PTC & fireside chat

Communicate directly to your audience with video

Piece to Camera

The piece-to-camera (PTC) or ‘talking head’ is an excellent way to engage your clients/customers. With a direct mode of address, you can convey your services; business, or message directly with the power of video. Whether you wish to introduce your website, disseminate significant amounts of information, or simply promote a service, a short PTC video is one of the best ways to engage the viewer. The examples on this page show some of the techniques we use. Such as:

Different backgrounds,
Different focal points,
Different locations,
Different editing styles,
Inclusion of b-roll,
Inclusion of graphics,
Jump cuts……. (and so much more)

The wonderful team of care workers and support workers helping people in need. This video was made for My Care My Home and contains lots of staff talking to the camera along with a variety of b-roll accompanying what is being said. A great way to communicate what you do as a business.

Office shoot

client - ‘My Care My Home’

In this video, we shot many PTCs in the office at My Care Home. You will see that we shot a number of the different staff members on the same day. We positioned them on a stool in front of a well-constructed background consisting of the main company signage, a branded bag, a care workers’ scrub and a plant pot. ALl items add to the scene but are kept in soft focus to ensure they do not distract from what is being said.

The final video has been cut with lots of b-roll (additional footage) to show the diverse nature of their jobs within the company whilst showing carers working in the service users homes.

A quick plea for support. A simple piece-to-camera set-up in a leisure centre. No additional footage, just a simple and effective communication tool.

PLea for support

Client - ‘Aneurin Leisure’

This was a very simple set-up for one of our regular clients. - We happened to be filming in a gymnasium for a client as part of a marketing strategy and they asked if we would record a simple PTC to help raise awareness for an initiative they were supporting in the local community.

This set-up is a simple shallow depth of field where the viewer can clearly see that it is shot in the gym and yet you can not identify anybody in the background. - A good strategy if the room you choose to use for the PTC’s contains a lot of things that could distract the viewer.

A multicamera shoot resulting in a fireside chat video. The video shows a high-level ‘chat’ on IT security between Microsoft and Kocho experts.

Fireside in the boardroom

client - ‘Kocho’

A fireside chat is a great opportunity for us at Harper Visuals to demonstrate our multi-camera setup. In this example we visited Kocho’s London office and transformed their boardroom into a place where their CEO could have a chat with Microsoft’s Partner Lead to discuss security landscapes and so much more. In the video you will see that our 3-camera set-up captures 3 angles to engage the viewer with even lighting and crisp sound from each of the microphones.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fortunately, we understand the need to control budgets when creating video products. We will ensure that the project is planned and project managed properly and will offer you the option of a fixed price or a daily rate. You can choose your preferred method.
We will be on hand from the planning stage right through to the end to make sure your project is exactly what you need.
Each and every video we create is bespoke to the client. The costs can vary a lot from client to client. Some of the things we will consider when quoting for your video project are:
• Number of crew members required - (camera operators, sound, lighting etc.)
• Number of days on location or in a studio
• How many exported videos are required and how many days it will take in the edit suite?
Before embarking on a project with Harper Visuals you will have a detailed agreement of what it will cost.
When you book HV for your video project you will be told how long it will take to shoot and how long we expect it to take to edit the footage. We pride ourselves in our efficiency and will deliver the very best quality products in the most time effective manner. (No hanging around for first edits!!)
When you make contact with the HV team we will arrange a call or a meeting to discuss your needs. When both parties are happy that we are ‘a good fit’ for each other, we will complete the pre-production work. This will involve a bit of ‘back-and-forth’ as we gain knowledge of your business, your strategic plans and consider any competitors in the market. Together we will plan all phases of the production including timings, locations, access agreements, permissions, copyright and everything in between.
When thefootage is collected we will deliver the first edit for you to consider and discuss changes and tweaks and aim to deliver the final deliverables in the correct formats in a timely way.