Our video team attended a fascinating EVCOM session at the British Film Institute (BFI), exploring the evolution of the talking head from its earliest archival forms to how we are reinventing it today. The event was potentially a first for EVCOM, focusing on the craft of filmmaking rather than the business behind it.
The Evolution of the Talking Head
Patrick Russell, Senior Curator at the BFI Archive, opened with a deep dive into early examples. In the earliest films, often referred to as ‘Actualities’, the absence of sound meant filmmakers relied on ‘intertitles’ to provide context until sound arrived in the 1920s and 1930s. We watched Housing Problems (1935), a groundbreaking film that combined voiceover, direct-to-camera interviews, and B-roll, laying the foundation for what we now recognise as documentary.
Despite wartime restrictions, which resulted in limited corporate filming, the introduction of colour marked the next major technological advance. Films like This Is Colour (1941) offered a rare insight into life at the time.
The arrival of 16mm cameras made filmmaking more mobile, and films like Shown by Request demonstrated how stories could now travel. This period also marked the rise of industrial films, with employees and managers screening content in the workplace. By 1966, NGOs were using talking heads to address social issues, including the powerful mental health film Stress.
In the Q&A discussion, it was noted that early documentary films would not be classed as such today, as they were often staged or dramatised for the camera.
Technology That Changed the Way We Film
Dean Beswick from Gorilla Gorilla picked up the timeline from the 1980s onward. Videotape cameras brought everyday employees onto the screen, not just CEOs. In the 2000s, DV cams enabled cheaper, smaller crews, albeit with questionable image quality, until DSLRs arrived in 2006 and changed everything. Suddenly, corporate films looked cinematic. This, however, had a knock-on effect, and budgets were squeezed as clients sought to reduce crew sizes and production costs. It’s a theme we continue to see today: “It’s cheaper if I just film it on my iPhone?”
The evolution of technology continued to drive innovation in the commercial film industry: the introduction of the Sony FS7 in 2014 brought accessible 4K; drones quite literally took off; and graphics flourished as they became more accessible to filmmakers.
From UGC to AI: What’s Shaping Talking Heads Today
Now in 2025, once again driven by technology, we see the talking head format shifting more than ever from formal interviews to user-generated content, with brands actively encouraging employees to film themselves. Why? A striking insight from a brand event in Amsterdam noted that “trust now outweighs polish,” and 50% of companies now include user-generated content in their work, often at the expense of higher-production-value content.
Interestingly, commercial work was once where innovation happened across the film industry. Today, we (and clients) often look to Netflix and streaming platforms for creative reference.
What’s next? AI, of course, expected to reshape expectations and production workflows, boosting efficiency but raising new questions about authenticity.
As talking head videos continue to evolve, one thing remains constant: audiences connect most with real people and authentic stories.
