 The best way to create professional videos that look and sound great is to hire professional videographers and sound recordists. As you can see from the images below, they come prepared with the various tools of the trade. Their talent, experience and equipment does come with a price tag that is sometimes more than your budget allows or your project requires. If you are creating videos that are scenario based, with more than two people talking, I would always recommend hiring a professional video production company to film and edit the videos. The extra cost will pay off in the end with videos you can be proud of and will stand the test of time.
In this blog we will be discussing video projects where there is one to two people speaking directly into camera. We call these 'talking head' videos: an interview-style video that features an instructor or subject matter expert who talks directly into the camera as though they are addressing the learner directly. This is the style used to great effect on Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. The best and least expense way to begin filming your talking head videos is to film them using whichever smart phone you have. (We will be discussing DSLR and Mirrorless cameras in another blog). The cameras on the phones are great for these types of videos and for where the videos will ultimately live. There is no need to shoot them on 4K cameras as the sites where you will be posting them don't support 4K videos. The two important things to consider when filming your videos are the audio quality and lighting quality. Let's talk lighting first. LIGHTING FOR TALKING HEAD VIDEOS Lighting can make anyone look good or bad! The most tried and true method to lighting for a talking head video is the 3 POINT LIGHTING METHOD. The three points are: KEY LIGHT: The key light is primary source of the scene. It is the most intense and direct light source which is used to illuminate the subject. The key light is most often placed in front of your subject, at an angle, and thus illuminates one section of your subject. Methods to Manipulate a Key Light:
FILL LIGHT: The fill light does exactly what it sounds like it does-it fills in gaps in light created by the key light. It eliminates shadows created by the key light and doesn't create any of it's own. It's less powerful than the key light and is placed opposite from it. The fill light determines the feel and style of the shot. What does fill light do?
BACKLIGHT/HAIR LIGHT: The backlight lights the subject from behind to help separate them from the background. It's generally placed higher than the subjec that it's lighting. When a backlight hits a subject at an angle it is referred to as a kicker or rim light. What is backlight used for?
 Resourced image from https://www.videoschool.com/three-point-lighting/ Now that we know where to place the lights, the question is what type of lights should we be using? METHOD 1 - NATURAL LIGHTING This is exactly what it sounds like- the use of natural light for the KEY LIGHT. Perhaps your home, office or home office has a nice big window- perfect. You set up facing the window with the camera in front of you and use the natural light from the window as your key light. You can then use a reflector from the natural light as your FILL LIGHT and another reflector as your BACKLIGHT METHOD 2- LED LIGHTING KITS LED lights are lighter and cooler than other types of video lighting and can be plugged into any household outlet. LED’s are extremely efficient. You can use batteries to power them. That makes them portable and sleek - no messy cabled needed. Some suggested lighting kits: Neewer 660 LED Light Kit at Amazon GVM LED Video Lighting Kit at Amazon VILTROX VL-200 Kit at Amazon AUDIO FOR TALKING HEAD VIDEOS The sound of your video is crucial. We can forgive a wobbly camera or lighting that isn't perfect, but we can't forgive bad sound. People will turn off any video that has bad sound. The mic on most smart phones are good in perfect conditions ie; in a quiet room with no outside noise (street sounds, people in other parts of the office/house), or no inside noise (air conditioners, fluorescent lights, running refrigerators) and with a single subject. When another subject is added, or the conditions for filming are not perfect, the smart phone mics are not adequate. An external mic source is required.
AUDIO FOR TALKING HEAD VIDEOS The first thing to consider in terms of audio is location. There are two locations to consider: INSIDE and OUTSIDE INSIDE: Inside is the easiest place to shoot as there tends to be less noise to interfere with your video. Some things to consider when choosing an indoor location: 1- How busy is the location? The busier the location the longer it will take you to film and the more heartache you will have in post when you realise you can't use the footage due to noise issues. Unless you can lock down the whole building while you are filming, it's best to chose a location that is as isolated as possible. 2- How loud is the room? Yes, empty rooms can be louder than other empty rooms. Stand in the room you are planning on filming and listen for sounds like: air conditioners, fluorescent lights, fridges, elevator sounds, sounds emanating from outside like trucks. If the room is noisy, try to find another room. If you have to use a noisy room- at the end of your filming record 30 seconds of the room tone so that it can be used in post when cuts are made from one take to another. A good note to be on the safe side:if you can hear it, your phone can hear it, so stop and wait for the noise to end. OUTSIDE: Outside has many challenges when it comes to audio. Not only do you have to think about how busy your location is for the same reason as you do for when shooting indoor, you also have to take into consideration the weather, especially the wind. If you do not have a way to block the wind from your phone mic, your audio, and therefore your video, will be unusable. It is why, when filming outside, it is imperative to use an external mic with a wind sock. Some suggested External Mics Maono 2.4 GHz Dual Lapel Mics Sabine Tek Official SmartMike Saramonic Blink 500
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 More and more studies are showing that the addition of video to any curriculum enhances the learning experience for the learner. "One study of teaching methods found that telling alone, showing material visually alone, and combined telling and showing each resulted in 70% or greater recall at 3 hours (85% for combined). However, retention 3 days later was 10% for telling alone and 20% for showing alone, compared with 65% retention for combined telling and showing." Studies also show that the quality of the videos and the planning of the content are 2 very important aspects to the success of videos in education. The four principle reasons for the success of integrating videos into teaching are: 1 - ENGAGEMENT “Video is seen as having advantages for engagement in some specific ways, notably in widening participation, emotional engagement and overall course engagement.” Across the literature, higher levels of student satisfaction are reported in groups with access to video (Yousef et al., 2014). When comparing video over text when dealing specifically with problem- based learning it was found a general preference for video over text (Rasi and Poikela, 2016). 2- REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE Videos allow learners to watch and experience real life situations. Using video scenarios enables the assessment of impact by requiring learners to face realistic challenges and solve complex problems using critical thinking. “The integration of multimedia in the course gave students a collaborative experience where they can apply their knowledge to the simulation scenarios. Inclusion of the vignettes was found to be effective in addressing specific areas of curriculum while stimulating student engagement.” The greater the reality of the situation, the greater the emotional impact and the learning. Professional content writers and creators are able to make sure that the scenarios are real and impactful. 3- RETENTION One study (Taslibeyaz et al., 2017) in the context of medical education from 2000 to 2014, showed that watching videos was beneficial for gaining clinical skills, changing attitudes, encouraging cognitive learning and retaining knowledge. A review of the literature done by Maya M Hammoud, Helen K Morgan, Mary E Edwards, Jennifer A Lyon, and Casey White concluded “in general video recording of performance and subsequent review by students with expert feedback had positive outcomes in improving feedback and ultimate performance.” 4- LEARNERS WANT VIDEOS The following is an excerpt from the study “Development of e-learning in medical education: 10 years’ experience of Korean medical schools” by Kyong-Jee Kim and Giwoon Kim “Our study illustrates the current popularity of online videos as learning resources among medical students. This finding concurs with that of Khogali et al. that students valued animation and video demonstrations highest among e-learning resources.” It’s not only millennials who prefer videos. Business executives prefer watching videos, as well. Specifically, 59% of senior executives prefer video over text and 75% of executives watch videos while working. Creating videos for your course may seem daunting, but a professional video production company, like Moxie Productions, who specializes in educational videos, can guide you through the whole process.
 So – you want to create a corporate, educational or promotional video but you’re a little overwhelmed. Where to start? You might only want a small in-house video, or you might want a large production that could take a couple of days of shooting. At Moxie Productions, our crews can be as small as two people, or consist of director, cinematographer, sound, continuity, makeup and several actors. It depends on what you need. We tailor your shoot to your specific requirements. Maybe you have a project that has a script already and what you need is film production. We can do that. Do you have footage shot in house that needs editing? We can do that too. Moxie Productions can come onto a project at whatever stage you require. So we’ve broken down the full process into five easy steps. Easy – for you. And to let you know what’s happening behind the scenes, we’ve included a little about the work we’re doing at every step to create your video exactly the way you want it. STEP 1- DEVELOPMENT Moxie Productions will meet with you to get an idea of what you want to say and who your target audience is. Together, we’ll decide on things like how long your ideal video will be and drill down into what you want and need to get across and how. We ask the questions, and use your answers as the building blocks to help us create the script – a script that you will always have final approval of. STEP 2 - PRE-PRODUCTION Here’s where the rubber really meets the road. Behind the scenes the work is really ramping up, and Moxie Productions will keep you in the loop every step of the way. But there are a lot of things involved in pre-production, like booking crew, actors and location, and rehearsing with those actors – this is where our expertise takes the logistical and creative burden off of you. Because there is a myriad of details to deal with at this stage, like setting the shooting schedule, creating a shot list, and assembling wardrobe, props and sets, just to name a few. The more things that are ironed out in pre-production the better the shoot day(s) will go! STEP 3 - PRODUCTION Lights, camera, action! Shoot days are what we all think of when it comes to making a video. Moxie Productions work with seasoned professionals to make the day go smoothly and, if we are shooting in your workplace, with a minimum of disruption. Your particular shoot might be large or small, but there is an excitement to seeing the camera bring your final script come to life. But that’s not the end of the story! Let’s move onto: STEP 4 - POST PRODUCTION Here’s where the magic really happens and everything comes together. Moxie Productions takes the raw footage from your shoot and works with it to create a polished final cut: doing a picture edit, colour correction, adding titles, captions and transitions. On shoot day you’ll see those clappers just like on any movie set you’ve seen - well, in the movies! Those are really important for synching in post-production. So don’t forget sound: we edit, mix and balance audio and add music. STEP 5 - DELIVERABLES Finally, we deliver your video. We pride ourselves on working on schedule and on budget. We can deliver the final video in any format you require. And we can upload it to whatever site you need. So there you are! Five easy steps to video production. Five steps that Moxie Productions can do for you: delivering your video how you want it, when you want it, the way you want it.
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