Preparing for your
Career Video
Shoot
Recording a Career Video with Remote Directed Video (RDV) is easy!
To answer any questions and help you prepare for your Career Video shoot, please contact the producer assigned to your shoot, or email careervideo@thecontractorconsultants.com.
On the day of your shoot, your director will be able to provide technical assistance, and help you look and sound your best on video.
SCHEDULING YOUR SHOOT
Please be as accurate as possible while scheduling your shoot. If you have any questions, please contact your producer. After scheduling, you’ll receive a confirmation email with links to add your scheduled shoot to your calendar. Please add the event to your calendar so you don’t miss your shoot.
Jump To:
WHAT TO EXPECT:
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
You will be recording with your own smartphone, tablet, or webcam (in some cases, we’ll provide a webcam).
You will need one of these devices:
AND a WiFi or wired connection with upload/download speeds of at least 3 Mb/s:
SETTING UP
Assembling Your Tripod (for smartphones/tablets)
PICKING A LOCATION
Once your shoot has been scheduled, you should begin thinking about where you’ll record the video. Survey your home, office, or other location. You’ll need the following:
WHAT TO WEAR
Wear what you would normally wear when meeting with colleagues or customers! The point of the Career Video is to showcase the working environment of your company, we simply suggest you wear clean clothes if you work in a position that gets dirty.
Here are some things you should avoid:
Here are some things you should avoid:
A note about makeup:
ON THE DAY OF THE SHOOT
You will receive a reminder email on the day of your shoot. Prior to your scheduled time, make sure you device is fully charged and set to “do not disturb.”
At your scheduled time, use the Access Link that we emailed to you the day before, from careervideo@thecontractorconsultants.com.
Keep in mind that this is not a Zoom or Skype meeting. Your shoot will be conducted entirely through a proprietary solution:
IF USING A PHONE/TABLET
IF USING A WEBCAM
Once you have entered the session, you and your director will be able to see and hear each other through the app. Your director will walk you through the delivery and recording of your content.
THE SHOOT
Once you have entered the online session, you will be greeted by your director, who is responsible for successfully recording your video content.
More than a video technician, your director will coach you through your shoot, answer any questions you may have, and make sure that you look and sound good for your video.
THE WAY IT WORKS
Once your location has been finalized and you’re ready to deliver your content, your director will want to shoot a test clip to make sure that your audio is working, and framing is as it should be. To do this, your director will ask you to answer a simple question. (It’s usually the question, “what did you have for breakfast this morning.)
Before you answer the questions, your director will trigger a countdown, which you will see on your screen. Once the countdown has run its course, the system will begin recording. Take a breath and answer the test question.
Once you have answered the test question, your director will review the clip to make sure that everything is in place. Your director will make any needed modifications and then proceed with the session in exactly the same manner.
That’s it!
We’ll go at your pace and your comfort level. If you’re not happy with an answer or a delivered line, we’ll shoot it again. Our goal is to produce a video that everyone is pleased with!
INTERVIEWS / SCRIPTED
If you have been asked to contribute a testimonial, please know that our clients are looking for honest answers to questions about your experiences with their companies, products, or services.
Unless you have been instructed otherwise, your testimonial questions will follow this format:
- Tell me a little bit about your company and what you do.
- What were things like before you started working with our client’s?
- What did our client do for you?
- What are things like now, after you started working with our client?
- If a colleague were to ask you what it’s like to work with our client, what would you tell them?
That’s it. There’s no homework to do, no facts and figures to remember, and no scripted lines to deliver. Just honest answers, in your own words, to simple questions about your experiences.
Can’t memorize all your lines? No problem.
If your content is scripted, familiarize yourself with your lines before the shoot, but don’t worry about memorizing everything exactly as written. We will shoot a series of takes that our editors will tie together after the shoot.
Your director will work with you to capture as much content as you are comfortable delivering, while staying true to the content that has been written for you. You will set the pace and your own comfort level.
If you can remember and deliver three or more lines per take, that’s fine. If you can only deliver one line per take, that’s fine, too.
Feel free to keep your script close to refresh your memory, but you don’t want to read from it directly. The camera will easily pick up that you’re reading your lines, which will make you appear unprepared or insincere. Look directly into the camera lens at all times.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Please refer to this diagram for camera placement and other parameters.
Please refer to this diagram for camera placement and other parameters.
The tripod extends to a height of 62 inches. Twist the collapsible column counterclockwise and extend it to your desired height.
The tripod can extend to reach your desired height. Twist the collapsible column counterclockwise and extend it to be even with your face, then twist clockwise to lock it in place.
If we did not send you a microphone adapter, you should be able to plug the microphone directly into your phone or tablet.
If we sent you a microphone adapter, plug it into your device, then plug the microphone into the adapter.
Clip the microphone to your shirt, jacket, dress, or etc., so that we can capture higher quality audio.
Sessions are scheduled for one hour, but the typical session lasts only 20-30 minutes, depending on the video
This decision is controlled by our client. Please, check with them to see if this is possible.
No. Everything is recorded on a proprietary platform called OpenReel.
You will receive an email 24-hours prior to your scheduled shoot time with instructions for joining your director in a remote recording session. If you do not receive this email, please contact your producer.
Please reschedule as soon as you know that you will not be able to make the originally scheduled session.
To reschedule, a link will be provided in your confirmation and reminder emails, so you can pick a more convenient time.
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