Watch this first video to discover how to get professional-looking lighting on your talking head video.  Easy three point lighting.  The second video shows you even more.

Watch this second video to discover the difference between direct and diffused light and why you want diffused light on your face.

By watching these two video on lighting basics, you will learn everything you need to know about how to get good lighting for a talking head video.

A talking head video is the single most common shot any videographer will ever record so knowing how to light well is critical.

Making it Easy!

For easy video production, learn to make use of natural light.  By natural light I mean any light streaming in through the windows or doors and any light coming from any lamp available in the room.  The first thing I always do is see if I can open up the blinds and curtains and let the sun shine in!  I also use simple home light fixtures to supplement that natural light.   You can achieve very professional looking lighting this way, you just need to know a few tips about how to place the lights relative to your subject.

I used the windows and the ceiling light to light this interview.

If you do set up supplemental lights, you don’t need to use fancy lights or professional lights at all.  (Although they are nice!)  I often use desk lamps and floor lamps with regular bulbs or compact florescent bulbs.

I like to use gooseneck lamps because they are easy to point exactly where you want.  Clip on lights are very handy and can be tucked in anywhere.  With these small low-wattage lights you can actually point them directly where you want the light, even if that is right in someone‘s face, it is not too bright or uncomfortable to do that.   Normally you point a light away from someone’s face in order to diffuse it but a low wattage bulb pointed right at someone’s face can highlight the face real well and it will be reasonably diffused due to the white paint inside the glass of the bulb.

Now, home lighting fixtures use regular bulbs, which is fine. Really. Light coming from any source will do for video making.  There are some issues with using light from different sources, like sunlight vs. incandescent.   You might have heard about something called the Kelvin color temperature scale and lighting. That has to do with different light sources providing light of different colors and that can mess up the color of your video.  Sunlight is blue at about 5700 kelvin and incandescent bulbs are orange at 3200 degrees Kelvin.

While this is true, it’s one of those things you do not have to be too concerned with in most cases.  Modern cameras do not have much problem with mixed light.  If your shot looks too orange or too blue, this is probably the issue but more than likely a bit of a mix will be ok.  If you want to learn more about this, read this post on white balancing and color temperature for video.

Let me give you some background information on lighting so you can better understand how to make ANY situation you are in work as best as possible.

When you are talking about light it can be broken into two broad categories.   Direct light and diffused light. There are examples of both all around you.  Let’s first talk about the sun, which is the ultimate light source.   On a sunny day, you have 100% direct light.  The light is glaring down at you and coming from one direction only.    Light travels in a straight line and can bounce, but not bend.  A bright sunny day has harsh, deep, dark shadows.  The edges of the shadow are distinct.

Light becomes diffused when it gets bounced around.  Clouds act to diffuse the sunlight.  The light hits the bright, reflective water particles and bounces around in straight lines and predictable angles.  On a completely overcast day, you have 100% diffused light.  There will not be ANY shadows.  There is so much light bouncing around, that it is essentially coming from everywhere all at the same time.  All shadows get filled in.

Now you know the two extremes of 100% direct and 100% diffused light.  Most light is somewhere in between. The fastest and easiest way to tell is look for shadows.  How dark are the shadows?  How distinct is the line of the shadow?  The more blurry the line of the shadow the more diffused the light.

Room light is usually fairly diffused.  In fact, we as domesticated humans usually go to some effort to diffuse our room light since diffused light is easier on the eyes.  Lamp shades, the inside of light bulbs painted white, all those are efforts to diffuse the light.

If you look at a professional light kit, all the accessories are gizmos and gadgets that exist to either direct your light or diffuse it.   Barn doors are used to direct the light and point it at a small area.  Black aluminum foils are also used for that purpose.

A photographic umbrella is used to bounce the light.  It gives you a moderate level of diffusion.  A soft box gives you a higher level of diffusion than an umbrella.  You also have all kinds of filters, cloths and gels you can buy for your lights to provide diffusion.  They are measured in percentages.

One super easy way to achieve diffused light without having ANY special equipment is to point the light, not at the face, but at the ceiling or a wall. It will bounce against the ceiling or wall and hit the face as diffused light.

Diffused light is kinder to the face.  Diffused light is softer.  Wrinkles, bumps and other imperfections show much less under diffused light.  This means the vast majority of video should be lit with diffused light.

Now that you know about diffused and direct light, the next thing to talk about is what direction the light is coming from.  The direction the light is coming from makes a big difference in lighting.

The biggest mistake I see in talking head videos is bad lighting, with the light coming from BEHIND the person. Light coming from behind the person will create a silhouette.  Sometimes this can look nice and if you are trying to hide someone’s identity, this is what you want.  But 99% of the time, this is the OPPOSITE of what you want.  You want your light falling on the person’s face, not behind it.

Silhouette lighting has its place. This shot of my daughter is gorgeous but you do not want to light a talking head video this way unless you are trying to hide their identity.

I see lots of ceiling light fixtures and other lamps right behind someone’s head in webcam videos.  Position yourself so the light is not behind you. Good lighting is all about positioning.  Experiment around with what you have and make it look as best as possible just by following the basic concepts you have not just learned!

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips, I wish you happy video making!

Lorraine Grula

This short, simple animated video started a million-dollar business!  The character of Eli the Accountant is one of the single biggest success stories of online video creation.Not quite three years since bursting online and becoming a viral video sensation, Eli’s Dirty Jokes has brought its creators fame and fortune.  Brothers James and Tyler McFadden were the first online video creators to make the leap to “real” TV when they signed a deal allowing HBO/Cinemax to air Eli’s animated humor.  Eli is now a million-dollar brand complete with T-shirt merchandising.

Would you believe this popular animated character grew out of James and Tyler’s childhood impressions of their father’s accountant?   Eli Buchalter was  a great family friend as well as their father’s money manager.   James and Tyler grew up eavesdropping on his wry, raunchy sense of humor.

Just so happens that James and Tyler were quite natural little storytellers and had developed a knack for observing people and seeing them as characters portrayed in a story.

The boys had learned this from their dad, Thom McFadden.  Thom is a Hollywood actor, author, and known as the Coach to the Stars for his work with dozens of top Hollywood celebrities.

Thom enjoyed a magnificent 30+ year career as a character actor in Hollywood.  He’s been in hundreds of TV shows and movies playing every kind of character under the sun.  Good, evil.  Brilliant, stupid.  Funny, serious.  You name it, if people act that way then Thom has figured out how to do it on cue.

I (luckily) got to know Thom a couple of years ago as an online acting coach who helps people learn to develop themselves as “characters” and become a celebrity in their own niche.  We became good friends and chatted on the phone a lot as we both built our web businesses.

He helped me a lot with appearing on camera because that is the ONE thing I really hate about videomaking and I never was an on-camera gal professionally.  Oh, every now and then they made me go on the air but that was rare and I always HATED it to the max.  Seriously.

As much as I love cameras, I only loved them pointed AWAY from me, not TOWARD me at this age. Which is 25 for this pic, give or take.

Once I had my web business, I knew I needed to get over that silliness so Thom was a big help.    Honestly, I wish I had met Thom when I started my career working in TV,  I would have made a lot more money!

C’est la vie, better late than never!

Creating cartoon characters out of your parent’s goofy friends and me feeling comfortable putting my smiling mug on camera might seem like two different things but there are really a lot of similarities.

Thom’s techniques for analyzing our own self:  our mannerisms, objectives,  character traits and body language, REALLY help develop the professional personality you need to portray on video.  (Or whatever personality you do wish to portray.)

One of the biggest obstacles people report concerning making their own videos to promote themselves online is the fear of appearing on camera.  I UNDERSTAND!

The exercises and training Thom provides help you break through those self-constructed barriers.  In the process, you gain confidence, wisdom and poise.  You also gain the ability to translate the message you want to convey  into a video.

There’s more to doing that than just pushing the record button on a video camera!  Thom is going to be offering a eight-week course (with one make-up session) coming up. He will not only cover this stuff and more, he’s compiled a list on online video experts of various stripes to help people with all aspects of online video marketing.

I’m going to demonstrate how to keep the process of video making cheap and easy!  There will be other guest speakers to cover additional important elements.

Thom’s course will be by invitation only because he wants to work one-on-one with people and needs to keep the enrollment down to a manageable size.

Since I am one of his guest presenters, I am allowed to invite my readers to sign up for the early bird special.  I only have a few spots so if you are interested, you can sign up here.

I have no doubt it will be TONS of fun.   I’m quite excited to be part of it all.

Thanks for reading VPT

Lorraine Grula

This free video tutorial will help you learn to edit video using Final Cut Express, or any software package really.  I am demonstrating on Final Cut Express, but so much of what I show is fairly universal, no matter what program you are using.

If you are new to video editing, and particularly if you are interested in Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro, watching this ten-minute tutorial will show you how the programs are laid out and how they work.

Final Cut Express is an inexpensive option for anyone wanting to dive into professional-level editing without spending much.  FCE is now $199, compared to Final Cut Studio which is $999.

If you desire a high level of control over all the details of your video, then a program like Final Cut Express is what you want.  It’s got a fairly steep learning curve, but once you get the basics down, it’s not that hard at all. In fact, I find it a lot of fun and a very creative outlet.

I cover all the basics in this video.   I’m in the middle of editing a second tutorial on Express that will go into more detail on how you actually manipulate and change images.

Final Cut Express and its big brother Final Cut Pro are really not that different.  On a creative level, Express can do about 95% of what pro can do.  The single biggest difference in the two programs in what they come bundled with and how many file formats they work with.  Pro works with more professional formats that Express can’t handle.

Unless you are working in a professional situation, that probably won’t be an issue since Express takes the majority of common formats and Apple has already worked AVCHD into Express’ capabilities.

Final Cut Express is a great program for editing video and this free tutorial will get you started with it.  But like I already said, even if FCE is not your program of choice, this tutorial will teach you a lot about editing in general.

Here is a second, more advanced tutorial on FCE. It covers altering video through the motion tab and adding filters. Watch this after you view the first one that covers the basics.

Thanks for reading VPT

Lorraine Grula

Webcams: tiny, inexpensive wonders that plug directly into your computer and are a breeze to use.  There are lots of reasons why everyone should have a webcam in their arsenal of online video production equipment.  Even if I were lucky enough to have a dozen different video camera for my very own, you can bet your bottom dollar that at least two would be webcams.  (I have two computers).  If I were unlucky enough to only have one video camera, it would probably be a webcam.

I love webcams.  Not because they give the most incredible, high def resolution image.  Nope that’s not the reason.  It’s because they are:

• Brain dead simple to use
• Dirt cheap
• All-in-one camera/mic
• Barely needs any light
• Records instantly on your hard drive, no capturing!
• Helps you look ten years younger!  HUH?  (Gotta watch the video to get that one!)
• Tiny and fits anywhere

Webcams are the simplest, cheapest way to enjoy video.  With a webcam, you can take it out of the box, plug it in to your computer and be recording video of yourself within minutes.  You can edit that video or upload it to the web straight out of the camera.  You can also use a webcam to stream video live on the web too.

In order for you to get the best video possible out of a webcam, I made this video tutorial to show you the best practices for webcams.  You’ll see why just a tiny bit of light is needed, where to put it, and how to use a stack of  dusty old videotapes as a tripod.   You’ll also see a side-by-side comparison of webcam video quality and a more expensive and more complicated to use mini DV camera.

Even though the difference is indeed great, watch the tutorial to see how I spin lousy resolution into a benefit of the webcam!

Thanks for reading VPT

Lorraine Grula

Could you benefit from one-on-one video coaching?  Or, would you like a professional video made for you?  Either way, Video Production Tips can  help.Sometimes it makes practical sense to speak with someone directly about how to get your video project done.  You can read online articles and watch tutorials all day long, but you will get your specific questions answered more quickly if you have the ability to speak directly to someone who knows.  Every video project is different.   What works for you is not necessarily what’s going to work for someone else, so it’s hard to give good blanket advice through impersonal articles or tutorials.

I love corresponding with my readers one-one-one and helping you out with your specific video production issues.   Email me today to see if some personal coaching would be an efficient way to get your video project done.

Or maybe you just need to get your video done NOW and don’t want to learn how to do it yourself.  I understand perfectly.  The most practical solution for the busy person is to simply outsource your video production needs.   I can help you with that too.  Some clients shoot video and send it to me for editing, other clients have me create the entire thing from scratch.

Whatever works for you.  Like I said, every video project is different so I customize a plan that works for you. Email me today and get that video project off your to-do list and online!

Thanks for reading VPT

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Like this video?  Get something similar made just for you! Affordable and effective.

Our personalized, one-on-one video service can take all the headaches out of online video marketing.  Stop being frustrated by trying to learn it all and do it all yourself.  Not only is that approach slow and overwhelming, it’s costing you money!

You know that online video marketing is essential for any business.  Large or small, national or local, if you do any professional promotion online, video is the best way to do it.

Problem is, most medium and small businesses lack the resources to hire an internal production team.  Very few people already possess the knowledge to do it themselves and learning how to make video can take a while.  So often, the most cost-effective and practical thing to do is outsource.

We at Video Production Tips will be happy to help.  No matter what you personally need help with, we can guide you with advice, resources and services.

From start-to-finish in the video production process, we have the expertise and experience to help.  We’ll start by helping you design a personalized video marketing plan.  Then, we’ll make the videos for you and personally teach you whatever you need to learn in order to understand and participate in the process to whatever extent you want to participate.

Once the videos are done, we’ll  upload them, host them and add the sales-enhancing interactive links.  So not only will your videos be professionally produced and visually spectacular, but your videos will benefit from the cutting-edge, interactive technology that has been shown to increase conversions up to an astronomical 63%.

I’ve written a lot about interactive video and how powerful it is.  If you’ve  missed it, here is a post you’ll want to read that includes a video interview with Scott Broomfield, CEO of Veeple, a leading provider of online video interactivity. When you hire Video Production Tips, you have access to the best and most affordable interactivity available online provided by Veeple.com.

If we stopped there that would be awesome, but there’s more.  We can even blast your video out to all the top video sharing and social networking sites.  We can saturate the web with YOUR message.  From then on, you’ll get comprehensive analytics and ongoing support.

Our service is personalized for YOU. Unlike your standard impersonal web service, we call you on the phone to hear directly from you what you need and want.  Then, we work hard to come up with a plan that is practical and effective for YOU.  We are not a cookie cutter service by any stretch of the imagination.  We pride ourselves on our personal and friendly approach to customer relations.

The video above is just a sample of what we can do for you.    Imagine the script and graphics taken out and replaced with your personal message.   If you do not care for this style of video, we have unlimited capacity for creative changes.  Email us today to brainstorm ideas about what we can do for you!

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips.

Lorraine Grula

This interactive video is my holiday present for you.  It contains links to all the information you need to learn to make your own videos.

Watch the video.  In it,  I share links to seven different videos, articles and reports that provide a wealth of information about how to make video.  All you have to do to find the information is click on the numbers inside the video.

No need to spend a lot of time or money learning basic video production,  this blog has all the information you need.  A tremendous amount of it is stuffed inside this one video Christmas present!

If you read this blog often, you’ve seen my interactive videos and know how incredible I think interactive video is.

I use an in-the-cloud service called Veeple to provide the interactivity.  It’s easy to do.  I upload my finished video to my Veeple account, then use their editor to add the clickable links.  It took about thirty minutes to add all seven clickable links to this video.

Here is the script of the video to help you skip around in it if you wish.

Merry Christmas.  I’m Lorraine Grula with Video Production Tips.  I love Christmas, especially when we concentrate on the important things like giving, sharing, and peace on earth.  In that spirit, I give you what will benefit you most.

This video has links to all of my best and most valuable, but still free, videos and articles that will help you navigate the world of video making for the internet.

First, because it is Christmas, here are two videos I made of a spectacular Christmas reenactment put on by a large church in Nashville, TN. The post shares lots of info on how to get a project like that done and how to create multiple styles of video from one event.  Click button #1 to access that post.

Next, here is the one single post I consider most valuable on the entire blog:  it’s very detailed demonstrations  on how best to make a talking head video, which is the most common and important shot in all of video production.

Now, to discover what I think is the most incredible new development and spells the future of online video, click button #3 to go to the squeeze page of my membership site, Video Marketing Express and download a twenty-two page special report and video interview.

Fourth, lots of you ask me for help deciding what camera to buy.  Click button #4 for a detailed post on what to look for in a video camera.

For those of you who want to explore video editing, click button 5 for a post listing the eight Best Free video editing programs.

Now, button 6 will take you to the most popular post in the history of this blog, at least judging by the number of comments   It’s about how to set up a video production studio and what equipment you need.

And last, but not least, if you haven’t already, please sign up for my free course in video making that you can find if you click button #7.

So with that my friend, I wish you an incredible holiday now and forever.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips.

Lorraine Grula