Framing your subject properly makes it much easier for a viewer to follow along with the video. Having the subject to high or low in the picture can make them look drowned out which can lead to viewer drop-off. The term for the space above the subjects head is called headroom. Here are three examples of headroom.

Too Much Headroom	Too Little Headroom	Perfect Headroom

It’s also good to think of your screen being split into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Typically when shooting you want to aim to have your subject centered to one of the vertical lines in the viewfinder. See Below for Example:

As you can see we have our subject to the right of the fame looking to the left of the camera. To achieve this you just need the subject to keep their body facing the camera or the interviewer and have them sit between 1-3 feet from the side of the camera.

Click Here To Download Setting Up Your Shot

In an earlier post, The Four Commandments of Shooting Effective Video, we discussed the importance of lighting, sound, background and traffic.  In this post, we’ll cover four more tips that will make you a better videographer and free you to do more (and more adventurous) videos for your business.  In this post we’ll cover basic elements of wardrobe, framing, recording and review.

Wardrobe – This is simple. The day before your shoot, tell your subject(s) to wear solid colors and avoid stripes and other designs that create harsh lines.  Lines, stripes and complex patterns can cause distortion when your video is being encoded and it can distract viewers.

Framing – Proper framing makes it much easier for a viewer to follow along with the video.  You should be aware of headroom, how much room is above the head of the subject and the edge of the video frame, and angle, which can be off-camera and direct-to-camera.  Below are some examples to help you understand the differences.

Here are some examples that illustrate the concepts described above:

Recording – When recording, you may have the option on your camera to record in full HD 1080P video.  For many videos this may be overkill.  If you’re using the Kodak Zi8 or similar camera, you can set the quality setting at 720P 30FPS (FPS= Frames Per Second). This still offers high-quality recording without requiring too much storage and increasing upload times (higher quality takes more storage space and can take longer to upload from the camera).  If you’re adventurous and are using a higher-end camera, it can’t hurt to shoot in higher quality, but be sure to monitor your on-camera storage so you don’t run out of space in mid shoot!

Review – Before your subject leaves and you pack up, take a few minutes to review some of the footage you just captured. Does the lighting look okay? Is the audio clear? Although spot reviewing your footage can’t discover all possible glitches, it can save you from discovering a complete wash-out later. A few minutes invested onsite can avoid an entire re-shoot later.

These tips are basic, for sure, but our objective is to get you started, not help you win film festivals. As you get more comfortable with shooting video you may experiment with higher-end equipment, remote lighting and more elaborate shooting techniques. Hopefully by then we’ll have posted some experts tips to help you on your journey to the next level.

Good luck!