First-time video makers?

It can be a bit overwhelming for first-time video makers to plan, prepare and actually shoot their first online video, but you’ll have more success if you are able to relax.

There are plenty of pointers that can help and below we’ve gathered a few tips from the professionals to help you with your first shoot – little things that will help when you are in front of the camera.

Whatever It Takes

Charlie Chaplin was notorious for needing many takes to get it right and Marilyn Monroe needed an acting coach by her side to help her!

There’s no shame at all in repeating the take again and again until you’re happy with it. Most people get better over time, but even the best can have bad days! So be prepared to make mistakes and this should lift some of the pressure you may feel.

LCD Screen Or No LCD Screen?

Using an LCD Screen to frame your video and set everything up is a good idea but don’t let it distract you when actually recording your video. It’s a natural tendency to look at yourself in the screen as you’re recording and that means you’re not looking directly into the camera – as you should be if you want to appear professional and genuine.

Break The Content Up

Don’t kid yourself that you’ll be able to deliver 2 or 3 minutes of video flawlessly off the cuff. Most of the best videos are shot in many sections and joined together carefully in video post production to make them seem like they were filmed in one take. They look “spontaneous” but in fact a lot of work has gone into them behind the scenes. That’s the trick.

If you break your content into small sections and try to deliver from bullet points, maybe 15 or 20 seconds at a time, the rest can often be fixed in post production. This will sound more natural than reading from a long script and trying to do it in a single take.

Start And End In The Same Position

A great trick to give your video a really professional look is to start and end each section with same bodily stance – hands and legs in the same position, for instance. This creates a natural edit point that you can use in post production to join up all the sections seamlessly in the order you like. It will look like a single take!

Go Easy On Yourself!

Worse things happen at sea! Don’t be too hard on yourself as it’s not easy to make a good video – especially if you are first-time video makers.

Most people find that the first video they make is the worst and they look back in a year’s time and wonder at how much they’ve improved their techniques. Don’t expect perfection and keep at it and you’ll get the results.

Remember – the beauty of digital recording means that anything that doesn’t work you can delete; and you can add a lot of polish to your video in post-production anyhow.

Hopefully the 5 tips above help you with recording your first video. Confidence is important and it will come from knowing you have followed the correct steps – these steps and much more are outlined in the Lights, Camera, Profits! workshop. Learn more about it by visiting this page.