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We don't expect you to lug around several heavy lights, and set them up, like professional photographers do. You can still find excellent lighting by being intentional about where you are recording.
The Type of Light
The Type of Light
Natural or artificial, or, inside or outside?
Natural Light: The sun is a great source of light. However, like most free things in life, it comes with a catch. You can't control the weather or how the sun will behave during certain times of the day. Around noon, the sun can make really harsh shadows which are unflattering for people's faces. Alternatively, shooting near the end of the day can have beautiful lighting known as "golden hour" but it only lasts for a little bit of time.
Artificial Light: These include sources like fluorescent overheads and tungsten light bulbs, which are not nearly as powerful as the sun but can be more easily controlled. For example, you can often move them around or turn them on/off. Keep in mind that fluorescent lighting often reads a little green on a camera and can be very unflattering when coming from directly overhead.
The Quality of Light
The Quality of Light
If the type of light is its source, then the quality of light can be thought of as its shape.
Direct light is when the light is unfiltered. It creates very harsh shadows and often can create shiny spots on people's faces. Sometimes you might want to create this effect on purpose, but it is often not the most flattering light.
Diffused light is when the light is filtered. It creates soft shadows and spreads the light out across a surface, reducing "hot spots" that might cause people's faces to be shiny. Even the sun can be diffused on a cloudy day. For this reason, don't totally rule out natural light as a possibility for creating flattering light.
Lighting tips
Lighting tips
A great compromise can be to use natural lighting while indoors by setting up your shot near a window, which offers diffused light. Get close to the window, but do not have the window in the shot! This will overexpose the rest of the image.
If you do choose to shoot outside, make sure you're shooting somewhere comfortable for everyone.
If you do choose to shoot indoors and there's no natural light available, try to find as flattering light as possible.
Composition basics
Composition basics
Horizontal vs. Vertical: Record your footage horizontal, not vertical! All of the screens that we watch media on are horizontal, like TVs and computers (and phones, when we turn them). If you are mixing horizontal and vertical video, know that vertical video files might result in heavy black bars on the sides known as letter boxes.
Rule-of-Thirds: Most cameras have an option to add a "grid display," will create an overlay that partitions the image into nine sections. This grid is used to guide the composition of an image.
Headroom: the rule-of-thirds is particularly helpful for figuring out how to fit someone comfortably in the from. The headroom refers to the amount of space above a person's head in the frame.
Types of Shots
Types of Shots
There are lots of different ways to set up your frame for recording an interview or filming a scene.
These are just a few names for common types of shots when filming a person:
Camera Handling
Camera Handling
Smaller cameras (like camcorders and your phone) are much lighter and therefore much easier to move - which is great for carrying in your pocket but NOT great for stabilizing a shot.
You might think you're holding the camera really still, but it's actually very hard for most people to get stable footage! Here's an example of what most of our recorded videos look like:
Camera Handling Tips
Camera Handling Tips
Tripods are a great and simple way to ensure that your image is stable.
You can also place the camera on a table or a solid flat surface.
If you are filming yourself, be sure to flip the camera screen towards yourself while filming or review your footage afterwards to make sure that you’ve captured the image you want.
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