Updated: October 19, 2026
Why interview subjects need their own pre-production
Most of the planning on a Miami video shoot goes into things you can see: the location, the lighting, the crew list, the call time. The people who will speak on camera often get a single email the week before with an address and a request to "wear something nice." Then the shoot day arrives, the customer in the testimonial freezes after the first question, the founder recites a press release, and the editor spends three days trying to build a story from answers that never quite land.
Testimonial videos, case studies, employee stories and documentary-style brand films all depend on real people talking naturally. That does not happen by luck. It comes from a short, deliberate stretch of pre-production aimed at the subjects themselves: choosing the right people, talking to them before the camera is there, shaping the questions, and handling the paperwork and logistics early so nobody is anxious on the day. This guide walks through how we approach it for shoots in Miami, where many subjects are busy business owners, bilingual, and fitting the interview between client calls.
Choosing who goes on camera
The person with the most impressive title is not always the best interview. For a customer testimonial, the ideal subject has a specific story (a problem, a decision, a result), is comfortable explaining it in their own words and is approved by their own company to appear in your video. For an employee or culture piece, you want people who speak about their work with some warmth and detail.
Before you lock names, ask the client a few practical questions:
- Does this person have a concrete before-and-after story, or only general praise?
- Is their employer or legal team likely to approve them appearing on camera and being named?
- Are they more comfortable in English or Spanish, and which version of the video is the priority?
- Can they give you 60 to 90 minutes on the shoot day, including setup, makeup and a few b-roll moments?
- Is there a backup subject if someone cancels the morning of the shoot?
That last point matters more than people expect. Real subjects are not booked talent, and a last-minute cancellation is common. Having a second person lined up, even informally, can save a full shoot day. Casting real people is a different job from casting actors, but some of the same habits apply, and our guide to casting talent for Miami video shoots covers the booking side in more detail.
The pre-interview: a phone call that shapes the whole edit
A pre-interview is a 15 to 30 minute conversation, usually by phone or video call, held a few days to a week before the shoot. The producer or director talks with the subject about the story, listens for the strongest moments and gets a sense of how the person speaks. It is not a rehearsal and it should not feel like one.
A good pre-interview gives you:
- The shape of the story. You learn which parts of their experience are vivid and which are vague, so the shoot-day questions can go straight to the good material.
- Language and phrasing. If a subject naturally says "we were drowning in paperwork," that phrase is gold. You will know to steer toward it without putting words in their mouth.
- Warning signs. Some people are very nervous, some talk in long unbroken paragraphs, some keep naming competitors or confidential numbers. Better to know now.
- Rapport. When the same person who called them is in the room on the day, the subject already feels they are talking to someone they know.
Keep notes during the call, or record it with permission, and share a short summary with the client. That summary often becomes the first draft of the edit outline.
What not to do in a pre-interview
Do not ask the subject to memorize answers or send them a script. People who rehearse word-for-word tend to sound stiff on camera and lose their place under the lights. Do not promise them specific content will be in the final video. And do not push for the "perfect" answer on the phone. If they tell a great story perfectly on the call, the version on camera will often feel flatter because they already told it once. Leave a little freshness for the day.
Writing the interview questions
With the pre-interview notes in hand, write the question list. A few principles keep it useful:
- Open questions, not yes or no. "Tell me about the week you realized the old system was not working" gets a story. "Was the old system bad?" gets a word.
- Chronological order. Walk the subject through the story in the order it happened. It is easier to remember and it gives the editor a natural structure.
- Ask for complete sentences. Because the interviewer's voice is usually cut, the subject should include the question in the answer. A quick reminder at the start ("Could you start your answer with the context, like 'When we first called them...'") saves many retakes.
- Plan for 10 to 15 core questions. More than that and the interview drags. Fewer and you may not have enough options in the edit.
- End with a wide-open question. "Is there anything we did not ask that you want to say?" often produces the most honest moment of the day.
Share the question topics, not the exact wording, with the subject a day or two ahead. Knowing the general areas lowers anxiety without turning the interview into a reading.
Bilingual subjects and language choice
In Miami, many interview subjects move comfortably between English and Spanish, and many companies want both versions. Decide in pre-production which language each subject will speak and whether you will record a second pass in the other language. Some people are far more expressive in their first language, and forcing an English interview can drain the energy out of their story. If you plan to subtitle, say so early, because it affects how long the edit and approvals will take. Our article on producing bilingual video in Miami goes deeper into scheduling both languages in one shoot.
Releases, approvals and what the subject needs to know
Every person who speaks on camera needs to sign a release before the footage can be used. For customer testimonials there is often a second layer: the subject's employer may need to approve the use of the company name, logo or results. Start that conversation in pre-production, not on the day, because corporate legal departments can take weeks to answer.
Send the release in advance so the subject can read it calmly, and confirm on the call:
- Whether they will be named on screen and how (full name, first name only, job title).
- Whether any numbers, products or clients they mention need to be checked or left out.
- Where the video will be used, such as website, social media, paid ads or trade shows.
Our guide to talent and location release forms explains what those documents usually cover and why missing one can make good footage unusable.
Practical prep for the subject's shoot day
Send the subject a short, friendly prep note two or three days before. Keep it to one screen. It should cover:
- Arrival time and exact address, including parking instructions, which matter a great deal in Brickell, downtown and Miami Beach.
- Wardrobe guidance: solid colors in the mid-range, no thin stripes or small patterns, no large logos, and a backup top. Bright white and pure black can be harder to expose, especially in strong Miami daylight through windows.
- Grooming: whether makeup will be provided or whether they should arrive camera-ready.
- How long they are needed, with a realistic window, not an optimistic one.
- A contact number for the producer on the day.
If the interview is at the subject's own office or home, ask about noise sources ahead of time: construction next door, an air handler that cannot be switched off, a busy road. Interview audio is the backbone of the edit, and planning for clean sound is far easier before the crew arrives. Our article on location audio for Miami video shoots lists the most common problems we run into here.
Planning the b-roll around the interview
A testimonial built only from a talking head gets tiring fast. During the pre-interview, note the places, actions and objects the subject mentions: the warehouse they reorganized, the team meeting, the product in use. Turn those into a short b-roll list for the same day and add them to the shot list, so the crew captures visuals that match the story the subject will tell.
How our team handles interview-led projects in Miami
At Miami Video Production, interview-driven work (customer testimonials, case studies, founder stories, employee videos) is a large part of what we do. On these projects our producer runs the subject side of pre-production directly: helping you choose who to feature, holding the pre-interviews, drafting questions with your marketing team, coordinating releases and sending each person a clear prep note. On the day, the same producer sits beside the camera, so the subject is talking to a familiar face.
The result is interviews that sound like real people speaking about real experiences, which is what makes testimonial video persuasive in the first place. If you are planning a series of customer stories or a documentary-style brand film in Miami, send us a note about the project with the number of subjects, the languages you need and your target date. We will come back with a plan for the pre-interviews and a realistic schedule for the shoot.