• Who will be filming? Andy K Wilkinson of Shooting Image Ltd, www.shootingimage.co.uk

• Worried about filming? Don't worry - this is a perfectly normal reaction for most people! I've made well over 800 films for businesses large and small and must have filmed several 1000 people in the last 12 years. I'm also very patient so I'll help you get the very best delivery to camera on the day. You're in good hands!

• How long will it take to set the gear up for an interview? Typically a minimum of 30-45 minutes is needed for the full lighting and sound set-up for recording an important key narrative. However, if it's out and about (factory floor, around offices and laboratories/involves 1-2 lines from numerous people) it can sometimes just take a few minutes before we're rolling at each stop. We'll discuss the details of all this during our planning ahead of the filming date.

• Where will you film? The best place for the interview recording is a reasonably sized room, or at least any relatively quiet non-cramped environment. Noisy air conditioning or heaters will need to be turned off (if possible) during the actual interview as our microphones pick up everything. For the cut-away shots we will film wherever you would like at your interview location to show off your business environment/activities, e.g. office, factory, workshop, depot, shop etc. Obviously, it should look relatively tidy on the day of filming. Again, we'll usually have selected the main locations during the planning stage where we'll have done a brief walk round with you.

• Will my other employees appear in the Promo? Generally yes, if you want, e.g. whilst they are in their workplace doing what they do (as that will make the film much more interesting to watch). You will need to ask everyone who is likely to be involved/in shot beforehand that they are happy about appearing in the business promo film. Sometimes people really don’t want to (and that needs to be respected) whilst others can’t wait to get in front of the camera. Anything involving the general public is much more complex to set up/needs extreme care and we would need to discuss this beforehand.

• What should I wear? Whatever you feel most comfortable in. It’s best to avoid any highly textured, fine patterned fabrics - but with the high resolution sensors used on our modern digital cinema cameras this is rarely an issue these days. Be aware that we will probably ask you to wear a clip-on microphone (onto e.g. a lapel, collar or tie) which has a thin lead and connects to a small radio transmitter unit (attaches to a belt or goes in a pocket). You'll most likely also have another very high quality microphone on a boom stand close to you too. We will use several lights, although bright these modern LED units throw out very little heat - gone are the days of cooking the talent under tungsten lights!

• Should I prepare a speech? It’s up to you - but generally no! Of course, think about some of the things you’ll wish to convey about your business when you talk but most people find it VERY difficult to deliver even a short a paragraph to camera word perfect. Most of the time, what we find works best is a relaxed, sit down TV news interview type scenario where I will ask open ended questions about your business and what makes it special. We may well go over the main points several times and I'll use the best take during the edit - so relax. These selected sound bites (i.e. where you make some great points in a relaxed manner) will be used, often with cut-away shots showing your business activities to strengthen the point. For example, if you talk about the highly skilled workforce you employ then I might be showing them on-screen as you say that particular line. We'll discuss all this during the planning meeting.

• Can you film our factory from up high? I do a lot of filming for big companies within their factories from mobile platforms ("Cherry Pickers") - so if you have access to one of these and an operative that's all perfectly possible. If you want drone footage of the factory (inside is possible - but only after some careful risk assessment procedures) or outside then this can be included. The occasional drone shot (if sparingly used) can add some "wow" moments. I use a highly experienced, fully licensed professional sub-contractor for filming drone shots - when required.

• Can you include still pictures we already have of X, Y and Z? Usually, as long as they are of reasonable quality.

• Can we have our logo, website address and contact details in the film? Yes of course. Send us a relatively high resolution JPEG of your logo (or PDF) – we film in Full HD (1920 x 1080p) or often in the TV variant of 4K (UHD or QFHD, which is 3840 x 2160p resolution). Often we will "brand" the film using your logo in one corner and use your corporate colours and font for any on-screen text or watermark.

• What happens immediately after filming? Typically, within 10 days you will be able to view a private web page with a “Rough Cut” of your short film(s); 20 days for a more ‘complex to edit’ promotional film. Anything you are not happy about with the Rough Cuts, we’ll edit it out/modify it by using alternate/additional material we filmed. Once we’ve got it so you are happy to approve it then we'll produce the Final Cut of the film in various video formats you'll need: e.g. 1080p high quality MP4 optimised for YouTube uploading (looks great on laptops too) plus any specific formats for showing in conference rooms and on mobile devices (M4V for Apple and MP4 for Android).

• Need help with understanding YouTube/how to embed the film on your website? No problem, we can help you.

• When will we be invoiced? We're that confident you'll be happy with the film that you pay at the end - but if you doubt that just see our TESTIMONIAL page. Films are usually sent to you via a secure file transfer host we subscribe to called 'We Transfer'. You simply get an email with a link and then you have a month to download them from that link (we pay for a Plus account to allow that extended period). We can also easily provide your Final Cut video (in any formats you need) on professionally made direct printed discs.

• When can I use the film(s)? Shooting Image Ltd retains all legal copyright of any films until payment has been received. Then (and only then) you are free to use them however you so wish, e.g. uploading to YouTube, Vimeo and/or Facebook, embedding on your website, on laptops out in the field etc. You'll then get to see the benefits of using an effective, professionally made video to promote your business.

Tags: What to Wear for Video, What To Say, Filming FAQ