Video is an ideal tool for showcasing speakers and presentations to people who couldn't attend your conferences. As a business you want to remember to film as it will allow your event to become more timeless and accessible to future clients as they will always be able to find it. Filming is also a great way to promote your next conference, you are able to turn the longer content into much smaller content to show off what your company can put on for your audience.
Here are some tips to help you when your considering filming your next conference;
The location and surroundings give the first impression of your conference, you want to be making sure the background looks professional and attractive as this is one of the main things the audience will notice first. However, you don't want the background to be too distracting or over the top as the speakers are what the audience needs to be focusing on. You don't want your background to be more interesting than what the speaker is talking about but you also need it to be interesting enough so that it doesn't appear too dull. If your background is plain white the audience will lose interest as there isn't anything to look at behind the speaker, a more branded background would work better as it still gives the audience something to look at.
Natural lighting is just as important, when conferences are held during the day it might mean you don't have to light the speakers, as the day goes on and it gets darker it can get more difficult. When you are in darkened rooms you will need to work with the stage lighting so the speakers are lit up, this will help when they are on camera as it will look a lot better for the online viewers. Making sure you communicate closely with the production company is important, they will need to know if they will need to bring lighting to help light up the area as they will want to make it look as professional as possible.
As a team you want to make sure you visit the venue you're filming in before the day, this is crucial as it will help you get an idea of what the set up will look like on the day and how you can create the background and surrounding visuals pleasing to the audience. Taking the video production company with you can benefit you as well as they will have more of an idea of how to film it in a day and give you and your team the best possible suggestions and ideas that might make the filming easier.
For any event filming you want to make sure you have a minimum of two cameras, this will allow you to capture the speakers from more than one angel and also get the audience's reactions and expressions. There are many benefits from have two cameras at any event, you can have one camera fixed on the speaker which will allow you to move around the other camera around getting multiple angels and audiences members, it will help the editor in the final edit as it will give them more footage to work with and it will piece together project nicer. It will help the edit seem more seamless with the audience's reaction.
If you decide to use three cameras on the day it means you will be able to keep two cameras on fixed angles, this could be one on the speaker and one on the audience. You are then able to use the third for movement shots. This can create a better variety of footage and it can help with highlighting different elements of the conference which might have been missed on the fixed angels.
Speaking to the video production will help give you an idea of how many cameras they think you will need and what would be suitable for your conference. This will help you get a more of an idea of what you should be doing when capturing your conference on camera and what you might need to set up.
Interviews and testimonials make great conference promotional videos, making sure you set time aside for speakers, sponsors and organisers to answer questions gives you the time to grab great content for the video and it can allow separate videos to be made from these. If you make sure the production company is aware of this they will then make sure they remember to capture these moments. As a team you will need to decide on who you want to be interviewed and make the video production team aware who you want to be filmed so they can pull them to one side when they start filming.
Putting time aside for the interviews is crucial, you want to be making sure you are getting the content and the answer you are looking for in the time. Getting as many people as possible on camera answering questions will give you more footage to work with and you will be able to decide what answers you like the most and the ones that best represent the brand. During these interviews you want to be making sure you have a good location to fill as you want to make sure the background still looks good for the brand, if you have a busier background with audience members behind is a good as it can show potential customers that your event is popular and people enjoy coming to what you put on.
When conference filming you want to capture as much footage from the audience as possible, especially when the audience are asking questions or engaging more directly with the speaker as this is what people want to see. Capturing audiences looking interesting and enjoying the conference is important for the brand as it's what will help your future conference with popularity.
It’s not a good idea to use the footage where there are empty seats of people who don't look excited to be there as this won't impress people watching the conference. You want to be selling the brand with the audience looking engaged as your potential customers will trust the emotions and the reactions of their peers who are watching the conference live.
Filming conferences is a great idea if you want to get your company known, it can be more challenging than just making a video as it is live and you can't do multiple takes of speakers. The content is the content you have to work with therefore you want to make sure you are getting everything you need to.
The job of the production company is to work alongside your team to capture the right atmosphere of the live conference and produce it in the most visually appealing way. As a business you want to keep in mind that the end result is to give the audience what your conferences are like and what you can put on for them. It will give customers a taste of how your conferences run and if they want to attend them in person.
When planned well your video project can really help push you to being a much more successful business, get in touch to find out how we can help capture your conference or event on camera.
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