Take better Behind The Scenes photos (forward this brief to your interns)

Angela Cheung
Nov 6 · 6 min read

Hello, we’re APV, a video creative agency based in Hong Kong. We’re filming all the time and often rely on interns to take our Behind-The-Scenes (BTS) photos. We created this guide to save briefing them every time, and we hope it saves your time too.

Photo credit: Jeff Chen. Featured: Utah Lee, Thomas J Elliott

A typical BTS photo:

A ‘meh’ BTS photo
Also ‘meh’

The reason this guide exists is because of Behind-the-scenes photos like these. Shots tended to lack focus, were unflattering to the talent and crew, gave no sense of place, product, people or time. On a few occasions, there were even glaring no-no’s e.g. a fridge full of a competitor’s soft drinks. Oops.


THE BASICS

DON’T GET IN THE WAY

Before you start clicking, ensure:

  • You’re not in the way of the main shoot
  • Your shutter isn’t clicking when they are recording sound. Many mirrorless cameras now have a silent shutter function, or you can buy sound muffling casing.
  • You’re not using flash during filming.
  • You’re allowed. There may be restricted areas, such as green rooms or holding areas, or talent restrictions.

This doesn’t mean you can’t move people around, set up shots, direct people into making certain actions or facial expressions, in fact, don’t be shy about doing so — just don’t intrude on or disrupt the main filming

ASPECT RATIO/DELIVERABLES

  • Portrait vs Landscape vs Square. It’s always worth asking your client their preferred photo orientation: portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) or square (err…square!). The answer is often “it doesn’t matter” or “I’m not sure”, if so, provide a mixture of aspect ratios where possible. Or if you know it’s mostly for website/LinkedIn, landscape is more useful. If you think it’s mostly for Instagram, make square more of a priority.

SCHEDULE

  • Ask for a copy of the filming schedule. Note down who, where, what, when. Plan in advance where you need to be to capture the shots you require, and what kind of shots you’re looking for. “Plan your work and work your plan” — Coach Marv Levy.

We’ve covered the basics, now to a handy checklist of shots:

  1. THE “MONEY” SHOT.

(Writer’s aside: I just googled the “money shot meaning” for this article. OMG. Did. Not. Realise. Its. Origins.) The money shot is the most significant, impressive or important photo of the day. The “if you can only use one photo, let this be it” shot. It could be a moment that encapsulates the whole day, or focuses on a key feature e.g. the main talent, the scale, the product, the client’s joy, the team in unity, the location…

Sample money shots:

Photo credit: Alain Lim. Talent: Sarah Lian
Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott. Talent: Utah Lee
Photo credit: Diana Li
Photo credit: Harley Alexander
Photo credit: Harley Alexander

2. THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE.

Look around the set. Who are the most important people? The talent, client, agency rep, director, producer? Make sure you capture a photo of them looking good (no double chin, no bitch-resting face), looking important/active/in command/effortlessly brilliant. If you’re unsure, think about who’s ultimately picking up the bill for this shoot, or who’s the person being the most fussed over. If you’re still not sure, ask your supervisor. If you need to get them to smile or pose a bit, wait for that opportune moment and ask them politely.

Remember, no double-chins.

Photo credit: Lee Devine. Talent: Jason Godfrey
Photo credit: Lee Devine
Photo credit: Angela Cheung. Talent: Jason Chiu, Cherrypicks
Photo credit: Alain Lim. Talent: Sarah Lian

3. BRANDING AND THE PRODUCT

Branding includes the product, logo, company. I often ask the client to bring a selection of branded items just for the BTS shots such as mugs for the crew, stickers to put on the clapperboard/callsheet, branded t-shirts.

Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott
Photo credit: Diana Li

4. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THIS SHOOT?

What’s a strong story you can express about this shoot? We like this simple message:

Wow! Those friendly video creatives at APV make miracles happen!

PRE-MIRACLE: budget and time constraints so we had to turn “Hong Kong in the afternoon” into “Paris at sunset”. Here’s a photo from the shoot.

Photo credit: Alain Lim

APRES MIRACLE: Ta-daaaa! Paris au coucher du soleil (thanks, Google Translate!)

(screenshot from the final video)

A story of contrasts.

This photo shows the contrast between the glamorous set, all shimmery gold and immaculately-dressed talent, with the less-than-glamorous technical set-up surrounding them.

Scale and technical complexity:

Location:

Fun:

Focus:

5. THE TEAM

Photo credit: Jeff Chen. Featured: Daniel Clarke
Photo credit: Alain Lim
Photo credit: Eva Chui Loiterton

6. DON’T FORGET YOU!

If you have time, and with explicit permission — don’t forget to get some photos of you on set too.

Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott. Featured: Ming
Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott. Featured: Kevin Wong
Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott. Featured: Keiden Cheung
Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott. Featured: Keiden Cheung
Photo credit: Thomas J Elliott

Hope you found this article useful. If you have any comments or additional tips, let me know below. Thanks so much to APV’s Kevin and Ashley for their input and digging through the photos.

And if you would like APV to take care of your brand’s video content including the behind-the-scenes photos, get in touch via www.apv.asia.

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