Learning Objective
Recognize best practices for video recording.
Obviously, there are many volumes dedicated to video production, but we’ve chosen to focus on a top ten list of production dos and don’ts for educational media.
Top 10 Production Dos and Don’ts
Do:
- Make sure the main light source is in front of you, rather than behind you or directly above you.
- Use an external microphone, rather than the one built into your computer.
- Look directly into the lens and address it as you would your students. (This is strange for traditional video but preferred for educational video.) The camera should be positioned at eye level, so that you’re not noticeably looking up or down at the camera.
- Set your camera to the highest available resolution, for most cameras that will be 1080 or 4K.
- Record in a location where neither the noise level nor the background will be a distraction for the viewer.
- Always do a short test recording before beginning to record longer content.
- Clap once at the start of the video to create a sync point if you’re recording video and audio on separate devices.
Don’t:
- Don’t shoot vertical video unless it is meant to ONLY be viewed on phones.
- Don’t wear clothes with tight patterns or jewelry that will catch light, as these often create distracting effects on video.
- Don’t wear anything green in front of a green screen, as this will make compositing more difficult or impossible.
