Appearing authentic in front of the camera is no easy feat. Shying away feels natural and sometimes, it’s just all too easy to get ‘stuck in your head’. When posting content online, it is always my intention to speak as if it were to a friend. By that, I mean that I want it to feel natural. The first way to do so is by initiating the feeling of eye contact. Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘How could I possibly create eye contact with a person that I can’t see?’. Easy. Just look at that teeny tiny eye in your camera lens. This allows the audience to engage with you! After all, who wants to listen to somebody that won’t take the time to look them in the eye? Not me. Eye contact is a sure way to know that you are on the path toward getting your message across.
In this video, I wanted to portray myself as friendly and confident. As I am one that often trips on my words, I made sure to structure my sentences prior to recording and to focus on key words to get my message across. It was important that I covered three aspects; my studies, hobbies and career aspirations. To ensure that it didn’t seem like I was merely ticking off a list, I compiled them into one short story about how I got into the job that I am in now. As this video may be viewed by future employers, I also wanted to maintain a sense of professionalism.
With a career relating to digital media and design, it was important to take my surroundings into account. Ha! Easy! I’ll just film whilst the sun hits the widest window in my house. Ha… Don’t worry, now that I’ve got the gift of hindsight, I’m laughing too. To get my final take, I had to re-arrange an entire room. I’m talking about shifting a hefty bookcase into the hallway, moving all of my washing and then balancing two boxes on top of a drying rack. I then wrapped an industrial spotlight in a pillowcase, plonked it on top of the boxes and aimed it directly at my face. Although this didn’t remove every shadow… under the homebound restrictions – this was my best bet.
From here, I considered the rule of thirds (Hornsby 2018). I centred myself (and my eyes) on what I perceived to be an intersecting line and stared down the little camera lens. I took a few photos to see how my background would be perceived. With an interest in design, I tried to replicate an analogous colour palette with the use of my sweater, plants and trinkets. I kept a short script tucked into the lid of one of the boxes. It was placed strategically so that if I needed to find my words, I was referring to a spot that would be seen as a natural eye movement.
Although editing is not always necessary, I felt that my digital skills might come in handy due to my lack of equipment. This helped to overcome the shakiness of the drying rack. I stabilized my recording with the help of Adobe Premiere Pro. In the future, and under lesser restrictions, I would consider using a lapel microphone to ensure a greater quality of sound. Finding a stable surrounding (or better yet, a tripod) would also be beneficial.
So, check out the finished outcome below!
References:
Hornsby, D 2018, ‘Getting Practical With Video Episode 2 Camera and Composition’, Dylan Hornsby, YouTube, July 12, retrieved 1 August 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBwcLi1C3wY>.
Alex Babic 