Online Surgery Session

Making better videos: shooting your video

Session date: 14 December 2011

This 60 minute session starting at 1pm provides an overview of the production phase of the video creation process.  It will look at requirements, tasks and problems that can be encountered while shooting a video and how to ensure that you get the best possible results.

For more information

Recording of the entire session [opens a Blackboard Collaborate session]

Basic Guide to videoing interviews

Transcript of questions and answers

Questions and Answers

Carli   
So different people from different angles or are you saying vary it?

Tim

When you are filming a number of interviews it is useful to vary the position of different interviewees. So, if you are filming four interviews, have the first two on the right side of the screen looking left - and the final two on the left side of the screen facing right.

Irmgard    1:15 PM
what's the 'correct' facial angle?

Tim

The angle preferred in most interview set-ups is for the interviewee's face to be in three-quarter profile - that is, somewhere between looking directly at the camera and in full profile. This is achived by the interviewer sitting as close to one side of the camera as possible - as long as the interviewee makes eye contact with the interviewer, they will be in or close to three-quarter profile.

Chris  1:21 PM
Any tips for avoiding interferance from mobile phones? I seem to have trouble every time when using either radio or rifle mics.

Tim

Turn off phones and move them as far as possible from audio recording equipment. Monitor audio and re-take if you experience interferance.

Matt  1:26 PM
are there any tips if you find the interviewee is very nervous and keeps stopping, despite prep

Tim

Top tips for nervous interviewees:

1. Do your prep - find out what they like to talk about.

2. Have everything technical organised before they arrive - make them feel welcome.

3. Start with really easy questions.

4. Relax - give them time to give their answers in their own way - don't ask them to follow a script.

5. Have a fallback - if you can't get what you want from the interviewee, make the best of what you can get and use a voice over to fill in the gaps.

6. Get lots of cut-aways - more then you think you'll ever need - and use them to cover the many edits you will need to make.

Matt  1:33 PM
can you send good examples of well produced videos we can use as benchmark please?

Tim

Obviously - JISC Digital Media videos! But for the area we're talking about pretty well any documentary on TV.

Salman  1:33 PM
Probably a question for the end of the session, I have often noticed that interviews shown on TV news cut to show interviewee's hand gestures during the course of the interview. I wonder whether a second camera is used to capture these?

Tim

It looks like a second camera, but this type of shot (cut-away) is typical of a single camera shoot.

Chris  1:39 PM
I've seen people use colour gels to enhance lighting - any thoughts on that? Any dos and don'ts?

Tim

Using coloured gels for lighting interviews goes in and out of fashion. Use them for the background if you like - but not on the face, please.

Andrew 1:55 PM
I consistently have problems with synching the video and audio, is there any way to improve this?

Tim

Contact us: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with more detail of your synching issue.

Carli 1:58 PM
We put together series of vox pops and they look a bit disjointed... okay you think it's okay or use a backdrop? Do you use a green one?

Tim

Disjoined? How? If you can, send a link to your video to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we will give feedback..

Backdrops are OK - but are currently out of fashion in the UK. You also don't see much use of green screen for interviews these days. Most professional camerapeople in the UK tend to favour either the shallow depth of field look - which puts the backgound (whatever it is) out of focus, or deep focused settings which show the subject in their environment.

Tim

We also touched on the consent issue - you can find more detailed information in our advice document.