Step 1: Building the brief

For a vox pops shoot, we typically work with the client to write questions that reveal the answers they are ideally looking for, while leaving room for reframing, probes, and follow-up questions that draw more out of participants.

Step 2: Choosing the right location

We look for places that are busy enough to offer a range of voices, but calm enough to allow people to stop and think. The right environment helps people relax and speak naturally, which is where the best insights come from.

Step 3: Creating a filming setup

Our filming setup is deliberately simple and lightweight, but still visibly professional so people trust who we are and what we are doing. Keeping things light allows us to move easily and be less intimidating for participants.

Step 4: Finding the right voices

Approaching people takes confidence, patience, and judgement. Not every voice is right for every question, and not every conversation will make the final edit. People will let you know if they do not want to be approached, and it is important to listen to those signals.

Step 5: Interviewing people

Once you have a respondent who has been briefed and been mic’d up, it helps to start with a few simple questions to warm up. Run a quick test to check audio and positioning in frame. Let people speak, listen closely, and respond.

Step 6: Sense check

By the end of a shoot, we aim to have a broad range of perspectives that give us flexibility in the edit. We always write up a summary of the day to help our editors and to provide the client with an update.

Step 7: Organising the footage

Before editing begins, everything is imported, labelled, and organised. A clean structure makes the process smoother and helps ensure nothing is missed.

Step 8: Reviewing and shaping the content

We review every clip carefully, looking for moments that feel natural, insightful, or emotional. In some cases, we put a ‘rough edit’ together featuring the strongest responses so clients can select their favourite moments. Either way, we begin shaping a narrative from the footage that lets the voices be heard.

Step 9: Audio and graphics

Once the structure is in place, we refine the edit by fine-tuning the audio, adding subtitles (and sometimes translating first), and creating graphics such as title cards and branded open and close frames. Where it supports the story, we may also include b-roll to add context and atmosphere. There are lots of options, but it always comes back to what the brief calls for.

Step 10: Exporting for delivery

When the client is happy with the edit, we export and quality check everything so it is polished and ready for use. We typically deliver edits in 16:9 and 9:16, and sometimes 1:1 depending on where the content will live.