Fashion Lifestyle and Travel @ Kent Johnson Photography: YES Really

Sunday, 24 July 2016

YES Really - Short Fashion & Beauty Videos Work!

A while back when meeting with a client about their next photoshoot. I was asked what I thought about having someone along to do video too. I can't deny I was not very enthusiastic. In my experience having a videographer on set changes the flow of the shoot, and we would be working very hard to shoot a whole campaign with available light; in not a lot of time. So I was concerned about the logistics of additional set-ups and also breaks in the flow of the shoot depending on the videographer's approach. I did however hatch an alternative plan. I would shoot some short video snippets myself and cut it together afterwards as part of the overall package. Risky? Not really as we were only after quite simple and short video. I decided to use my old G10 point and shoot which I knew did a fine job on the focus and exposure and had a zoom lens so plenty of options.

This approach delivered some positive, and I think unique benefits.

Firstly I never needed to break the flow of the photoshoot as I was able to video my own point of view (POV).
Secondly I didn't need to worry about the models not knowing where to look, which camera was the important one. It was mine, it was always my camera. And again, this allowed for a seamless flow of creative energy between the photography and the talent.
Third, we had fantastic efficiency time wise, and were able to produce everything we were aiming for in the time frame available to us.
One director one POV allowed for seamless integration with the the stills photographs in an overall sense, all material working together visually. And from a production sense where I was able to add-in slide stills sequences into the motion video for additional dramatic effect.

Was the client happy with the product I delivered? Yes they were. However what has surprised me most, when going back over the clients Instagram (IG) account recently is how effective the short videos have been. They were delivering three to six times the engagement of the various still images used on their account. This really was a surprise as from my ongoing research into video viability I have noted that many 'major' videos tend to languish on a label or stores own youTube channel gaining very little direct engagement - this includes high budget productions - as well as simple ones like ours.

Reactions to a short beauty and fashion film on Instagram - Filmed by Kent Johnson.

So in a nutshell, I think short social media videos can work; they can blend very well with you main campaign and can deliver greater engagement with your social media audience on core Instagram and Facebook social media accounts. And I have upgraded to Full HD equipment which is still very portable and I am looking forward to future fashion and beauty projects that combine simple motion videos with shooting the stills. And on another note, it was great to see this client recently change her personal Facebook avatar over to one of my beauty shots from out very first shoot together nearly 2 years ago - great shots just keep on giving. Which is exactly what I design them to do!