A Step-by-Step Guide to Shooting a Brand Campaign Video
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how I shot a campaign video for Yes Theory’s clothing brand, Seek Discomfort. This has been transcribed and shortened from one of my YouTube videos. If you’d like to watch the video instead, it’s embedded at the bottom of this article. Enjoy!
Introduction
In this article, we will delve into the process of shooting a brand campaign video for Seek Discomfort, the clothing brand by Yes Theory. From pre-production to post-production, we will explore each step involved in creating a captivating video. Additionally, we will address some commonly asked questions about the video production process. So, if you're interested in gaining insights into shooting a successful brand campaign video, keep reading!
Understanding the Creative Brief and Concept
The Seek Discomfort brand revolves around pushing beyond one's comfort zone. For their new collection, "Breathe," designed by illustrator Julie Solvstrom, the team sought a video that would accompany the launch. A creative brief provided an overview of the collection, a mood board, a video outline, and key messages. Having a creative brief is essential, ensuring everyone is aligned with the video's goals. If your client lacks a creative brief, it's a good idea to create one collaboratively to clarify the video's direction.
Pre-Production: Planning and Shot List
Despite a tight timeline, meticulous planning was crucial for the shoot. A shot list was created, organizing shots into interior and exterior categories, ensuring all necessary shots were accounted for. Considering time constraints, natural lighting was preferred over setting up external lights. Consequently, the interview took place in Julie's house while the nature b-roll was captured in a nearby park, utilizing the changing sunlight to enhance the visuals.
Gear Setup
For this shoot, a run-and-gun setup was employed, including a Sony A7IV camera, Sigma 24-70 2.8 lens, Peak Design travel tripod, reflector, and Zhiyun Crane 2 gimbal. Audio was captured using a Tascam DR-10L lav mic, with a Rode shotgun microphone as a backup. Building rapport with Julie before the shoot was crucial, establishing comfort and ensuring she felt at ease in front of the camera.
Production: Shooting the Video
To ensure a smooth shoot, the process began with capturing the easier segments, gradually progressing to the more complex shots. The progress video of Julie working on one of the designs was shot first, followed by the voiceover segment. The interview portion, being the longest and potentially nerve-wracking for the subject, required a supportive approach. Active listening, allowing retakes if needed, and aligning responses with the key messages from the brief was essential.
Post-Production: Editing the Video
During post-production, the editing process took centre stage. Starting with selecting the best answers from the interview footage, grouping them by topic, and color coding them for easier identification. The most fitting answers were chosen to align with the video's overall message. With an initial footage length exceeding the desired duration, careful trimming and selection resulted in a concise and impactful final cut. Overlaying relevant b-roll footage, and creating a coherent story from start to finish, was the final step.
Adding Finishing Touches: Colour Grading & Sound Design
To enhance the video's impact, attention was given to color grading and sound design. Choosing appropriate music from a royalty-free site, Artlist, was an important step. The selected music needed to complement the visuals and blend well with Julie's voiceover and interview segments. Colour grading and sound design added the final touches, elevating the video's overall quality.
Q&A
How did you decide on the concept of the video?
The concept wasn't really up to me. It was the Seek Discomfort team that had this campaign and this video idea in mind. And it was kind of me bringing their vision to life, but also having some creative decision-making in terms of the shots and the location and basically the whole flow of the edit.
How long did it take to shoot, how many retakes (if any), and how long to put it together?
We actually shot this whole video in one afternoon. I met up with Julie at 1PM and by 4PM, we had wrapped and had said our goodbyes -- so less than four hours for the whole shoot. In terms of retakes, the interview portion is obviously the one that has the most retakes. That and the voiceover. I don't know how many retakes really, but the whole interview portion took roughly around 30 minutes. And then, the whole video took me around 48 hours to put together in the editing process: culling the footage, making the selects, editing, colour grading, sound design, and then revisions from the Seek Discomfort team. All in all, just under 50 hours.
What is your favourite part of the video?
That's pretty easy for me. I think most people will gravitate to the “Breathe” graphic that comes over Julie's head and then back down as she exhales -- that is definitely a close second for me, but my favourite part is where she's writing in her journal in the forest. I couldn't contain myself, I was so happy with the backlight behind her head. And then there's that one shot where you see this 45-degree angle of her face and the light just kind of illuminates like one side of her face. You can kind of see her one eye twinkle and I actually spent a lot of time in post-production tracking her eye to make it just a tiny bit brighter. I don't think anyone really notices that stuff, but I notice that stuff and I think it's really cool.
How do you get people who don't know you to open up so well in front of the camera?
Being friendly and helping them feel comfortable in the situation translates to them being more comfortable on camera. Someone is only going to be vulnerable with you on-camera if you give them permission to be vulnerable, so I think that's a big part of it. Treat the interview less like an interrogation where you have this rigid list of questions that you need to get through, and more like an actual conversation. You have to be curious, you have to be an active listener, and you have to ask follow-up questions so that the answers flow more naturally. I think if you just stick to this list of ten questions that you have, for example, the answers you're going to get are just one-and-done and you don't really get deeper into the subject matter, or deeper into the person, whatever it is. So, I think it really helps to have curiosity about the person or the subject matter that you're filming.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways
Shooting a brand campaign video requires preparation, versatility, and curiosity. Adequate planning, understanding the creative brief, and creating a shot list contribute.