All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts.

As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143

That’s the way Shakespeare described life and I absolutely concur.

Whether or not we ever appear on stage, we all play multiple roles in daily life.  Parent, worker, friend.   Add those basics to a few others out of a infinite number:  (athlete, politico, adventurer, gardener, hunter, church-goer, bargain hunter, football fan, etc., etc.,)  and that combines into one unique individual, called YOU.  (Or ME.)

Most of you reading this blog want to appear in our own videos. Whether the video you make features you acting as a fictional character or presents you realistically as the best choice in local attorneys in the Boston market,  going on camera (and doing it well) requires you to hone the skill of presenting yourself so a short video conveys exactly what you want it to.

I know just the guy who can help you do that!  He has helped me a lot.

If you are looking for coaching to improve your on-camera persona, my buddy Thom McFadden is someone you should meet.  He is a lifelong Hollywood actor who now helps folks wishing to develop on-camera skills, from “real” acting to professional image development.  He has helped me tremendously and I feel very fortunate to have his advice.

As an example of my stellar on-camera ability,   here is the testimonial I taped for his soon-to-be-released online acting course.

Thom’s new course will be incredible.  In addition to learning all about creating “characters” with speech, body language and mannerisms, you just might get a total Hollywood video production package!  A few lucky folks will get to go out to Hollywood to have his one-on-one professional help.  PLUS, his sons, who own a very successful production facility specializing in high-end online video content, will shoot and edit your video!

A professionally produced Hollywood video.  How fun and exciting is THAT?!

Sounds like an awesome opportunity.

Even if you do not need to go so far as a professionally produced Hollywood quality video, Thom’s course and advice can still greatly help you.  I promise you will get much better at presenting yourself on camera and also discover a few tricks for any role you play in life.   Then, I am here to teach you simple video production techniques so you can set up your own Hollywood production studio in your basement!

Here is a link to sign up for his FREE online acting classes, which will get you started and he will let you know when the full fledged course is ready.

My character’s role in this particular sage is to help you with do-it-yourself aspects of making video that complement what you will learn from Thom.

To that end, here are some links to some blog posts here at Video Production Tips that will help you learn all the basic of video making.  From lighting to cameras and file formats, you can discover the DIY joys on online video production!

LEARN TO MAKE YOUR OWN ONLINE VIDEO!

Here is a post that covers a lot of basic video production techniques. Discover easy tips for getting good lighting and sound while you learn to produce a talking head video, one of the most common shots in all of video production.   This post is like a mini home study all by itself.

Here is one of my most popular posts describing all the possible video equipment you need to set up a fully functioning TV studio.

Here is an article to help you decide what’s best to wear for digital video.

Here is a post on how you can enhance your video with online interactivity. Video interactivity is the latest and greatest way to boost your video’s effectiveness to the next level.

This post that explains how video interactivity turns your video into what amounts to a traveling website.

Here is one that describe online video distribution, using Traffic Geyser, a paid service that zaps your video out once to about 70 sites.

Here is an article covering basic video editing on Windows Movie Maker, one of the most common free editing programs around.

Here is a article on the technical aspect of digital video file conversion.

In addition to all the above articles and tutorials, you might also want to sign up for my free home study video production course. It has well over an hours worth of video tutorials.  The home study course will give you a good broad overview on all aspects of video making, from the technical end to storytelling.  It’s free!

Whew!  That’s a lot for you to study.  Together, all those links will give you a first rate education in the art and science of video production.  For free!

Now, I end this post with another videos I did for Thom.  This one is designed to go on his website and introduce me to his web visitors.   This video is a simple talking head that uses interactivity to increase the amount of info I can squeeze into one simple video.

Look closely and notice how this video has a blurry background and the testimonial video has an in-focus background.  The two videos were shot at the exact same time in the exact same way, so how did I do that?  That’s a digital editing effect you can learn by reading that article.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula