Very rarely do I meet someone who, when I whip the camera out, says ‘I love being on camera, get as close as you can’. As a rule you probably don’t want to do ‘stuff’ on camera, but WHY? We don’t mind looking in the mirror and seeing ourselves when we are in control of what we see. We pull our mirror face, we know what works and what doesn’t! We watch so many people nailing it on youtube with not a care in the world, so WHY do we still fear the thought of seeing the person we spend every single second of every single day with – on camera?
When I meet and greet companies and we talk about a film idea I’m always overwhelmed by how interesting people’s jobs are. How animated people are when they talk about wanting to show the world their brand; their ideas. I always come away from those meetings feeling really creative. It’s my job to work with those ideas and creatively put them on screen for the world to see. Often my main focus is to celebrate the work force – the real people behind the brand, to give their film lots of personality as well as identity. There’s always a pattern when I arrive on location and turn on the camera for an interview and it goes a bit like this.
The thought of conveying the messages you so creatively talked about in that first meeting, well that thought spirals out of control a little. You’re worried you will say something stupid or make a mistake. Will I get your best angle? You have no control over the images that ‘I’ am seeing because you’re not looking in the mirror. Your game face has turned to ‘deer in headlights’ face. You might start talking like the queen a bit, you might use big words you’ve never used (in completely the wrong context), you might go blank, you might sweat and swear etc etc etc. You have lost control of how you see yourself. You don’t feel comfortable.
BUT in reality it goes something like this. I ask you your name and you say it very fast and then you stumble on the first two questions and THEN you realise why you’re being filmed and how strongly you believe in your company – in the brand you’ve built. You’re talking on camera now because you’re amazing at what you do. You don’t sweat. You don’t talk like the queen and you absolutely ace it. You nail it because you know everything there possibly is to know about your business and your brand. You start to relax and next up you’re throwing me some directing ideas!! You forget the camera is there and we get some truly magical moments. Companies who really want social media films are always full of passion. They don’t want to merge into the background and sit quietly, they want to tell the world what they’re about. Dynamic companies driven by incredibly passionate people with really interesting things to say – that’s always the case. Don’t ever doubt your words or your experience. You know more than that camera knows. If you are are going to let those THOUGHTS spiral a little bit on the dark side then do – a little, but just remember the golden rule. The first couple of minutes will feel awkward and weird. You know it. I know it and you may be a little spooked when you watch yourself back – that’s also normal, but you’ll be amazed at how confident, articulate and great you are.
