When is video good for communication within a company?
Olga Jurek: People always prefer watching over reading. The only limit is our imagination. Any information can be given the form of a video. All management messages can be turned into short videos, e.g. about changes in the company, new strategies, coaching, incentive videos for employees, summing up PR actions, marketing campaigns, briefing… There’s plenty of occasions, and it does not always need to be image recording! You can convey many messages in an attractive form of animated/graphic presentations. [example in the link below the text]

Your video “Eggplant salad” won the first 48h film project competition by Przestrzeń Filmowa Foundation, in which you had to make the video in 48 hours – from the concept to the final video. What were those two days like?
O.J.: Taking part in the 48hfp competition is great fun all the time, and no sleep:) At the end you get much satisfaction from what you’ve made. It was a huge challenge, and the result wouldn’t be that great if it hadn’t been for the work of the entire team.

In making a corporate video, time is also a key factor. What are the conditions to produce a good video even when there’s little time and you’re on a tight budget?
O.J.: Entering a competition is different to commercial work – with competition videos we don’t have so many content-related guidelines. But it also very important to know what you want to  produce. Especially when you have little time, you need to plan in details what you want to show in the video and how. Without a script, or at least some essential assumptions, e.g. who says what and when, you can’t move on with the next stages of production, like finding the right team, equipment, etc. I always advise to my customers to start from carefully defining their needs, the message they want to convey and the effect they want to make.

Is there anything that a good video production for corporate communications should have regardless of the goals of the message?
O.J.: I believe that in corporate communications the superior factor is always the image. Both in internal and external communications. How we communicate is a factor building the image of the company, the brand, its people etc. It is extremely important how the company is perceived by its employees, investors, customers. I think filming without a proper lighting, make-up, text edition e.g. the company’s director is simply unacceptable. This is not private filming at a family gathering, but a corporate business message. This is a person often representing international brands and should have the possibility of conveying his or her message in the right form.

What is the most frequent mistake in companies’ attitude to video making?
O.J.: Unfortunately, it’s been common in recent years that customers try to make videos on their own. Obviously, at the end they often come to professional film makers and cry for help. I try to emphasize this is not the right order. Producing a video is like a set of communicating vessels: a good idea can be spoiled in the production process, while an ordinary one, e.g. a record of the CEO’s speech, can be turned into poetry.

But only a professional knows how this works?
O.J.: That’s true, and you spend less when hiring an agency, because the agency knows how to produce a good, high-quality video within a given budget. Sometimes it is worth making a slightly bigger investment to get a really good product than make something that is bad and has a negative impact on the company’s image.

Could you give examples of good corporate videos? Where should we search for good patterns?
O.J.: Don’t look for patterns, but for inspiration. There are many such videos on the Internet and you need to know how to watch them: I like the animation in this video, I like the color in that one, camera angles, music, etc. Even a seemingly simple idea, like recording short messages from employees, can be made attractive with the proper use of light, camera, interesting production. This is visible for instance in our summary video for the governmental project „Kierunki zamawiane”.  I try not to judge somebody’s work separately for its idea and production, because I know there are many factors that influence the final effect. Below you can see examples of corporate videos which I think are simply good.