Camera. Motor! We shoot Corporate Movie!

Do you know how to approach a primitive production manager with a proposal to play the vampire queen at a Gothic ball? Can not you imagine the head of the department, a neat and pedantic, in the role of a mere recidivist with a revolver at the ready? Stereotypes crumble, and colleagues open completely from the other side, when they come to you - professionals of art-team building!

Perhaps, the most interesting format of creative team building - filming corporate cinema - told us Sergei Nikolaenko, a Petersburg director with 20 years of experience in the film industry, the head of the department for the production of corporate gaming and presentation films Atelier corporate solutions CREDO.

- Why do we need team building?

- Well, you probably know that modern scholars - and especially the British were pampered by it - have long doomed office workers to extinction. A lot of research is devoted to the "white collars", which are vegetating in stuffy offices, looking at the computer monitor, leading an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle, experiencing stress daily, and so on. A bleak picture, is not it? I think, partly in order to save the spark of life in office labor, and team building has appeared.

- What is there in creative teambuilding, which is not present in other types of teambuilding?

- I believe that creativity is the only activity in which a person is fully revealed and his attitude towards other people is manifested. In the game, quick wits, leadership qualities, reaction, physical advancement are more important. That is why, let's say, in a sports competition it's easy to sit behind your back with a more initiative and grasping colleague. In this I see the minus of extreme team building. After all, in any company and so there are leaders who in one way or another are constantly active, and our task is to rally as many people around one business as possible. In the creative process, all employees are involved, so a person who is usually in the shadows on tourist tickets or at corporate parties, here has the opportunity to finally prove himself. From my own experience I will say that almost no one misses this chance.

- Were there interesting precedents?

- Of course! At us in each project there are small miracles. For example, one serious lady from accounting thought that she could not talk. Unattractive aunt sat a gray mouse in the company for about ten years! It turned out to be a nugget, a charming woman who knows how to speak loudly and expressively, but even sing and dance! Heard, after her appearance on the screen caused a flurry of applause at the premiere of the corporate film, she absolutely changed - it became interesting to dress, smile more, got fans. I think the company is only benefiting from such magical transformations!

- Tell us about the specifics of the corporate gaming film?

- In the filming of the corporate film, we are dealing with non-professional actors. Nevertheless, the output always produces bright and funny shorts. How does this happen? The fact is that at the time of writing the script we try to select such genres so that it's possible to write in them recognizable characteristic types. Even to a person who has never participated in any kind of independent activity, it is interesting and easy to get used to the proposed image of a cowboy, a pioneer or a robber from a big road. By the way, the script is necessarily developed original - based on famous films or directly about the company. As for genres, it can be horror about maniacs, Indian cinema or Mexican TV series, western, fantasy about alien invasion, silent movie in the style of Charlie Chaplin, Soviet film propaganda.

- Where does the work on the corporate film begin?

- At the start, we always communicate with the company's management or the department that oversees the process. Usually it's either PR-specialists, or HR-managers. In general, than with a large number of employees will manage to talk, the better. Gradually emerges a kind of psychological portrait of the company - from him we later and push off when writing a script. Immediately find out how close or divided the team. Often people working in different departments, even unfamiliar with each other. Then we are looking for something that can unite all employees in the process. This can be an interesting scenario move. For example, for a large construction company, we shot the TV series "Rescuers in Time" - the heads of all departments made up a team that performed an important mission in each series.

- How do you still manage to turn office workers into actors?

- There are special exercises, trainings. On shootings there is no tension, there is a relaxed atmosphere. Gradually people are liberated, everyone is involved in the creative process - and those who have never participated in university skits, or in preparation for corporate holidays. Special fun always causes reincarnation before filming. Costumes, make-up, props - all this is done by professionals. Imagine some kind of Love Stepanovna, a delicate modest woman from the personnel department. After half an hour of working with make-up artists and costumers, even her own children do not recognize her-she turns into the head of a mafia clan, the heroine of an Indian love melodrama, or one of the padishah's wives in a harem.

- What tasks do you face when you order a corporate film?

- Basically, of course, the production of corporate cinema is ordered for the anniversary of the company, for the New Year or for a professional holiday. But it also happens that, for example, a new direction has opened, or two firms are merging. Then you need to introduce everyone to everyone, to unite the expanded collective, even to attract partners and best clients to team building. The best way, than creative team building, you will not think up. Sometimes they ask that the film increase the prestige of the company and the produced goods in the eyes of the employees. Under these tasks, we develop a scenario. It should not be confused with the presentation films, which we also shoot, it is not a feature film, or a team building. Image films about the company are shot for exhibitions, for posting on websites, for presentation to partners. For example, somehow we received an order from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in Russia and the company "Thai Airlines" - filmed a multi-series film about this country, which was then shown on regional television.

- When the film is shot, what happens next?

- Oh, this is a separate chapter, no less fascinating than the shooting process! Dancing occurs before installation. At this stage, if we make a music clip, the work moves to a professional sound recording studio. By the way, even if someone does not know how to sing, it's easily corrected with the help of modern sound processing programs. Then, of course, we prepare the film for viewing - we write it to the disk, we make the menu, we develop the design of the gift wrapping. A separate item on the menu is a film about the film - the funniest moments of filming always cause a storm of emotions! Often the bonus is photos from the filming. Well, then comes the very same day, or rather, the evening of the premiere! Presenting corporate cinema can be different. The most obvious and cheerful way is to arrange a ceremony of awarding a film prize, organize a vote for the best work of an actress and an actor, for the best dance and song, a prize of audience sympathy. This is a win-win entertainment show, which is then discussed for a long time by the company's employees at the lunch break and on corporate parties, telling friends and relatives about it.

- What is the cost of production of corporate cinema?

- There is no fixed cost, it is always different. It all depends on the number of participants, the number of filming days, from where in the script the movie is acting, what you need from the props. In the optimization of the budget, we are very much helped by the director of the film crew - this is a very important person who negotiates about renting rooms, suits, decorations, not only saves the customer's money, but sometimes makes the impossible possible! For example, for a large network of cosmetics stores, we shot 7 shorts and shot in the most unexpected places - in the Soviet museum, in the basement of the palace, on the icebreaker. Probably, a small firm with moderate incomes will not be able to afford a corporate film, but for large companies it is an investment in its employees, partners and regular customers. Such an event will unite the team and will be remembered for a long time - on the emotionality and power of impressions, filming a movie will give odds to any party!

- What do you think, what future is the creative team building on the market?

- I think everything goes to the fact that the popularity of creative team building will increase. Many companies do not yet know about the possibilities of shooting a real professional film, and even a game. We have customers who have tried once ... and have become regular customers. For some brands, we have done such projects more than once, not only in Russia, but also with traveling abroad in the framework of incentive programs, and also as a uniting event for dealers scattered across different cities of the country. We have already worked out this technology more than once and we understand that shooting corporate game movies is an excellent alternative to traditional forms of team building and parties for employees. And the prospects for this format are wonderful!