We are over the moon to welcome Amy Burnett to the Jet Black Squares’ team! Amy is a videographer and will be offering smartphone sessions very soon. We caught up with her for a Q&A:
Q. Where are you based?
A. I’m based in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Q. Where do you run sessions?
A. I can run sessions anywhere in the South East, though most of my work is within London and Hertfordshire.
Q. How did you get into videography?
A. Having studied photography at college, I had a photography business for ten years, doing mostly portraits and weddings. Then 7 years ago, I played around with video and haven’t looked back. Since sidestepping into video, I only work with businesses and have a strict rule of not doing any wedding or other personal events!
Q. What drew you to Jet Black Squares?
A. I love what JBS are doing. Photography and video doesn’t have to be hard. Everyone has a super powerful camera in their phone, and empowering people to be able to use that well, whether for business or personal use, is a great thing to be doing. Don’t get me wrong, I love creating video with high production value, but I also think accessibility is so important, and that’s the beauty of this.
Q. What inspires you in your work?
A. To be honest, I’m constantly inspired by my clients. I love working with people across industries and learning about how different businesses work. It’s so interesting being a fly on the wall in places you would never get to see were it not for filming it! I’m particularly inspired by ambitious female led business (just like JBS!) And love sharing the stories of the women behind them.
Q. What video are you most proud of?
A. One of the videos I’m most proud of is an event I was filming some months ago. It was for the Women’s Utilities Network, which is a national group for women who are in the Utilities Industry, which is hugely male dominated. It was their first in person conference in 2 years, and the energy was amazing! On top of that, it was held in Google’s head office and had some female leaders from Google on the panel. I had such a buzz from it, and came away feeling so inspired!
Q. What locations do you most like filming in?
A. For me, I much prefer filming on location than in a studio. A studio is great, as you are in control of everything - lighting audio etc. However there’s nothing like turning up somewhere and having to figure out how to get the best of it. Most of the time it’s offices, conference centres or the like, but I’ve had a few less straightforward ones such as farmers fields and next to the motorway!
Q. What is your number one tip for videography?
A. It’s so hard to give just one tip for video, but if I had to, it would be to not underestimate the power of the audio. People tend to think if they’ve got their visuals sorted, then it’s all good, but bad sound can make viewers switch off a video in seconds! Always take the time to ensure you are capturing good quality audio, otherwise all your efforts could go to waste!
Amy runs her own video production company, Visible Impact, and will be offering videography courses from the Autumn. Watch this space for details!