What BROLL taught me about photographing experts

An expert needs visual variety in their image portfolios from shot-to-shot…

…in the same way a videographer captures a scene from multiple vantage points.

When I worked on Maury, one of the more frequent aspects to the gig was shooting reenactment B-Roll that would be used to help tell a guest’s story to the audience. 

Either we would conduct an interview or Maury would record a voice over, but based on their words, we’d hire actors, locations, and then recount the story through the footage captured. 

Now, most of the stories we were reenacting were not PG-rated and definitely didn’t involve a happy ending. 

Torture, mental abuse, kidnappings, sex crimes, abandonment and other assorted, horiffic stories were par for the course.

Let’s just say I shot some wild shit and leave it there :) 

Regardless of the content, however, my job was simple:

Capture a variety of wide, medium and close-up shots of the action so that it provided the video editor enough footage to cover Maury or the guests' words in a compelling, “I can’t stop watching this!” kinda way. 

While the video piece was no longer than 2 minutes, it would take up to a half-day or so to create the footage necessary to properly cover the dialog and provide the video editor an array of creative choices. 

For each sentence and paragraph of copy that needed visuals, I’d start by surveying the location, block the actors in the frame, have them engage in the required activity, hit record, and then walk around them in action to capture a variety of wide, medium and close-up shots.

Throughout the process, I would direct the actors to move differently, express different emotions through their facial expression, body language and other aspects of their delivery.

All the while, I’m also mindful of the location to be sure I’m framing out everything that didn’t make sense to be in the shot, which, often, was an immense challenge as we weren’t working in the most ideal of locations and time was of the essence. 

Sigh - the life of a one-man-band videographer :)

By the end of a reenactment shoot, I was mentally and physically exhausted - and sometimes, emotionally exhausted based on the content that I just helped create. 

Regardless of the toll, these types of shoots back then helped define my approach to what I do now with speakers, authors, trainers, consultants and other expert-business owners. 

Whether a speaker is conducting a virtual presentation, working on their phones, thinking to themselves, engaged in a one-on-one coaching session with a client, facilitating a workshop, or brainstorming ideas with a pen and pad, the process of surveying a location and identifying as many wide, medium and close-up shots coupled with a variety of facial expressions and body language is exactly the same. 

And it’s the same for a reason. 

When it comes to your photos, you need visual variety.

Everywhere.

All the time. 

Otherwise, you end up with two major issues:

One, you use the same shots over and over that look and feel exactly the same, which is a mediocre approach and not befitting an authority in your space of expertise. And two, you bore the hell out of your audience with the same shit over and over again.

Not good. 

Make sure that doesn’t happen during your next branded lifestyle portrait session by making sure your photographer understands the concept of visual variety and will work to provide you with a portfolio of images that vary from shot-to-shot. 

This will not only help capture and maintain your audience’s attention, but it also will give your design team options when creating your visual assets for your various marketing and promotional projects.

With that being said…

If you’re curious to hear more about my process, hop on a call with me and I’ll tell you all about it :)