One of my favorite film directors is Wes Anderson, who has made some very quirky movies over his career, including Rushmore, Hotel Chevalier and The Royal Tenenbaums (from which our opening icon is taken).
This week, the video hosting site Wistia posted a piece here that points out some of his trademark directing moves that you too can implement with the most basic of skills and equipment, and you don’t even have to see if Bill Murray is available to appear in your corporate video.
So what are these screen gems? (Sorry, I just had to say that.) Things like:
- Pick minimal sets and color schemes to make your point.
- Style is everything. Anderson uses some signature stylistic pieces: endings in slo mo, particular title cards (Woody Allen is another adherent of this for his opening and closing credits) and other movie tricks. While you don’t have to invest in a lot of fancy special gear, think about your opening and closing pieces and keep them consistent with your brand, logos and typography so that your videos are easily identifiable.
- Cast the same cast. People like Murray, Owen Wilson and others are often seen in many of his movies. You should use the same folks to increase consistency too.
- Give good sound. Find that teenager of one of your staffers who can provide the right soundtracks and background audio, and bring your soundtrack to life. For my screencast videos that I independently produce for my private clients, I record the audio track first to get the timing right for the visuals, which is the reverse of how most big-league movie directors do it (well, it works for me).
Good luck with your video, and feel free to share some of your own tips here.
