Video Recording Tips and Tricks from SF Lunch and Learn

Stephani Lindsey shared some of her video recording expertise at Sharon Forks's first lunch and learn (held on Go To Meeting) earlier this week.  She has shared her contact information at the bottom if you have questions.

 Here's a rundown for anyone who missed it and some additional tips I may not have mentioned.

 Prep If Recording on a Phone or iPad

-Put your device in Airplane mode so you don't have your phone ring in the middle of a great take!

-Make sure you have enough available storage. Videos take up a lot of room. I had no room left after this last video. I got lucky it still recorded!

-Use binder clips as a tripod if you don't have one. https://www.instructables.com/id/Three-binder-clip-smart-phone-holder/

-Film horizontally instead of vertically.

Lighting

 -Overhead lighting is harsh and creates extreme shadows on the subject.

-Three point lighting is the best way to light your video. You don't need any special lights. Household lamps, reading lamps and even windows can do the trick! 

-Here is a helpful website to see how to place your light sources: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/three-point-lighting-setup/

-If you're filming outside, try not to film right at noon as the sun will cause the overhead lighting shadows.

-Also be aware of the items you use during your programs. Books with very white pages will reflect your light and be really hard to see. Anything reflective (mirrors, glass etc) will need to be angled to right way to not reflect glare.

 Backgrounds

 -Avoid bright white and very dark backgrounds. White will make the light reflect and make the whole video very bright. 

-Avoid overly busy or cluttered backgrounds as they can distract the viewer from the subject. 

 Clothing

 -Avoid white which will wash you out and make it hard to light your face. 

-Avoid all black or you may look like a floating head!

-Avoid busy patterns, writing and busy logos as they are distracting.

-Wear a color that compliments your skin tone.

-Be aware of what your camera shows! If it's full body, your bunny slippers will show!

 Framing

 -Give yourself room to zoom. If you film too close, you won't be able to zoom in while editing without cutting off the top of your head.

-Leave headroom. Leave a few inches above you head to prevent the top of your head from going out of frame when you move.

-Practice how you are going to move to make sure you have your camera framed wide enough. If you're doing a dance during storytime, you may not be on camera if you move to far away. 

-Try to keep your face in frame at all times to make sure we're being inclusive to those who may lip read. This also allows for viewers to see the facial expressions you make. 

 Filming Tutorial Videos

 -You can film tutorials like cooking or crafts and show a top down view of the process. However, the clean tutorial videos you may see on YouTube are not usually done solo. You won't be able to pan your camera from your face down to say your cooktop without either stepping out of frame to move it or having someone do the camera work for you. 

-You can film yourself with one camera and your process with another camera. Then cut them together in editing how ever you want. 

 Editing


-Windows Movie Editor can be accessed through the Photos application on your PC. That's going to be the most simple method for editing.
-iPhones and iPads have iMovie where you can edit directly on the device.

 Screen Capturing

 -You can capture your computer screen (to include a PowerPoint presentation in your video for example) using a variety of free applications. I personally use Streamlabs OBS (or the original OBS). Jeanne recommended Apowersoft which looks to be much easier to use! https://www.apowersoft.com/free-online-screen-recorder 

-If you have Windows alerts or email alerts (my work Outlook has them if the window is open), make sure you turn those off before you capture anything. Nothing is more annoying than recording something for 20 minutes and realize there was a ding right in the middle of saying something important!


Feel free to e-mail or text me (661-878-5045 if you don't have my number!) if you need any help with filming or editing. I'm happy to finally put my film degree to use!

 I know that's a TON of info. Don't stress and just have fun making content!