B-ROLL

Natural vs. Staged Scenes

Our goal is always to create Naturalistic content that accurately represents a School’s environment, activities and people. However, if there are particular scenes or interactions that are key to the story but don't occur regularly or predictably, and/or they take place in locations where filming is difficult, some advance planning or “Staging” is required. For instance, if we envision a meeting between a teacher and parent, but such a meeting is not guaranteed to occur on the scheduled Filming Day, we will need to Stage this meeting. Furthermore, in order to ensure optimal visual impact, we often suggest that Staged scenes take place in locations that are both visually pleasing and relevant to the story. Elaborating on the example of a teacher/parent interaction, we may suggest a 15-minute scheduled scene in front of your school’s entrance during optimal outdoor lighting conditions, with a secondary location in mind if weather becomes an issue. Our team will use your Uploads to identify places and times of day that would be optimal for Staged scenes to occur.

Here are some examples of Scenes that we typically Stage:

  • Student/Teacher One-on-One Meetings and Interactions

  • Staff/Parent Meetings and Interactions

  • Teacher Collaboration Meetings and Interactions

  • Leadership/Teacher Meetings and Interactions

Scenes to Avoid

From our experiences it is not uncommon for Schools to have rooms and activities that should not be Filmed. Whether it is an outdated room, a space under construction, or a class activity that you would prefer not to appear on screen - if you want to ensure that we do not Film undesirable Scenes please make sure to fill out this section of the Client Questionnaire.

Managing Opt-Outs

Many Schools that we work with enroll students that are not cleared to be photographed for promotional purposes. To avoid filming these students, it is helpful on Filming Days for those students to be separated from their peers in class, and/or wear small stickers that help us identify them when Filming. We understand this is a sensitive issue and do not want any members of your School community to feel alienated, so careful consideration must be given to this subject in advance of Filming.