5 Tips for Ensuring On Camera Success for a Virtual Shoot
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Whether you’re preparing for an important virtual meeting, want to look nice during a virtual interview, have to shoot a recorded segment virtually, or just want to post a fun video to your social channels, preparing to be on camera is an extremely important, often overlooked part of ensuring success for your final product. We’ve all been guilty of pulling something together last minute, but the camera is not known for being forgiving. We’ve compiled our top 5 tips for ensuring on camera success. After reviewing, you can download our 1 page camera-ready checklist, or schedule a free 30 minute consultation with us to prepare for your own shoot.
Tip 1 | Practice, practice, and practice some more. Even if you believe you know what you are going to say, write it down and practice. Doing things on camera is different from doing things “in real life.” Even if you are an amazing presenter, the camera makes most people nervous. The more you practice your material, the more natural and confident you will be on camera. And that confidence will shine through in your final product. Practicing will also help you look directly at the camera, versus reading off your script which makes a huge difference in your final product. It never hurts to practice in front of a mirror so you see what you look like while delivering your lines. And, I’ve found it helps to record yourself on your phone and listen to it back a few days ahead of your shoot. Sometimes I even listen before I go to bed and wake up saying the lines out loud.
Tip 2 | For better or worse, how you look and what you wear matters. If your makeup is too heavy, or your shirt patterns are too busy, it can distract the viewer from what you are saying. Keep your makeup on the natural side and try not to use anything too shiny. Stick with solid colors - stay away from busy patterns, branding or shirts with words on them. We recommend finalizing your outfit well ahead of your shoot time, so it’s one less stress!
Tip 3 | Natural light is your friend! If possible, try to set up your shot in front of a window, so the natural light is coming towards you and landing on your beautiful face. If you do not have a window, but do have a ring light (they are pretty cheap on Amazon), set it up in front of you and set it to a natural setting. Remember, if you wear glasses, there will be a bit of glare, but setting up your light higher than your face should help lessen the glare you see on camera.
Tip 4 | Compose your frame. If you’re making a video on your own laptop, open your video and see what the camera is capturing. Natural plants always look great in the frame, or if you have any artwork or a bookcase, both items add some contrast and interest to a shot. If you only have a white wall, make sure you do not wear white - you don’t want to blend into your wall in your amazing video!
Tip 5 | Grab a glass of water to keep close to you while you are shooting, and relax. Take a few seconds to breathe in, move your shoulders up by your ears, take a big breath out, and throw your shoulders down. Repeat a few times. Roll those shoulders back, tell yourself you’ve got this, and now you’re ready to shoot!
Still have questions? Schedule a free 30 minute consultation with us.
Afraid of forgetting all this great information? We’ve got you covered. Download our 1 page checklist with a consolidated version of everything we covered in this blogpost. You can review everything in real time before you shoot to ensure you make an amazing video.
