Reading from a script is the very last thing you would consider doing when giving a presentation. Why is it then, that as soon as people start making web videos they think they are playing a newsreader on TV and want to read a script from a teleprompter? Just say no to teleprompters for your business videos!

Image: Andrew Biss explains that while using a teleprompter when speaking to camera might seem very tempting at first, in practice it is a bad idea and your videos will suffer for it. [If your RSS reader doesn’t show the YouTube video embedded above then please visit the original post in your browser.]

Lighting

This video uses a flat lighting setup with 2 equal intensity lights in front of me and to either side of the camera. This gives a flatter overview look to the video than the more traditional 3-point lighting setup.

You will see flat lighting used on news shows and a lot of video productions. It is easy to set up and allows people to move about without casting odd shadows. While the setup is easy, I am not really that happy with the overall result.

For the next video I think I will go back to the more traditional 3-point lighting setup as this gives a more defined structure and gives a better separation from the background. However, there is never a right answer on lighting, so it is very much a try it and see situation.

Lighting and audio are the two most important points to get right in creating business web videos. I will be therefore go into these subjects in detail in future videos to help you decide the best way to get started without wasting a lot of time and effort.

Next time

In the next few videos I will take a peek behind the scenes and share with you the monitor setup I have assembled around my Canon LEGRIA HF S10 camcorder, starting with how to place your tripod to keep your camera safe from knocks in a busy office environment.

I have found this a productive way to check what the camera is seeing, as well as being able to view production information and key bullets when recoding a video.

When you are watching web videos watch the eyes and see how often people blink. You will soon spot when people are reading from a teleprompter. It sticks out like a sore thumb!