How to get better-looking videos? For some of you, hiring a professional videographer is not an option right now. So what can you do to make your own videos look better? With the amount of content out there you need your videos to look as professional as possible. Your videos are a representation of you and your business. Poor lighting and audio will mean that you will lose engagement. If you have gone to all the trouble of planning and writing your content then you don’t want to lose prospects at that critical stage during their buyer’s journey. If they switch off before your call to action then you have lost them and it will be difficult to claw them back. So what can you do to make your videos look a little bit nicer and keep your viewer engaged?
Lighting!
Lighting is the most important aspect of video and photography. The correct lighting changes everything. When I’m shooting my videos I have a large LED light which casts a nice, even, soft light over me. This is my key light. I have it on a light stand and place it above my head height and angle it back down towards me. I don’t have it firing upwards like someone telling a ghost story with a torch. Then I’ve also got another light called a hair light behind me which just separates me from the background. I come from more of a cinematic background so I like some soft shadows on one side of the face. You can always add an extra light which is called a fill light. This will give you a more even lighting on the whole of your face.
If you can’t afford your own lights then use the power of natural light. Sit near to a window and let the natural light flow over you. Don’t have your back to the window as this will put your face in shadow. If you are filming at night. Make sure your white balance on your camera is set to the appropriate setting. In most households, this will be tungsten. This will ensure your colour information is even and doesn’t look too yellow. Be careful of overhead downlights in your home or office. They cast an unflattering light on top of your head and produce nasty shadows in unwanted places on your face. Having a light behind you also helps to give your shot a sense of depth which is easier on your viewer’s eyes.
Blurry Background.
Wondering how to get a blurred background? This comes down to your aperture settings and the lens you are using. You want to set your aperture to a low number. Something between F2.0 and F4 should give you nice separation. If you are using a wide angle lens then the effect will be more subtle. I like to use a 24-70mm lens for my recordings. This gives me wiggle room to adjust the crop of my shot. This is handy if you are using a teleprompter.
If you do use a low aperture, be careful not to move around too much as the focus plain with be very thin and you will drop in and out of focus. If you are filming on an iphone then you are very limited with your camera settings. I shoot my videos slightly wider and in 4K then I can crop in closer in the edit. Cropping in is good to emphasize certain points and can also help to hide mistakes you made during recording rather than trying to get it all in one take.
What background should you use in your videos? Try to avoid a cluttered background as it will distract from you. A blurred background will help if you can’t get it too clean behind you. Try to avoid standing against a wall too as it just looks boring and dull. Your background can be used as a great way to show off your personality. Enjoy photography? Why not have your camera collection on a shelf behind you? Personal trainer? Have some exercise equipment behind you. You get the idea.
Audio
Audio is also really important. I know what you’re thinking. I thought we are talking about how to make videos look better? Well audio actually plays a big part in this. Psychologically, if you have good audio then your viewers will automatically think your video looks better. I can see a low budget movie a mile off just by hearing the audio. There was an experiment were two sets of people were shown a film. The film was exactly the same but one had poor audio and the other good audio. When the people came out they were asked to give a score on the picture quality of the film. The film with the good audio received the highest score.
So that’s just your basics. Simple things you can do to improve the quality of your videos. So that’s it for today, I hope you got something out of it and it helps to impove the quality of your videos. If you have any questions then feel free to leave a comment.
As always, thanks for reading and please check out some of my other blogs for more video marketing advice.
Gareth Carr
Cinematographer & Photographer based in Sydney, Australia
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Website: https://www.exposedwolf.com
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Exposed Wolf is a video production & photography company based in Sydney, Australia. With over 20 years of industry experience, they can help you with planning, shooting and editing your projects to give you months of powerful content to raise your business and brand.