Why you should consider hiring a professional stylist for your next video
You've got your product/service messaging down on paper, but what about how your representatives and set will appear when it comes time to record? Here’s a look at how wardrobe, hair, makeup and set dressing can make a difference in the look and feel of your videos.
The role of a video stylist
Often, style considerations can kind of get tossed out the window. But if you’re taking the time and funds to invest in a project to help promote your business, make sure it not only looks really good but also emotionally connects with the audience that you're trying to reach. Doing so will help your video be more effective.
When you’re doing commercial photography or videography, consider hair, makeup, wardrobe, and set styling support for these productions. Having someone with an eye for detail taking care of how things look, the wardrobe the talent is wearing, the style of the set, if things match with your branding and other details can help the video better connect with your audience.
The right styling can also have positive internal effects on your team. For example, the right wardrobe can make your talent or staff feel more comfortable during their interviews. When people are on camera, they're usually nervous. We get comments all the time: Can you make me look younger? Can you work in post-production to take out my wrinkles? The video looks great, I just can't watch myself. Having a professional to provide reassurance that they do look good can boost their confidence.
There are a lot of moving parts to every video. The best way to really eliminate risk of things not turning out the way you want is to have an expert overseeing each area of production: An engineer just watching the audio, videographers just watching the cameras, a producer leading the interviewing and a stylist considering aesthetics. Investing in a full team effort will help your video be most successful.
Starting off on the right look
It's important to know that ensuring your video looks its best requires more than just having someone show up the day of production to do hair and makeup. A stylist needs to be very well-versed in everything from the video script and strategy to understanding the direction of content and the brand. That’s why it’s important to discuss style considerations in pre-production when you’re planning messaging and other parts of your video. This provides a chance for teams to clearly articulate how things could look and feel to the audience.
For instance, say it's a video with the CEO, what colors should they be presenting? Maybe you’re a law firm, that wants to portray a more, a younger, hip feel rather than traditional or stuffy. Stylists help teams think things through using tools like a mood board of the wardrobe or set and getting other thoughts down on paper, making sure the stylist is sourcing the right items, and telling the talent the correct items to bring. This preparation ensures everything fits together to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish.
During pre-production, you can also consider if you have the tools and resources to execute things on your own. If you’re comfortable with doing your own hair and makeup, cool. But if you hit points where you're like, I can't do that. I am a person in HR trying to build and produce a training video but I’m not a set designer, you can recognize and fill those gaps.
Video is about telling stories. Even corporate videos still tell stories and how things look or what somebody's wearing adds to that story. If the shot's shaky or if the color or audio is off, it affects people's brain where something doesn't feel as professional or as right. The same is true for style. When you devote the time and resources to the right team, they can help you keep things tight and ensure you’re creating the high-quality content you’re looking for.
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