cut with no problem.
✔ Tip: It helps to steer away from using any over-technical explanations when chatting to them, instead use accessible descriptions so as not to stress them out.
3. Keep the Script Simple and Conversational - if you need one at all!
Learning scripted lines can be intimidating for non-actors to get to grips with, and even just the practice of recital, rather than speaking organically can throw off the seamlessness of delivery. Instead, I try to opt for prompts, or short questions if it is interview style.
How might a prompt look different to a written line?
Line - “Now say ‘Our business prides itself on client communication’”
Prompt - “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about how you guys approach client relationships”
Even if giving prompts may result in slightly more dilute responses for the video, through editing or subsequent takes, prompting has always produced more natural and impactful responses with our clients.
✔ Tip: If a script is necessary, write it in a conversational tone and avoid complex industry jargon.
Naturally, there is an argument here that scripting is based on the format of video being produced, and it’s absolutely true that if you’re filming a skit for social media, pre-written lines are a lot more valuable. But regardless of format, for non-actors, the approach and expectations for line learning should feel less uptight and concrete, for everyone’s benefit.
4. Give Simple, Clear Directions
Non-actors will likely be overwhelmed if given multiple instances of feedback or direction at once . Keep your instructions focused on one thing at a time.
Instead of barking at the individual ‘Stop freezing up before delivering your line, move your hands naturally and actually smile when you’re talking’. It may prove more effective to break down your feedback into manageable chunks that can be addressed sequentially.
Maybe more this style
"Try adding a little smile as you say this part."
"Why don't we give that section another go, but take a breath and try to imagine you’re just talking to one of your colleagues ."
5. Shoot Multiple Takes and Keep It Light
I don’t think it's realistic in any instance to expect everything to go exactly to plan on the first take, but especially in these scenarios, you must be prepared to reshoot shots a fair number of times. Your reaction to this can really affect the atmosphere in the room, so don’t huff and puff, it’ll only make things worse.
✔ Tip: If they mess up, don’t make a big deal of it—laugh it off and reassure them that this is a natural part of the process, and seasoned professionals do exactly the same thing.
6. Use B-Roll to Cover Imperfections
This one is related more to post-production, but it informs the previous point. Imperfections and mistakes happen. As the qualified person leading the shoot, it is your job to let the others know that these aren’t damning. And when they do happen, remind yourself that using B-roll, you can mask them, and improve the flow of the final piece.
If you notice an individual is struggling a lot in delivering long flows of speech, perhaps suggest shooting some extra B-roll with them in particular to give more to your editor to seamlessly break down the longer responses with cutaways of them, say, walking through the office, or interacting with a colleague.
7. Make It a Conversation, Not a Performance
We’ve certainly already touched on this, but specifically, getting a novice actor to speak to a camera directly can be incredibly stressful. In shoots like ‘Meet the team’ I also just stylistically prefer asking the individual to talk to someone just off camera. Not only is staring at the camera pretty full-on, but being able to position someone else just aside allows for an actual human interaction and conversation. It will remove a lot of the artificial nature of the situation, and often times, the actor will forget about the camera all together.
✔ Tip: Have someone off-camera nod and react to their answers— it’s a seemingly useless change, but it makes a world of difference.
Final Thoughts
Well what have we learnt? I think many of these considerations are a product of being an empathetic and experienced Director/Producer in the first instance, but there are certainly some considerations you can employ to go that extra mile to make individuals who aren't familiar with the industry feel comfortable and ready to represent their brand.
These tools can be used by in-house marketers producing content on their phone, all the way up to video production companies, and the final product will be far better quality if they are considered. If you fancy a consultation from someone who has made all the mistakes of not using them before, I’m always up for a chat!
