Just went through the ordeal of another video presentation that looked like a disturbing blur of images and sounds. People suffer through poorly recorded video presentations that are poorly lit and unclear. A little effort and following basic rules can make that boring video presentation look a million bucks!

Poor audio is a killer joy

Pooraudio quality can render the recording useless as nobody likes listening to a speech by the CEO that sounds like he’s rumbling or speaking from a cave. To avoid unwanted interruption, record using tapes or memory sticks with good data storing capability. Check the number of hours it can record so you don’t have to change it halfway through the presentation or worse still have your CEO speak long after it stops recording.

Opt for a decent recording device, use good quality microphone; keep mobiles in silent and asking the crowd to keep it down can be an effective way to produce good quality sound on your video recording.

Place your camera right

Position your camera properly. If there is a slide show, power point presentation or projector screen shoot from side angles or behind the screen to give a clear look of what the presenter is referring to.

Light up

No, we don’t mean smoke. Light the stage and audience to avoid grimy shots. Soften the light by using filters or simply by regulating your light source as soft lighting gives decent visual output. And unless you are a trained cameraman controlling harsh or sharp light is going to be a difficult task and you’d be spending most of your time avoiding shadows and there is always the risk of making the presenter look like a ghost with lurid make up on.

Zoom into what you need!

Decide before hand what you want to focus on. If it is the presenter you want your camera to rest on zoom in moderately and a mid close up shot should do the trick. Zoom out occasionally to capture the audience reaction and pan the camera to give a sweeping view of the whole venue.

Constant zooming in and zooming out can disorient the viewer and prove to be a distraction, use your zoom moderately. Regulate the speed of your zoom to make it unobtrusive instead of zooming in or out so quick, your audience start following your zoom, instead of the event. Your audience should follow the event.

If all else fails!

It is thinking on your toes that matters. Whisk out your smart phone to record the event or if you are having trouble with lighting try to set right while editing. And remember sometimes natural or atmospheric light looks great and natural on video, so when your lights start giving trouble all you have to do is open out the windows instead of panicking.

There are a million other factors that contribute to a great video presentation but we hope these simple ones do the trick for you!