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Chapter 9 Shooting Semi-Pro Videos 107

Lighting Matters

I’ve already said it multiple times in this chapter, but it bears repeating: Shooting in
available light seldom achieves acceptable results. You can dramatically improve the
look of your videos by adding light—augmenting the available light with some sort
of external light. This can be a camera-mounted video light, freestanding
photofloods, or a full-blown video lighting kit. The key is to get more—and better—
light into the shot.

Better lighting, by the way, isn’t just to get rid of lingering shadows. Most indoor
lighting isn’t quite white; the color of white varies from light source to light source.
Some types of lighting produce a cooler (bluer) white and others produce a warmer
(redder) white. And when the light itself is colored, it affects all the other colors in
the shot.

For example, candlelight casts a very warm light, almost orange. Incandescent bulbs
are also slightly warm, whereas florescent bulbs are cooler—to the point of having a
slightly greenish cast. In contrast, studio lighting has a more neutral cast, which is
what you want for your videos.

Note

You might be able to compensate for different types of lighting in your
camcorder. Look for a white balance or color correction control, and follow
your camcorder’s directions for setting a true white level.

Use an External Microphone

All camcorders have a built-in microphone. With most lower-end camcorders, that’s
the only option you have; you have to use the camcorder’s mic for all your audio
needs. In contrast, higher-end camcorders come with an external microphone jack
to which you can connect most any type of external mic. This is a good thing.

There are two bad things about using a camcorder’s internal microphone. First, it’s
typically not a high quality mic; the sound quality is mediocre at best. Second, the
microphone is on the camcorder, not on the subject—who is often on the other side
of the room. That means the subject has to yell just to be picked up by the mic,
which also picks up any other sounds between the subject and the camcorder—not
the best situation for capturing quality audio.

It’s far, far better to mic the subject directly, using a handheld mic, lavalier mic, or
even a boom mic. The keys are to get the mic closer to the subject and to isolate the
subject from all other background sounds. You want to clearly hear what the subject
is saying, and only what the subject is saying—and the only way to do that is with
an external microphone.