In many ways, shooting a video podcast should be no different than shooting for broadcast. You're trying to get the best shot, with plenty of light and color information and lots of detail. Not only does this look best when you're shooting, but it also makes for a better-looking podcast. However, you should take into account a number of things, because the Internet isn't quite ready for primetime, and podcasts are watched on computer screens and portable media players. Bearing this in mind, you should consider things like shot composition and what camera moves you have planned, because they have a direct affect on the quality of your podcast.
Shot composition
The most obvious thing to think about is shot composition. In most cases, your podcast will end up as a relatively small screen resolution, probably 320×240. An iPod screen measures about 2 inches wide by 1.5 inches tall. On a computer monitor, depending on how your resolution is set, this same resolution can be up to roughly 4 inches wide by 3 inches tall. Either way you look at it, it's not the largest screen in the world. Therefore, you probably want to do away with your long shots and concentrate on medium shots and close-ups.
Because podcasting tends to be a very personal medium, the most common video podcasts tend to concentrate on "head and shoulders" framing, where subjects' eyes are located about 1/3 of the way from the top of the screen. One common mistake that amateurs make is to frame the video subject in the center of the video. This makes the subject look short, with too much space above his head. The rule of thirds, shown in Figure 1, will suit you well.
To use the rule of thirds, divide your video image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. You should try to place things of interest on the lines dividing the picture into thirds. Where the lines intersect are particularly good places. If you have a single subject, and you're shooting straight on, try to put the subject's eyes on the top 1/3 line. This makes for a well-balanced image that's pleasing to the eye. It doesn't matter how close or far away you are, the subject's eyes should remain on this line. If you get really close, you'll find that your shot crops off the top of his head (or maybe just his spiky hair). That's okay; if you place your subject at the center of the screen to try and keep his hair in the shot, it will look odd. Use the rule of thirds! It has been serving artists, photographers, and videographers for many years.
Another thing to consider is where the subject is looking. For a single talking head subject, it's best if they face directly towards the camera. In an interview situation, it's better if they are slightly to one side, looking toward where the other person is. In addition, it's most pleasing to the eye for the person to be angled toward the key light so that the part of the face getting the harsh light has the least exposure to the camera.
This may sound a bit complicated, but when you have your equipment set up it's easy to turn people one way or the other to see what effect it has on the shot. This is common practice in studios and is referred to as cheating. Sure, the subject may not be facing directly toward the interviewer, but if the shot looks better on camera, go with it.
Use a tripod
It is absolutely imperative to use a tripod when filming for the Web. Quite simply, using a tripod improves your video quality. Sure, most cameras come with built in handles that make them very portable, and carrying a tripod around is awkward and cumbersome. But the simple fact is that when you encode your podcast later, unnecessary motion will compromise your video quality, and hand-held content has lots of unnecessary motion.
Focus
It may seem obvious, particularly now that so many cameras have automatic focusing mechanisms built in, but it's critical that your subject remains in focus. Properly focused frames have more detail and consequently look better, even after encoding. Ironically, the auto-focus mechanisms of modern digital cameras can cause problems with your focus.
Auto-focus mechanisms work by making assumptions about what is most important in your frame. Things that are bright or moving tend to be interpreted as important. In many cases, this is fine, but if your subject is standing in front of a lake with boats sailing by, for example, the camera has a hard time deciding whether you're trying to shoot the static subject or the moving sailboats. Often the camera becomes confused and continually refocuses on different objects. In most situations, you're better off using the manual focus option if your camera offers one.
Focusing your camera manually is easy if you follow this simple procedure:
1. Zoom all the way in to your subject, and look at something with a lot of detail, such as the eyebrows or hairline.
2. Adjust the focus until it's as sharp as possible.
3. Zoom back out to your original shot composition.
That's it. Provided your subjects don't move too much, they'll stay in focus. If they do move, or if you decide to change the camera position, remember to re-focus each time.
White balancing and exposure
Earlier in this blog, we discussed color, in particular how our brains compensate for the differences in colors under different kinds of light. Cameras attempt to do this, but it's usually a better idea to manually white balance your camera to make sure your color representation is accurate. Manually white balancing a camera is a simple procedure. The idea is to "show" the camera what the color white looks like under the existing light. Given this information, the camera can then adjust its internal circuitry to compensate for the light, and the resulting video image will have faithful color representation.
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