Whether communicating internally to stakeholders or externally to a target market, video drives engagement.
However, as decision-makers in marketing and operations, you face a perennial challenge: balancing the undeniable need for high-quality video assets against finite budgets. There is a pervasive misconception that professional video production requires Hollywood-level expenditures.
As a veteran producer in the St. Louis market, I can tell you that this is false. High-impact corporate messaging—specifically interviews and supporting B-roll—does not require an exorbitant budget. It requires strategy, experience, and the right execution partners.
“Cost-efficient” does not mean “cheap.” Cheap production inevitably shows on screen, damaging brand integrity. Cost-efficient means maximizing the return on investment for every dollar spent on a production day.
Here is an expert perspective on how to achieve maximum value when acquiring interviews and B-roll in the St. Louis area.
The Interview: Efficiency Through Controlled Environments
The executive or subject-matter expert (SME) interview is often the backbone of corporate video. It provides the narrative structure and humanizes the brand.
The primary enemy of budget during an interview shoot is unpredictability. Shooting on-location at your active place of business seems cost-effective initially, but often introduces expensive variables: fluctuating ambient noise, inconsistent sunlight streaming through windows, and interruptions from staff. These lead to retakes, longer crew hours, and inflated post-production costs to “fix” the footage.
The Cost-Efficient Solution: Utilize a dedicated production studio.
A controlled studio environment removes variables. Lighting is perfected once and remains consistent. Sound is pristine. We can batch-record multiple interviews in a single half-day session, rather than spreading them over a week at various locations. By centralizing acquisition in a purpose-built space, you maximize the sheer volume of usable content generated per hour.
B-Roll: The Visual Context That Should Not Be An Afterthought
If interviews are the “tell,” B-roll is the “show.” B-roll is the supplementary footage intercut with the main interview—shots of your facility, your product in action, or employees interacting.
Many organizations treat B-roll as a secondary concern, leading to “spray and pray” shooting—capturing generic footage without a plan. This wastes time on set and creates headaches in the editing room.
The Cost-Efficient Solution: Strategic Shot Lists.
Experienced producers do not just turn on the camera; we plan the edit before we shoot. By developing a targeted shot list aligned with the interview topics, we ensure every minute spent shooting B-roll produces usable assets. We focus on acquiring varied angles—wide shots to establish location, medium shots for action, and tight detail shots for texture—to give editors the flexibility they need without wasting time on redundant footage.
The Ultimate Efficiency: Asset Longevity and Repurposing
The single greatest factor in cost-efficiency is not what happens on the shoot day; it is what happens to the footage afterward. If you spend your budget on a shoot that yields only one three-minute video, your ROI is limited.
A truly efficient production must be designed for repurposing from day one.
Today’s media landscape is fragmented. You need horizontal video for your website and YouTube, vertical video for TikTok and Instagram Reels, and square formats for LinkedIn feeds. An experienced production team understands this during the acquisition phase. We frame shots to accommodate different aspect ratios later.
A single, well-planned interview day in St. Louis can yield:
- The primary long-form corporate video.
- Five to ten short, punchy social media clips.
- High-resolution still frames from the video for print or web marketing.
- Clean audio for internal podcasts.
When you view video production not as a one-off expense, but as the creation of a long-term media library, the cost per asset drops dramatically.
Partnering with St Louis Video for Seamless Execution
Achieving this level of cost-efficiency requires a partner who understands the entire lifecycle of media production.
Since 1982, St Louis Video has operated as a full-service professional commercial photography and video production company. We have decades of experience working alongside businesses, marketing firms, and creative agencies throughout the St. Louis area, ensuring their budgets translate into high-quality, effective media assets.
We provide the right equipment and extensive creative crew service experience tailored to your specific project scope. We support every aspect of your production to ensure it is seamless and successful—from supplying professional sound engineers and camera operators on location to setting up our private, custom interview studio.
Our studio facility is optimized for efficiency. It includes private lighting and visual setups perfect for small productions and interviews, yet it is large enough to incorporate specialized props to round out your set design.
St Louis Video is equipped to handle diverse media requirements. We are fully licensed to fly specialized drones indoors for unique perspectives on your operations, alongside traditional outdoor aerials. Furthermore, we stay at the forefront of technology, utilizing the latest in Artificial Intelligence to enhance culling, editing, and asset management across all our media services.
We are well-versed in all file types, styles of media, and accompanying software, specializing in repurposing your photography and video branding to gain more traction across every platform you utilize.
When you need high-quality acquisition that respects your budget and maximizes your long-term ROI, trust the experienced team at St Louis Video.
St Louis Video & Photo 