Today’s Topic Tuesday is the second in our video series by Anne Moshier of The Reflections Studio. Anne is hosting a workshop all about adding video to your senior photography business and only has 4 seats left! If you are interested in adding video to your senior sessions, check out Anne’s Workshop and be sure to read her awesome tips below!! Thanks for sharing Anne!!

Senior Films:
Keeping Your Senior Relaxed For Their Senior Video

During the shooting process of creating a Senior Film it is SOOOOOO important that your client remain confident, relaxed and comfortable in front of your camera. You might think it’s no different than during the photography portion, but it most certainly is. Video records every single move and your client is fully aware of that, which typically leads to them becoming stiff and self-conscious of everything single thing they do.

Several things play into breaking the ice during the shooting of a Senior Film at my studio. First things first, I don’t go into my Senior Films with an elaborate game plan in mind. Remember, this isn’t a promotional video for my studio; it’s a video of the Senior: who they are and what they love. So I don’t want to cloud the video with things that are not representative of my client. No elaborate props (unless they are part of the actual Senior portrait session) and no crazy outfits (again, unless they are part of the Senior sesh). I want my Seniors to feel like themselves in the video and that can be very difficult if they are given props and attire that do not fit them personally.

SPOILER ALERT: I’m about to give you three HUGE tips here, in order of importance, so take note!!!! 🙂

Tip #1: I do NOT just tell or ask them to do a specific thing. I SHOW THEM. You cannot imagine how incredibly important this is. Show & Tell. That may sound simple or even silly – but if I want my Senior to walk down the sidewalk while running their hand against the wall of the building they are walking by – I do that very thing, right in front of them, while describing it. “Okay, (insert Senior’s name), we are going to walk down the sidewalk – just like this and run our hand right down the wall – like so”. When I teach fellow Senior photogs how to shoot Senior films, I always have them SHOW their Senior model what they would like them to do. I cannot stress the importance of this step. Understand that video is very intimidating to your Senior and they cannot read your mind. The last thing you want is to tell them to do something and they do so incorrectly (because they don’t understand what you describing). They will get very nervous, self-conscious and begin to shut down. You already know you don’t want that to happen. SHOW. THEM. Be relaxed. Be funny. Enjoy the shoot with them and show them what you are looking for.

Tip #2: Keep It Simple. Elaborate things can confuse your Senior. Notice in the tip above, I asked for two things – Walk & Touch. Walk down the sidewalk. Touch the wall. Simple. 🙂 It isn’t that your Senior can’t comprehend instructions – we all know high school Seniors these days are incredibly well-educated, but nerves can get the best of them while shooting a film and cause them to fold under pressure. If they feel they have done something wrong, they will get more nervous, more stiff and will not enjoy the beauty of making their Senior film. Remember, your goal is for them to have fun and in order to do so, they have to be comfortable. Let’s talk examples: Blow the confetti at the camera. Pretty simple, right? You pretty much ‘fake’ show them how you want them to blow the confetti and that’s that. Now, let’s get all crazy photog elaborate for a second: Run across the room. Open up the gift bag. Throw all the tissue paper around. Pull out the bag of confetti. Rip it open. Throw it everywhere while spinning around.. Scoop confetti off the floor. Run over to the camera….. Yep, you get where I’m going with this. My main point of this tip is this: if your Senior misses just one step of those instructions and realizes it – they will stop mid-video, feeling like they have made a mistake. At that point, you’ll start that shot over and they will be much more nervous since they think they didn’t get it right the first go round. It’s much easier to avoid scenarios like this by keeping it simple.

Tip #3: I tell my Seniors not to worry about the camera. Unlike the portrait portion, I don’t want them to look at the camera AT ALL – unless I specifically ask them to. So I actually tell them in the very beginning, before the filming starts: ‘I don’t even want you to look at the camera, unless I specifically say so. Just pretend the camera isn’t even here.’ This is like a weight lifted off of their shoulders. They stop trying to perform for the camera and start acting more like themselves. THIS is where the magic really is!!! There is nothing like capturing the essence of your Senior in their film… It means the world to them.

If you’re interested in delving into the world of Senior videography, you need to hop a plane to sunny Florida next month. I’ll be teaching an AMAZING ‘Senior Films’ workshop in February and this is a skill you NEED TO HAVE! Oh, by the way, there’s very few seats left… Yikes! Grab your’s now: http://seniors.thereflectionsstudio.com/?p=6294

videos KATEMAXWELLSTYLEDPHOTOGRAPHY-ETSYSHOPSTOCKPHOTOGRAPHSLAYERED-155 NO K