LIVECODE CHEAT SHEET FOR FILMING YOURSELF – PLEASE READ BEFORE FILMING
VIDEO LENGTH: Your video should be no longer than 3 minutes. If you want to upload multiple videos answering more questions if you are running out of time, you can do that.
CONSTRUCTING YOUR VIDEO: Start by introducing yourself briefly, tell us who you are and what you do. Then move onto delivering the answers to the questions you are choosing to answer. Once you begin filming, be sure to leave 3 seconds between finishing one question and moving onto the next one. At the end of the video we ask that you finish by saying “LiveCode – Develop Yourself”.
MOBILE PHONE
ORIENTATION: The simplest rule-of-thumb is to ensure you always flip your phone and film in landscape mode.
LIGHTING: Even some decent dedicated video cameras don’t perform well under standard room lighting, so it goes without saying that many smartphones will struggle in dimly-lit places too.
There’s no need to become an expert in lighting – simply avoid back-lighting the subject (e.g. a person standing against a window with the sun shining in). Use naturally lit locations to film, such as outdoors or near large windows. Position the subjects of your filming so that the camera is nearest the window and it captures the light shining on to the subject.
It doesn’t have to be natural light of course. If you do have a very well-lit room from electric lighting, it can work just fine. Try some test-filming first to see what it looks like when you play it back.
AUDIO: The location of your filming is everything when it comes to filming without an external mic. Find a quiet space. Turn off background radio or TV. Avoid tunnels and echo-y rooms for starters, while wind is notorious for killing nice sounds you want to capture. It helps if you’re situated as close to the subject as possible.
STEADY: Once you’re set up in the right place ask a friend to help to film the video for you or use a cheap smartphone tripod such as a gorilla pod.
The human hand’s propensity to jitter like a jitterbug when holding a phone aloft is well known, and it should be avoided if possible. There are small techniques you can adopt to minimize shaking. For example, always hold the camera with both hands, and keep your elbows as close to your body as possible, preferably rested on your waist – this provides the necessary support your arms need.
STYLE: The digital zoom on your phone is probably rubbish, so don’t use it. It’s also best to avoid too much panning – that is, moving your camera from side-to-side. In fact, any jerky movement that shifts the viewers’ eyes too much and too quickly is best avoided.
Frame yourself in the centre of the picture leaving a small gap above your head and about chest height at the bottom of frame.
BACKGROUND: It helps to tell the story if the background of your video in some way is relevant to what is being talked about.
WEB CAMERA
Most of above is applicable also to filming with your laptop’s web camera.
EYELINE: Ideally, you want the lens of your webcam to be level with your eyeline (or even slightly above it)—place your laptop on top of a stack of books or a box, make some adjustments, and you should be good to go! Position yourself about an arm’s length away from the screen, and make sure you leave a bit of space between the top of your hair and the top of the frame to give yourself headroom.
UPLOADING FOOTAGE TO SHARE WITH US: This couldn’t be easier. First make sure you rename your video file to include your name and your email address before uploading. The upload is private and only LiveCode Ltd have access to it. This is simply so we can easily identify who is in the video. Once you have done it – just upload it here – https://www.dropbox.com/request/eFmoGgmePjBG7gqSWDjR
