It’s no secret that in the video production business, emotionally charged videos have more of an impact on viewers than boring videos that only show talking heads. Just imagine how much less engaged you would be if you were watching a film in which someone was having a flashback but all you saw was them talking without any images of the experience itself. Or imagine how much less suspenseful a horror movie would be if the killer crept around the house without the ominous music playing in the background. Not so scary at all.

There are a few tricks we use in video production to keep an audience captivated while successfully conveying an emotion you want them to feel. To demonstrate these concepts, we are going to use a short excerpt from a branded content video Ezra Productions produced for The Agency, a full-service, luxury real estate brokerage, development company and creative agency based in Los Angeles.

The short clip below shows an individual sitting in front of the camera giving information about the way the Agency uses event marketing to their advantage during open houses.

Raw Footage:

 

In the video, the man talks about the event having “layers of luxury items” and the presence of various art pieces being showcased in the house. From what he says, the event sounds pretty awesome but the issue with this clip is that we all have different concepts in our minds of what art and luxury items are. Is he talking about watches? What kind of art? Sculptures? The audience shouldn’t have to guess or imagine what he means. As the saying goes, “Show me, don’t tell me!” You have to walk the talk so show us exactly how extravagant your event really is!

Adding B-roll Footage to Your Video Production

I’m sure you caught the moment when we combined two clips of the man talking. We can add what is called b-roll or, in other words, we can add some alternative footage on top of the main shot to help cover up the cuts we made and show exactly what the speaker is talking about. This will not only clarify the message but it will give the audience something interesting to watch while they’re still listening to what the talking head has to say. Take a look:

Footage + B-roll:

 

Much better, right? You can see that the b-roll gives life to the man’s words and shows how jaw dropping the event really was! We can all agree that the visuals add some much-needed color to the video, but we can take it a step further by incorporating music, which adds personality and flow to the video.

Adding Music to Your Video Production

Although the b-roll enhanced the video, it is still a bit boring. The man’s voice is monotonous and we want viewers to be in a space in which they will be blown away by the visuals on the screen. That’s where music comes in. Music gives emotion to your footage. It helps set the atmosphere for your video and keeps people’s attention. In this case, we need to keep the video upbeat and we need the song to match the grand images of the event. Adding music will also provide the emotion and excitement that the speaker’s voice is lacking. 

Footage + B-roll + Music:

 

And there you have it: a clip that shows the luxury and conveys the excitement of the event. We’ve come a long way from our boring talking head video!