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Chapter 9 Shooting Semi-Pro Videos 113

with the shot’s background color or pattern. You want the subject to stand out from
the background, but not glaringly so.

Here are some additional tips on choosing the most appropriate clothing for your
subject:

• Choose clothing that reflects the subject’s taste and personality, as well
as the image you want to convey for your company or product. Unless
you’re deliberately striving for a particular effect, avoid clothing that
isn’t natural for the subject.

• Simplicity is best; go with solid colors or simple patterns. Avoid wild
checks, stripes, and busy patterns that tend to draw attention to them-
selves or that “scream” on camera.

• Clothing should complement the subject’s face, not be in conflict with
it, which again argues for simplicity.

• The subject should dress comfortably, especially if it’s going to be a long
shooting session. Although a suit and tie are de rigueur for many corpo-
rate videos, more casual videos might call for turtlenecks, V-necks,
open-collared shirts, and sweaters.

• For fancier videos, it’s a good idea for the subject to have at least one
change of clothes. This provides some flexibility and offers more
choices when it comes to choosing the final shot.

• Women should generally avoid showing bare arms; it’s better to wear
long-sleeved shirts and blouses instead. (And the no-bare-arms rule
goes double for men!)

• Similarly, women in full-length shots should almost always wear slacks,
a long skirt, or dark stockings. It’s not a good idea to show a lot of skin
that draws attention away from the subject’s face.

• In terms of color, darker colors are generally better than lighter ones.
The best colors are medium shades of blue, green, rust, and burgundy.

• White, yellow, pink, and similar colors tend to overpower the subject’s
face and make her look pale.

• You should avoid bright reds and oranges. They draw attention away
from the subject’s face and from any product he’s demonstrating!

But these are just general guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Go for what works best
in your particular shot. Remember to envision the shot as it will look in a web
browser!