10 Tips For Shooting Video In A Working Factory

In this video, photographers Jay P. Morgan (from the Slanted Lens) takes a look at shooting video in a real working factory.

Shooting a project in a factory can be a very interesting experience, but it is also a challenge. Morgan had a chance to film in SKB case factory and he had a chance to record 10 tips for anybody thinking of doing something similar.

Scout the location beforehand – come in and have a look, make notes on what and how you would like to shoot everything before you actually come in to shoot.
Make a list of all the different things you are going to shoot – be organized and prepare a list of everything you are going to shoot (if this has a step by step it will help you make the video in the end).
Look for interesting angles – high shots, low shots (using a GoPro is great – you can use it from all sorts of machines and equipment.
Move the camera – more movement will typically make for a more interesting shots – use a crane, slider, dolly or even a GoPro o a person to make your video looks more interesting.
Use ambient light for fill and add lights for highlights – you will typically need some powerful lights if you need to light large space but this is part of the job.
Add color to your lights to make the boring factory look more interesting.
To get dramatic shots you might need to destroy some stuff – it really depends on the factory but sometimes you will need to shoot through a product.
Bring clean shirts for the workers – this sound strange but in factories people are, well – messy (depending on the nature of the factory of course). If you want to film them you typically need them to look nice – so make sure you have company shirts with you (or make sure the company makes a few for the shoot).
Be persistent (but pleasant) – if you know you need a complex shoot – don’t hesitate to ask the workers – you need to be able to do your job.
Use more than one camera when you need to – when you shoot complex scenes that you might only have one or two chances of shooting – use different simultaneous angles and be creative.

You can find all of Jay P. Morgan’s videos here on LensVid on the following link. As always you can find more helpful photography tips on our Photography tips section here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.