Our fifth post, in the Streamline Your E-Course Production series, is how to boost your course production efficiency by using video filming strategies.
Have you developed any strategies to help you film your e-course videos? If not, this post will give you some ideas.
My hope is that something will resonate with you to help you gain efficiencies with your e-course production.
One of the reasons we wanted to do a blog series such as this, is because e-course production can be such a daunting task.
Don’t believe those who tell you that you can complete an entire online course in a weekend! It just isn’t so. And if for some reason they show you it is possible; how do you know if the product is good quality?
That’s why our focus is on gaining efficiencies, not just rushing to complete a mediocre product.
So, read on to learn some useful video filming strategies!
WHY USE VIDEO FILMING STRATEGIES?
So, why exactly can’t you just start filming your e-course videos and do as many takes as you need to get them right?
Well, that is one approach.
But if you are trying to streamline your e-course production and gain efficiencies, then using several video filming strategies can help.
The strategies I’m about to tell you will help:
- Reduce the number of takes you need to do to get it right
- Make you feel more relaxed during the filming process
- Improve post production editing and speed up the editing process
- Make you appear and feel more professional on camera
- Reach your target audience more easily
- Allow your authenticity to shine through more easily on camera
USE THESE VIDEO FILMING STRATEGIES
So, without further ado, here is a list of video filming strategies that we use to help us streamline our e-course production:
Use a Video Lecture Outline
I highly advise you to use a video lecture outline.
We talked about this strategy in the last blog post in this series, to help you stay on track while filming. Therefore, it is one of the most important video filming strategies as it helps keep you organized.
Go On – Make Mistakes!
Don’t worry if you make a mistake while filming, just repeat a section over and over until you get it the way you want.
You can easily cut out the bad “takes”, rather than trying to fix audio and video that have errors in them.
This video filming strategy allows you to relax more while on camera, by pretending that it isn't there.
Pause When You Need To
While filming, pause in between sections of text when you need to look at your outline.
There is no need to stop the recording unless it is going to be long pause, so keep going. Then cut out the silence later.
Look at the Camera Lens
If you are using your smart phone to record videos, make sure to look at the camera lens on your phone.
In other words, don’t look at yourself on the screen. The camera lens itself is normally a small circular area in one of the corners of your screen.
Testing, Testing, 1…2…3…
This video filming strategy may be obvious, but I wanted to mention it as a reminder.
Make sure to do a test video before recording for the first time. It can save you later on if you take a few minutes to test your equipment set-up.
Things to watch out for include:
- Ensuring that you have your microphone placed correctly so you can be heard.
- Verifying that you have your microphone plugged into your smart phone or camera.
- Making sure you are visible within the confines of the screen.
- Testing your lighting set-up to make sure your face is not in shadow.
Speak Into the Mic
Building on the last video filming strategy, microphone placement is key.
Depending on what type of mic you are using, this may vary. However, if you are using a small lapel mic, you may have to perform some tests in order to find the optimal placement for this mic.
I learned the hard way when I recorded a whole video in which you could constantly hear my hair brushing across the lapel mic as I spoke. So, make sure to avoid things like this!
Use a Tripod!
For this video filming strategy, I highly recommend that you use a tripod to hold your smart phone/camera.
This helps immensely so that your videos are stable and not choppy. Here is a link to the tripod we have used in the past that we purchased from Amazon.
For more information on this and other tech tools you need to produce online courses check out this blog post.
Lighting…sigh
Lighting can be tricky if you are trying to do this on a budget.
To help with this, and avoid having to purchase expensive lighting equipment, we recently purchased a small ring light mounted on its own tripod that you can use with your smart phone. This will replace our other tripod for the moment, but it’s always good to have a couple tripods on hand!
A ring light is helpful for illuminating the subject more uniformly.
Whether you are using lamps, natural lighting or professional lighting equipment, make sure that your face is free of shadows so that you can be seen easily on video.
BONUS TIP: Make sure to use a lamp/lighting to illuminate your backdrop. In other words, if you are standing in front of a wall, shine a lamp directly at the wall behind you.
CONCLUSION
So, let’s recap!
Here is a summary of our fifth step to help you streamline your e-course production:
- Using video filming strategies will help:
- Reduce the number of ‘takes’
- Make you feel more relaxed
- Improve the post production editing process
- Make you more professional on camera
- Reach your target audience more easily
- Allow your authenticity to shine through
- Try these video filming strategies:
- Use a video lecture outline
- Repeat sections, if you make a mistake, then cut out the bad ‘takes’
- Pause in between sections of text to collect your thoughts, then edit out the silence
- Look at the camera lens on your smart phone, not at yourself
- Before your first video recording, do a test to make sure your set-up is adequate
- Microphone placement is key – make sure you can be heard easily
- Use a tripod to hold your smart phone or a ring light with tripod to help with uniform illumination
- Shine a light on your backdrop to help improve the look of your videos
Well, that’s all for today.
What video filming strategies do you use? Let us know in the comment section below.
And as always, if you have any questions about our fifth step to help you streamline your e-course production, don’t hesitate to ask!
Stay tuned for our next installment of the Streamline Your E-Course Production blog series…
Thanks for stopping by,
Heather
CEO and Founder of e-course alley