Slow motion in corporate video: when it actually makes sense

Every few months a client asks me to add slow motion to their corporate video because they saw it in an ad and liked the result. The answer is almost always the same: it depends on the shot and what's happening in it. Slow motion isn't an effect you add to make a video look more polished. It's a tool with a specific use, and outside that use it takes away more than it adds.

I've spent years filming corporate video with cameras that can shoot high frame rates, so the question isn't technical, it's about judgment: when it adds something and when it just stretches a video that was already tight on time. Here I explain how I decide, what frame rate I shoot at and the most common mistakes I see when someone uses it without thinking.

What it is and why it matters

Shooting in slow motion means capturing more frames per second than will be played back later. If I shoot at 96 fps and the final video plays at 24 fps, every real second of footage becomes four seconds on screen. The higher the capture frame rate relative to the playback frame rate, the slower and more pronounced the effect.

It matters because it changes the viewer's reading pace. A shot at normal speed is processed quickly and moves on. The same shot in slow motion forces you to pause a moment longer, and that only makes sense when there's something in that moment worth looking at calmly: a gesture, a texture, a movement that would go unnoticed at real speed.

The usual mistake is treating it as an aesthetic filter applied because it looks nice, without asking whether the content of the shot justifies that extra time. A corporate video usually runs between 90 seconds and three minutes. Every second of slow motion that doesn't add new visual information is a second not delivering the message the client is paying to get across.

How to do it well

Choose the frame rate based on the effect you want

For a subtle, almost imperceptible effect, I shoot at 50 or 60 fps on a 25 fps timeline. Motion is smoothed without the viewer consciously noticing it's in slow motion. For a pronounced effect, the kind that's noticeable and deliberate, I go up to 96 or 120 fps with the Sony A7. Anything beyond that is product commercial territory, and I almost never need it in a corporate piece.

Choose which shots deserve slow motion

It works well on hands working on a product, on material or texture details, on a specific gesture from someone talking about something important, or on process b-roll where there's no dialogue to sync. It doesn't work on a shot of someone talking to camera: the voice distorts if it's slowed down along with the video, and separating audio from video to keep the voice's natural pace complicates the edit for no good reason.

Use it sparingly in the edit

In a two-minute corporate video, I rarely include more than two or three slow-motion shots, and none lasts more than two or three seconds. If the viewer notices that almost the whole video is slowed down, it stops being a device and becomes the style of the entire video, which usually isn't what the client wants when they ask for something dynamic and direct.

Common mistakes

• Slowing down a shot with dialogue without separating the audio, so the voice sounds distorted or has to be re-recorded later.
• Using slow motion throughout the video until it no longer reads as a device and becomes the overall pace of the piece.
• Not adding light when shooting at a high frame rate, leaving the shot dark or with more noise than necessary in post-production.
• Using it to disguise weak framing or a poorly executed camera move instead of reshooting the take.
• Not checking the project frame rate in DaVinci Resolve before exporting, which can leave the shot playing at a different speed than expected.

Frequently asked questions

If you're preparing a corporate video and aren't sure which shots deserve slow motion and which don't, tell me what you want to convey and I'll tell you how I'd approach it. Get in touch via /en/contacto.