Video Capturing is an essential step for video recording process. If you haven’t already, check out our tips on audio capturing of a video recording!
a. Pick a location that tells part of the story or something about your interviewee
b. Capture as high resolution as you can – avoiding 4K if you don’t have a fast computer with lots of space to edit on
c. Make sure your lens is clean – use an appropriate soft cloth to wipe away dust or smudges
d. If you’re shooting on an cellphone – Make sure to Orient the camera to WIDE
e. Focus
- Zoom all the way to an essential part of the image
f. If your camera has these settings, make sure you’ve set them for the location
- White Balance
- Iris
g. Lighting
- Can you see the detail you want to see
- Do you have harsh shadows that don’t work for the image
- Avoid backlighting (and other sources of light in the frame) – throws off the iris on the camera
- Don’t mix different white temperatures – looks weird (go with natural light when possible)
- Tip: You can reflect lights with white poster board
h. Framing
- Wider is safer, especially with crisp focus and high resolution
- Understand your Subject and what you want to capture
- Do you want detail
- Are you trying to make a particular kind of connection with your subject
- Rule of thirds
- Your eyes are naturally drawn to images on the thirds
- Watch for headroom, you usually don’t need much – sometimes none
i. Backgrounds
- Avoid backlighting – i.e. putting someone in front of a window or a lamp
- Camera iris will close and you’ll lose detail on your subject
- Be careful of glass and reflective surfaces
- Lots of light reflections
- You’ll potentially catch your own reflection
- If there are glass doors – can flutter from ventilation
Once you have successfully completed/ considered these steps, turn to post on logistics and video editing!