by Guest Blogger Damian Dayton
(Damian will be joining us this Friday morning at 10:00 AM EST for a free conference call, “How to Make Your Video Look Professional, Even if You Can’t Afford to Hire One.” CLICK HERE to sign up for this Friday’s call.)
People spend a lifetime perfecting video techniques, but there are a few simple things that you can do to make you web video look and sound better.
LIGHT
Nobody wants to watch a video that looks like it was filmed in a cave. You want soft, filtered light, preferably natural light
LENS
The lens is the eye of your audience. If you are using a web cam, look your audience in the eye, not in the monitor (it will look like you are staring at their chest). If you can possibly afford it, use a higher end camera with interchangeable lenses. The more light you can get in the lens, the closer it will approximate the human eye, and you want to make your video feel like your audience is meeting you, not watching your amateur video.
LOCATION
Think about where you are. It should be a space that feels like you. and it should be well lit, but have less light than you have on your face. Stay away from a hanging sheet. but most of all remember ABAWW (anything but a white wall)
LENGTH
I know you want to cover a lot of stuff. but on the web, keep it short. it’s better to have a bunch of short video that one long one.
I recommend that clients keep their videos between 30 seconds and 2 minutes at the maximum. Working in Children’s television taught me that you can’t keep interest up for much more than 3 minutes, and that goes double true for the internet. Most people are watching from work or home and will decide to tune in or out in the first 30 seconds.
LOLS
You don’t have to be hilarious, but be yourself. Most of all, be willing to laugh at yourself. it gives everyone else permission to laugh along. You probably won’t “go viral” but you will make your audience feel like they are getting to know YOU and make them a little more comfortable.
LASTLY
Think about where you want to your video to live. I recommend the most popular video sites, youtube and vimeo. Both allow embedding into your website. If you only host the video on your website, then you have just created an expensive billboard that can only go up next to your office. Youtube and Vimeo are social media sites as well as places to host video. both have privacy settings, but remember this:
“what goes on the internet, STAYS on the internet.” And that can be your biggest blessing as well as your biggest curse.
Damian Dayton is a founding member of Kineto Pictures which has produced video for companies all over the world including Microsoft, Chevron, and Z-line Design. In addition Damian was writer and director of the Emmy nominated children’s series “Signing Times.” You can learn more about Kineto Pictures at http://kinetopictures.com or find him on Twitter @damiandayton. Damian will be joining his younger brother Adrian on this Friday’s conference call to answer any questions you might have about creating your own video. Feel free to email questions in advance to info@adriandayton.com
2 Comments. Leave new
Hi Damien,
I totally agree with your five points to create better video. Years ago, before high-definition video took over the video sharing sites, viewers would excuse poor quality audio and video if the content was good enough. Now, it is inexcusable for an attorney to use a web cam to create poor quality video.
It’s also important for an attorney to humanize himself to show viewers that they are personable, approachable, and are really human. That’s one of the reasons why I created an entire series of bloopers to show lawyers and clients that I too am fallible.
Great blog post.
Gerry