A trade show lasts three or four days. What you film there can keep working for months. The trouble is that almost everyone films “a bit of everything” and goes home with hours of footage and not one finished video.
After many years filming events, I’ve ended up with a short list. Seven shots. Leave IAAPA with these seven and you have material to sell with all year.
1. The product in action
Not sitting there looking nice on display. Working. Someone switching it on, using it, riding it, testing it. Movement explains in five seconds what a brochure can’t in two pages.
2. A client talking
If I could film only one thing, it would be this. A client who stopped by the booth and says, in half a minute, why they bought from you. It’s worth more than anything you could write, because it isn’t you talking about you.
3. The company in one sentence
Your director or your best salesperson, looking at the camera, answering: what do you do, and who is it for? No memorized script. The way they’d say it to a client at the booth.
4. The busy booth
A wide shot, people walking through, conversations going on. It shows the brand was there and that there was a crowd. It sounds like a detail, but it’s what makes everything else believable.
5. The details
Finish, materials, screens, the logo. These are the shots that go between one line and the next and make the video look properly made.
6. Your team
The faces of the people who were at the booth. Weeks later, when the buyer gets the video, they recognize the person they talked to. That makes picking the conversation back up much easier.
7. The invitation
One simple line at the end: where to find the company and what the next step is. Without it, the video looks good and leads nowhere.
Is there time to film all of it?
Yes, as long as the shot list is agreed beforehand. With the list in hand, the seven shots fit into 4 hours at the booth. That’s exactly what our trade show coverage is: 4 hours of filming, 10 reels of up to 60 seconds, 2 of them delivered the same day.
If you’d like to hold a slot at IAAPA, email me: cristiano@brazucafilmes.com.br.