13 Jun 6 Tips For Looking Good When Creating Videos
Video marketing is growing at a remarkable rate, and although it can be used in any industry, the fitness industry stands out as being one of the best for expanding reach and increasing sales.
With video content first impressions count, so your video needs to look clean and professional, and you need to come across in the video as being comfortable otherwise it shows. So in this article, we are going to give you 6 essential tips to ensure you look good in front of the camera and shoot awesome video content!
1. DRESS ACCORDINGLY
You need to be smart and dress according to your target market when creating your video content. A shirt and tie may seem the most stylish, but you are a personal trainer, so it needs to scream fitness!
People are used to visiting the gym and seeing personal trainers wearing t-shirts with their logo printed on it. That is the perfect dress we would recommend for your videos.
Printed logo t-shirts can be purchased online for next to nothing, and this is a great investment for your business just to wear when you are training clients. Wear them when creating all visual content too – it’s good branding.
When choosing colours try to avoid conflict on your videos by wearing solid colours. Try to avoid tight patterns, as they can all be visually distracting to your viewer.
2. MAKEUP
For the females, if you are the subject of the video, stick to whatever you’d normally do on an average day – makeup-wise. The best makeup in videos is the makeup that viewers don’t even notice.
Standing in front of the camera can be quite intimidating if you aren’t used to it, so adding different or special makeup will add to the unfamiliarity and make you want to feel as comfortable in front of the camera as you possibly can.
3. CAMERA PLACEMENT
When taking selfies for Instagram or Snapchat, we seem to take super care of the camera placement to ensure we get our ‘good side’, and this should be the same for our videos, too!
Keeping the camera lens above your eye line will prevent the dreaded double chin situation and will produce a much more flattering angle.
If you are using the webcam on your laptop (recording a webinar etc.) make sure to raise it up off the table and angle it down toward your face, ensuring the camera is just above your eye line.
4. LIGHTING
The lighting condition of your video can ultimately make or break your content. Not enough light and viewers won’t be able to see clearly, too much light and you will look like a white silhouette.
Lighting is therefore vital to a good video, so you want to make sure you get this right!
Consider the environment you’re shooting in and look for unwanted shadows on the face. If you are standing directly underneath overhead office lighting, either switch off the lights or move the out from under the light. This will help to avoid the dreaded “raccoon eyes.”
If you’re using video lights, make sure your lights are located just in front of the camera and slightly above the subject’s eye line for the best results.
5. BACKGROUND
Try to avoid bright colours, orange and red will reflect the back onto you and will change your skin tone, too!
Black or grey backgrounds are considered muted tones and these work best. These colours with good lighting and great video content will look professional.
If you don’t have a backdrop, just make sure your background isn’t too distracting. If you are in an office or busy gym, try using lower aperture on your lens, to blur the background slightly and keep you in focus.
6. CONFIDENCE
Stepping in front of the camera can be a nerve racking experience and its the most uncomfortable experience for a lot of people. The key to a good video is confidence!
Make sure you stand or sit up straight, no hands in pockets and deliver each line with conviction. This is one chance to win over the watcher, so while you are on camera keep this in mind and make each second count.
You don’t need to be perfect! If you fluff a line, don’t start the whole video again. Take a breather, get yourself together and start again from the last checkpoint.
Remember, You can edit it out later. A handy trick we use is to click your fingers before you start again and then it’s easy to find when you’re editing, knowing the fluff is before and the good line after.
Just like your training, there is a time of the day when you feel at your prime. For most people its early morning or mid afternoon. We recommend shooting at this time and avoid late night.