Top Lighting Tips For Recording Quality Videos
2013 is the year of the video! That means you’ll want to ramp up your video content creation, production, editing and distribution… BIG time! I’ve said for years that NO amount of sophisticated technology will EVER take the place of real, live, in-person, face-to-face connecting… because you can look into people’s eyes, feel their energy, shake their hands, and observe their body language. However, the next best thing is VIDEO! Especially live video, when possible. Google Hangouts (on Air), Livestream and Ustream are all great examples of reliable live streaming video platforms.
Plus, the good news for producing your own video content is that the costs of doing so are becoming so much more affordable. I’m going to be exploring many elements of successful video creation over the coming weeks. This blog post is the first in a series of short video tutorials on important elements you’ll need in order to create top-quality videos. I’m delighted to feature my friends Catherine Hedden and David Gumpel from Films About Me. (Catherine is a Social Media Marketing expert and Brand Specialist, and her husband David is an Emmy Award-winning Director).
Play this short video below for the simple lighting tips:
Here are a few of the key points:
- Bad lighting is like talking to people with your sunglasses on – it doesn’t create a good connection.
- Good lighting is critical to ensure great eye contact through the camera lens with your viewers.
- Basic 3-point lighting is a big soft light on one side, a smaller one on the other side, and a back light.
- The purpose of a back light is to separate the talent from the background, so you don’t look glued to the backdrop!
- You can also include a bonus floor light — called a “diva light” — to create extra fill (nice and flattering for lighting up us women!)
- Extra diffusion on the lights makes the lights look nice and pearly.
If you have any questions or comments on video lighting, please do let us know in the comments below.
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FloLight Fluorescent Lighting Kit
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Thanks Mari and Catherine,
Here’s my problem. I wear glasses! I have an anti-reflective coating on them already but the glare or reflection in my glasses is still a problem. Help? How does one correct this?
Hi Mary — hmm, as you saw, David wears glasses. Were you on our recent live webinar? Typically, as you move your head naturally, the glare/reflection isn’t constant and people can see your eyes. Especially if you have the anti-reflective coating. I wear glasses at my home office, but switch to contact lenses when doing video. I know it’s not always an option for everyone.
Great tutorial. Two questions…
1. I don’t see the soft boxes on the FloLight site. Can you point me to where those are located and why use an additional diffusor in front of the soft box?
2. Your background light is hanging from the ceiling, but what if I want a portable setup. What is the best way to rig a background light so the light stand doesn’t show up in the background?
Thanks for the help!
Hi Dave — Hmm, you’re right the boxes David has in our video do seem different to the FloLights. The additional diffusor (paper) is to soften the lighting on our faces (with HD cameras, we don’t want every line/wrinkle and pore showing. Lol!)
Ahh, I see what you’re saying about the back light… yes, David hung that one from my garage door track. Lol! I’ll need to defer to @facebook-1205792243:disqus on this one!
Another good ideas is to shoot a light up under your chin from the front. makes you look better. Trust me.
100% agree! The ‘diva’ light. hehe!
This comes at a great time as I was just contemplating putting a studio in my garage too. A few questions: I see the back light is shining down from the center, but I’m curious about the other two. Should they be higher and pointing down on the subjects being filmed or at the same level? Also, about how far away from the subjects should they be positioned?
Great questions, @twitter-17225617:disqus — with the lighting kit that David & Catherine recommend, they come with 6′ stands. Catherine and I were sitting in chairs and the two main lights were above us pointing down. I believe David typically positions approx 6 feet away from the subjects. Hope this helps!!
Very nice post on the lighting issues. By the way, of the two lighting kit choices which one do you recommend? Or why would one choose one versus the other?
Hi @sjfpc:disqus — I believe the 3000k is good for daytime use and the 5400k for night. But I would get the 5400k and use for all-purpose. I’ll double check with David though and let you know for sure!
Fantastic! I got great ideas. I’ve struggled with lighting for a long time. I considered using a backdrop because none of the shots in my house end up looking nice. Now I’m convinced this is what I should do.
Off to figure out how to find lighting supplies and diffusers…!
Thank you.
Great job Julia! Love your can-do attitude.
Thanks for this, Mari. The diffusion thing looks like a great idea.
What about make up for video? Especially for those of us who do not photograph well but who want to incorporate the use of video in our businesses. Do you have any tutorials on that? Thanks again!
Hi Anne, We haven’t created a make-up tutorial….. will have to add that to the list. 😉
Hi @facebook-690046779:disqus — love your giraffe avatar!!! hehee My fave animal. Yes indeedy, as @facebook-1205792243:disqus says, we’ll need to add a makeup tutorial to our list! Also styling/wardrobe as well! Meantime, I can say that I’ve learned a ton from my friend Carol Meredith who is a talented makeup artist with a couple decades’ experience working in television. She likes the line of HD makeup by Sephora called Makeup Forever. They also do a primer and a powder. Contrary to the old-style way of doing TV makeup, Carol says these days with the HD cameras, you actually want to go a bit lighter… the goal is to look flawless without looking too “made up!”
Wow, that light kit is over $500 – any other options that are mid-range? Where do we get the diffusers? Great video!
Hi John, David says you can start with 2 of these for the front http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80213597/ and then hang a paper lantern (sometimes called Chinese Lanterns) from the back. Probably under $50 for all. We will have a blog post up about this soon.
Love this simple and inexpensive solution!!! Brilliant.
This is great, but what about those of us who don’t have friends that can do this for us? Where do we get a back drop? How do we get the diva light? Should we do this in a garage or a place where there’s already a lot of light coming in? For me, I’m a newbie and can’t afford much but would still like to look professional in my video’s – I can get the three-light kit but I don’t have a back drop. Thanks for all your help!
Hi Tracie – Yes, we are all at different phases in our video journey. You can use your smartphone or any digital video camera to film. You can purchase a paper backdrop from a photography supply shop for around $70. If you have a big window with a lot of natural light you can position yourself facing the window and cover the window with a white sheet (it will act as diffusion). This usually offers beautiful lighting. The diva light is on our Pinterest page here: http://pinterest.com/pin/357121445421487056/ Best of luck! You can do it!!
Thanks for sharing your studio, Mari. I totally agree that 2013 is the year of the video. One of my goals this year is do create many videos helping people get better that this wonderful medium. Anyway, have a great year!
Fantastic! Thanks for stopping by, Travis! Hope you’ll join us for the free webinar on the 24th! 🙂