Justin Bieber Kiss video

Yes, it’s Justin Bieber at Kiss in an 8 minute interview with Clara. Wow, 8 minutes of speech from Kiss.

But that’s not the point of this post. I wanted instead to highlight what the radio station has done to make this video work so well for Kiss, and not just for Mr Bieber.

1. Great visual branding all around the studio.

The backdrop works in both the wide shot and the close-up. The mugs match. The mics carry the Kiss logo in closeup. Every frame of this piece bears some station branding. The watermarked on-screen graphics only add to this.

2. A fixed camera.

There’s a locked-off establishing shot that we return to repeatedly. Putting a camera on a fixed tripod makes it look more professional. Kiss has up to 6 cameras in its studio, including one on a track (which you can see in action on the Kiss chart on 4Music) and a handheld. Look at the monitor screen in the background for some of the other locked-off shots.

3. A close-up.

Yes, this is a two camera edit and the second camera is hand-held. The fans will want to see Justin Bieber’s face so there’s a camera dedicated to catching his sparkling eyes and enchanted smiles. I can’t believe I’m writing about Justin Bieber’s smile. Notice that the hand-held sometimes gives us a medium close-up (head and shoulders) and sometimes a close-up for a more intimate and pressurised feel.

4. The lighting is great.

This is getting easier to achieve in small studios. Modern LED lights are small and give off relatively little heat. Here, the guest is in the spotlight as he should be. There are no ugly shadows. The lighting is soft enough to flatter but not to flatten. Notice the dramatic backlighting on Justin Bieber’s hair. I can’t believe I’m writing about Justin Bieber’s hair.

5. The video carries the desk output.

Of course you’d do this, but we’ve all seen radio station videos that haven’t.

6. Clutter-free studio.

Radio studios are working environments and can get messy but Kiss has swept the desk clear of any paper, pens, mobile phones and biscuit crumbs. Kiss’s group PD, Andy Roberts, tells me he’s been known to Hoover round the studio himself before now.

I’m not always convinced by some of radio’s visualisation initiatives but a popular star interview on YouTube is bound to be brilliantly shareable and this one really looks the part.

Thumbnail photo of Justin Bieber by Adam Sundana on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licence.