Usually, a “talking head” is filmed with a camera attached to a tripod, which deprives the video of any dynamics. It seems that only hand actions, acting, facial expressions and charisma of the speaker can help out. In this article I will tell you about a few life hacks on how to make videos with a talking head better and more interesting, even if the speaker does not have charisma and acting skills.
Sony products are mentioned in the title of the article only because I use Sony cameras and talk about some accessories for Sony cameras. Many techniques can be applied to shooting with equipment from other manufacturers.
What background should you shoot?
The background and light setting are chosen depending on the content. If you intend to add titles, text or pop-up animated elements to the video later during editing, then you should provide a place in the frame for them. In this case, a plain background is appropriate - light or dark.
If, throughout the entire video, the viewer will see and hear only the announcer, then it is better to choose a more diverse background - an interesting interior or a picturesque place on the street.
When shooting outdoors, there is usually a lot more light and less aperture optics can be used. However, there is usually more noise outside and finding a suitable location for shooting can be difficult.
Which microphone should I use?
Better to use an external microphone. You can and should experiment with the types and models of microphones. An inexpensive and always acceptable option is a lavalier microphone. If you are shooting a person waist-deep or full-length, then it is better to use a radio system. If you have a limited budget for your equipment and you are shooting indoors or at close range, then a wired lavalier microphone may be fine.
Directional microphones (guns) are also suitable, but indoors they often pick up echoes and background noises if the room is not properly soundproofed (for example, a public space, not a special studio).
It is better not to record sound on the microphone built into the camera. Almost any external microphone that costs 1,000 rubles or more will sound better than a microphone built into the camera. Modern Sony mirrorless cameras usually have an external microphone input. This is a regular 3.5 mm jack.
Cheap and sufficiently high-quality microphones in a large assortment are produced by the Chinese company Boya, any of them is worth the money. Other Chinese products need to be studied specifically by models, there are both good samples and bad ones. If you are interested in the models that I used, ask in the comments and I will answer. Rode microphones are considered to be of higher quality than Chinese ones, but their price is several times higher.
Which lens should you use?
Fix or zoom is everyone's personal business. Usually zooms are inferior to fixes in sharpness and aperture. As I said above, outdoors it is quite comfortable to shoot with a closed aperture, there is usually enough light. The resolution of video clips is several times less than a typical photo frame, so the sharpness of the zooms is quite sufficient. Outdoors, you can shoot video with zooms in superb picture quality. Indoors, you may want to blur the background more and you will have much less light, and you still need to set the artificial light correctly, so a high-aperture lens (it does not matter - fix or zoom) will be more appropriate when shooting indoors. High-aperture fixtures are much more affordable than high-aperture zooms, so it makes sense to buy a high-aperture fix for indoor shooting.
What is the focal length to shoot?
I usually use lenses in the range of 35-50 mm equivalent focal lengths (EFR) for filming a “talking head”. At a 50mm equivalent focal length, the angle of view of the lens is considered to be close to the typical average angle of view of the human eye.
The shorter the focal length, the closer the camera can be to the speaker, but the perspective distortion will be greater. With an EGF of less than 35 mm, perspective distortions are already clearly visible, facial features become more convex, plump, and this is not always appropriate.
It makes sense to put the camera closer to the speaker for the following reasons.
First, if you are filming yourself and using wired accessories - lavalier microphones, remotes, then they have a limited wire length.
Secondly, for sure you will use some kind of device for displaying text or prompts (prompter). The closer the camera is, the easier it is for the speaker to read the clues from the monitor or tablet outside the frame.
I prefer to shoot the “talking head” with various 50mm lenses and Zeiss Batis 2/40.
Manual or auto focus?
The talking head is usually shot in medium or close-up. This means that the depth of field (DOF) is likely to be shallow. At the same time, the lack of focus is usually well noticeable. When a person tells something, he moves a little - he approaches the camera, bends over with his body and head. The eyes, as the main focusing object, are constantly moving. The autofocus system usually tries to catch these movements and refocusing constantly occurs and autofocus does not always behave correctly.
If your situation allows, then you can increase the depth of field - that is, cover the aperture or use a shorter focal length. If you definitely want to blur the background a lot, or you have a problem with enough light, and the results of shooting with autofocus do not suit you, then you can try shooting with manual focus. In this case, you still have to ask the speaker not to move too much back and forth.
Personally, I prefer to always shoot the "talking head" in manual focus at any aperture. Then it is guaranteed that the focus does not breathe, does not prowl, and in general the picture is more adequate.
What manual focus options do we have for Sony cameras?
First, you can set the autofocus lens to manual focus mode. It is convenient for this to assign one of the function buttons and focus in automatic mode before shooting, and then immediately switch to manual focus. You just need to remember to refocus when shooting the next take.
Secondly, you can shoot with a non-autofocus lens. There is a huge selection of non-autofocus optics on sale, both specifically for video and universal. In addition, old lenses can be installed on Sony cameras using adapters. Old Soviet lenses are usually much inferior to modern lenses in contrast, tolerate side and backlight much worse. That is, on the street they often show themselves noticeably worse than modern lenses. But for indoor shooting, they are quite applicable.
Among the old Soviet lenses I personally single out Zenitar-M 1.7 / 50 mm and Industar-61 2.8 / 50 mm. Zenitar-M gives a pleasant and high-quality picture, both in the photo and in the video. In terms of colors, sharpness and contrast, under favorable conditions Zenitar-M can compete with modern lenses 10-20 times more expensive. Zenitar-M is good for shooting both indoors and outdoors, the main thing is not to shoot them against the sun. And Industar is interesting with the shape of the aperture and “star” blurring of the background. At closed aperture (f5.6-f8), the opening takes on the shape of a hexagonal star. When shooting outdoors, you can get interesting star highlights in the background.
Third, you can use Minolta / Sony A mount autofocus lenses via the LA-EA3 (or EA1 for crop cameras) adapter in autofocus mode. At the same time, we get the following effect: the lens normally focuses automatically in the photography mode, but when shooting video, autofocus does not work. It turns out as in the first version, only you do not need to constantly turn on / off autofocus. Before taking a take, half-press the photo button, autofocus occurs, and then turn on the video recording. Among the inexpensive and high-quality lenses for the Minolta / Sony A mount, I would like to highlight the Sigma 1.4 / 50mm EX DG HSM. This used glass costs 3-4 times cheaper than its analogue - Sony / Zeiss Planar 1.4 / 50 and gives an excellent airy picture with excellent sharpness and contrast, pleasant colors, more effectively suppresses chromatic aberration at an open aperture,than Zeiss. But many copies of Sigma suffer from a slight autofocus play (front or back focus), noticeable in the photo. Finding a perfectly accurate lens is difficult. In videos, even in 4K format, these autofocus errors are usually not very noticeable. Therefore, the Sigma 1.4 / 50mm EX DG HSM deserves attention.
How do you control the camera when you are filming yourself?
The answer is simple - using the remote control. There are wired and Bluetooth models. On AliExpress, you can order inexpensive (up to 2000 rubles) Chinese remotes of very decent quality. I am using Fotga RM-VS1 (wired) and JJC RMT-P1BT (wireless). These remotes allow you to control both photo and video shooting. Would recommend them to all Sony mirrorless users.
How do I add speakers when shooting a “talking head”?
It has long been known that the viewer loses interest when nothing moves in the frame. This is due to our ancient instincts as a hunter and fisherman. Our attention is easily held on moving objects and quickly “turns off” when there is no movement in the frame. So that the viewer does not get bored and continue watching, you need to add dynamics to the video.
The easiest way to do this is by abrupt and smooth changes of plans (camera zoom in and out). And you can also use the effect of smooth movement of the camera from side to side or up and down. In order to realize such effects, it is not at all necessary to move the camera while shooting.
Modern cameras allow you to shoot in 4K resolution, and finished videos are usually published in Full-HD resolution, because this resolution is normally viewed on all devices and at the same time the video does not "weigh" too much.
If you shoot videos in 4K, then you will have enough space for digital zoom, all kinds of framing, zooming in and motion effects without degrading the quality when outputting in Full-HD. That is, we shoot everything from one point in 4K, and then the effects of “like movement” of the camera are added to the editing for dynamics and drama.
If the speaker is explaining something, then it is quite appropriate to insert diagrams, tables or other presentation slides. This makes the training video clearer and more dynamic.
How to organize prompts for the speaker (prompter)?
Reading tips from your phone in your hand is complete game, despite the fact that many bloggers do this. It looks bad. Looks much better when the speaker looks at the camera and speaks confidently. This effect is achievable if prompts are broadcast on the screen located directly next to the camera lens.
You can use both a simple monitor or a tablet, placing it near the camera, and special devices.
There are and are sold on the same AliExpress special devices - prompts. This is a camera mount system with a clear mirror in front of the lens. The camera is mounted behind such a mirror and shoots through it. And the mirror reflects the screen of a tablet or phone lying horizontally in front of the mirror. Thus, the tips are located almost in the camera lens. For the technique to work, you need not only to have this device, but also to prepare tips in a special way, as they will be reflected in the mirror. Microsoft PowerPoint and other presentation applications have the ability to reflect captions on slides.
That's all. Dear reader, I hope this article was useful and interesting for you.