Secrets of a terrific tribute video
Bob Pomerantz
Tributes, roasts, docs & other creative videos for companies, families & foundations
By Bob Pomerantz
A lot is riding on your tribute video. Whether it's for a CEO's retirement party or a couple's 40th wedding anniversary, the video is often the main entertainment event.
You don't want to get it wrong. Employees have been demoted and family feuds launched when the all-important video goes over like a lead balloon.
The good news is, when the video's a big hit the responsible parties are showered with praise.
Whether you are producing it in-house or hiring an outside supplier, here are some tips to help ensure the video tribute gets "Two-Thumbs Way Up!"
1/ Know Your Mission/Messages:
What are you trying to accomplish? A reverential salute or a rollicking roast? Usually, a tribute video should be somewhere in-between: patting the honoree(s) on the back and also poking fun.
To execute your mission properly, be really clear on the key messages you want to convey (She was a great business visionary but a picky eater) and the tone (upbeat, but not syrupy sweet).
Helpful to ask is: "What would be appropriate for this honoree? What would be appropriate for this audience?
2/ Know Who Must Be in the Video:
One of the first issues that invariably comes up in the planning: Who should appear in the video? The following question should be posed early on: "Who absolutely positively must appear in the show?" -- be it for political or emotional reasons. You don't want the honoree leaving the party, shaking their head and muttering: "why the heck did they leave out Johnny Baird?!" (or Aunt Sally). Likewise, you don't want Johnny or Sally complaining.
In determining who to feature, do your research. Ask the honoree's closest friends/relatives/colleagues who they think NEEDS to be in the video, then compare notes. If the same 6 or 7 names keep coming up, you are smart to include them. Naturally the really important people get extra screen time, while non-vital people get less.
Here’s a way to squeeze extra people into the show: Pose the question on-screen: “If you had to sum up Jane Doe in one word, what word would you choose?” Then ask people to answer that question. With some tight editing, this’ll let you add 9 or 10 people to the video within the space of a minute or less.
3/ Choose the Right Length:
Should it be more like 8 minutes or 18? Generally, less is more. But specific factors help determine the proper running time:
? The bigger the crowd, the shorter the video;
? If the video is the party's main entertainment, go longer; if there's also a stand-up comic and 6 live speeches, go shorter;
? If there are multiple tribute videos, like at an employee recognition event, each video should be short (2.5 - 4 minutes).
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? No tribute video should run longer than about 20 minutes.
4/Scripted or Un-Scripted:
The good news is, either kind can be extremely effective. Just to be clear: "scripted" features a live host and/or voiceover narration; "un-scripted" (or "pure-documentary" style) tells the story by intercutting interview sound bites using clever editing and structuring.
The bad news is, it's easy to screw up both types. Pick your poison: A lame, flabby scripted video full of inaccuracies, or an endless series of boring "talking heads." How many golf anecdotes can an audience stomach?
Every tribute video is important. Best advice? Use people who know what they’re doing. If you're a company with an in-house media department, by all means use your own shooter-editor. Likewise, if you have a child who can shoot and edit well, entrust them with the project. But it often pays to bring in an outside specialist to write the script or provide some cool concepts: it won’t cost much and can turn your tribute from a C+ to an “A”.
5/ Traditional or 'Outside The Box' Concept:
Traditional doesn't necessarily mean boring. An old chestnut--"The Evening News" or "Special News Report" (scripted) is still a format that can work like a charm. In the "un-scripted" department; cutting together a series of pithy sound-bites into cleverly-named sections, with great music and great photos, can make for a great video.
But there are so many other ways to go: a person-on-the-street sequence; a phony "Q and A" (Question and Answer), featuring real sound-bites from the honoree juxtaposed with fake questions from an interviewer; a game show or TV specialty channel based on the life, career and personality of the honoree; a mockumentary, a mock info-mercial.
Creatively the sky's the limit–though be careful to choose a concept within your budget.
6/ Blast from the Past or Celebrity Appearance:
If your family or company has a connection, add some “wow factor” to the video by featuring a cameo appearance from a celebrity. There are also a few online sites, like cameo.com, that’ll get you a decent celebrity greeting for under $200.
As for the "blast from the past;" try to locate a person the honoree hasn't seen in a long time. It could be a favorite high school teacher or first boss or mentor; an ex-boyfriend or long-lost boyhood pal.
It's also fun to introduce some other unexpected characters into the show: the honoree's barber or hairdresser or dentist; the cafeteria lady; the security guard in the building.
All of these helps make the video special, a video people will marvel at and talk about for a long time to come.
(Bob Pomerantz runs Your Life Productions, a firm specializing in tribute videos. In an earlier life, Bob was a staff writer at the Toronto Star newspaper and a regular contributor to “National Lampoon” magazine).