Stuck at Home? You Can Still Film Your Own Video!

When our team shoots professional commercial videos, the scope of the production dictates the size of the space in which we shoot. In large enough spaces, we’ll have actors fitted with microphones so as to not lose the accompanying audio. In small spaces, we might either do the same or use other equipment to capture sound. In your efforts to capture video at home or out in your community, you won’t have the advantage of special gear. Be aware of how the acoustics of where you’re shooting might impact the final video, and consider alternatives such as recording a voiceover under more ideal circumstances.

When shooting your film, consider the layout and composition of each shot — that is, how you decide to frame the various items that appear in each scene. Divide the screen mentally by three horizontally and vertically, or see if the device you’re using comes with a visual overlay on the screen. In either case, when filming, try to keep the subject of the shot in the top two-thirds of the screen, as this is generally where our eyes naturally come to look for information first while viewing visual content.

Without a proper studio and commercial-grade lighting equipment, you’ll have to rely upon the device in hand for adjusting the lighting in the background automatically or through manual settings. We’ve included three separate concerns you should remain aware of while filming.

Different sources of light are considered to have different light “temperatures,” and scenes with contrasting sources of light can cause it to look washed out or faded. This can especially be troublesome in interiors with windows, especially during the day. However, you can also use contrasting light sources to negate bright natural sources as well in order to even out the lighting in a shot if it must take place near a source of light that cannot be removed.

If your camera allows you to, manually setting the White Balance will go a long way towards evening out the lighting in shots and preventing the various issues that come up with conflicting light sources. While a certain effect might be your intended goal, it’s more important in pre-production to capture the scene as true to reality as possible.

Finally, avoid the negative visual impact of placing objects in large pools of direct light. Dark rooms with singular sources of light such as an overhead fixture or single bedroom window can create this effect. Through proper placement of your subjects in the room, you can actually use these pools of direct light to your advantage for dramatic effect.