How to Create Short Videos for Self-Promotion Online

Mindset

First of all, you don’t have to Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese to create professional looking videos.

If you’re feeling at all intimidated by the task ahead, don’t be.

Really.

Video making is not some mysterious arcane practice.

It’s actually fairly easy, straightforward and stress-free.

Okay, let’s get one thing straight.

Film, video, drama, music, TV, they all share one thing in common.

They’re slow going.

Most art based projects are.

By contrast, making short videos for the internet is fairly quick.

Much depends on what you want to say, and how you want to say it.

Funny thing is making videos for the net is better when you do it alone.

What they call Run and Gun.

Because the more people who have involved in your filming, the longer it will take.

Generally speaking two people will take twice as long to finish a video project.

Two people will have twice as many ideas and twice as many things that need to be agreed upon.

Three people will take three times as long, four will take four times as long, and so on.

You can see this phenomenon playing out across the board.

Think of it this way.

You can easily create about an hour of usable footage a day when you’re on your own.

When twenty people try to film something for TV, that drops to around 10 minutes of usable footage a day.

When over fifty people try to make a movie, for instance, they’re lucky if they can create a minute or two of usable footage a day.

It’s the way of the medium.

Of course there are lots of reasons why filming gets more complicated the more people that get involved.

Decisions about lighting, camera angles, backgrounds, script, whatever, become much more involved than when you’re on your own.

My advice is to keep your filming as simple and efficient as possible which means, perhaps counter intuitively, it’s best to do it all yourself.

Relying on only yourself will not only be more satisfying and simpler, you’ll probably create a better product.

The most important thing to remember is that creating good video is about planning.

Working out what you want first - making plan - and then sticking to it.

Do that and the whole process becomes easy and straightforward.

Copyright

Okay, you might think it’s a bit early in the course to start talking about copyright but the fact is in these litigious times copyright - and intellectual property ownership - is so important it will actually effect how you work right from the start.

Because it basically means you have to make everything you use from scratch.

For example, you have to accept that pretty much everything you might want to borrow from other sources - things like images, video, music, words from book etc - probably belong to someone else.

10 or 20 years ago this didn’t matter so much but now things are different.

Sure, movies and TV shows we already know we can’t copy.

You can barely download anything for free anymore.

Even still pictures you look up on Google are often the property of someone else and you will get into trouble if you try and use them without permission.

The same for music, especially music.

Companies like YouTube will shut you down if you consistently use copyrighted music that doesn’t belong to you, even if you’ve sought permission to use it.

These days you can’t rely on anything being copyright free, which means you will likely have to pay for a license or create everything you want on video yourself.

But this is the great thing about software from the new breed of video making companies like InVideo.

They have huge galleries of copyright free film you can use in your videos.

And a lot of it is really good, professional looking and fully editable.

Which will become more important later.

For the moment all you need to know is that while you’re planning your video creations, bear in mind you can’t steal stuff like music, images and copyrighted stuff at all.

Those days are over!

As they should be.

And if you’re one of those people who believes everything on the internet should be free, you’ll need to abject your thinking and realize that artists getting paid for the their work is good for everyone.

Could be that one day you’ll be glad that your own intellectual property is copyright protected!

And in case you’re confused about how copyright works, the law already states that any intellectual property you create is protected the moment your create it.

So all the many copyright agencies around the world are doing is enforcing the law as it stands.

The US, England, Europe and most civilized countries have a long time ago agreed that copyright is sacred.

It is only less enlightened countries, most of them third world, especially China but even sometimes Australia, that tend to be the ones illegally stealing other people’s books, film and music rights and believing it's fine to do that.

One day I’m sure, all intellectual property will be effectively protected in every part of the world.

Next we look at the best way to get started with your video creation.

Strategy

The most common question new video creators ask is: “Where do I start?”

Easy answer - at the beginning.

No really because many newbies to film work think you start with the FILMING and hope you get enough to make an interesting show.

This approach is doomed to failure because, as any reality TV producer will tell you, you need an awful lot of footage to get anything interesting enough to watch.

Well, there are many ways to get from A to B but in film and video, there’s a definite path that is tried and tested.

And here it is:

1. First, come up with an idea (often the hardest part!)

2. Develop that idea into a narrative of some kind

3. Write the script

4. Film it

5. Edit it

6. Add music, intros, outros and effects

7. Produce, format and release it

You may think this process only applies to longer works like movies and TV shows but that is not the case.

This process also works for five minute pieces, even 15 second pieces.

You’ll have a lot more success if you plan everything you intend to make before you begin the technical stuff.

When it comes to practicalities, your strategy for success is simple.

Remember this important maxim: Finish what you start.

This one little rule will take you further than any amount of hard work, tactics or experience.

The fact is only a very small percentage of people ever do finish what they start.

So if you make sure you’re one of them, you’re well on your way.

But fear not. Don’t panic. Take it easy, take it slow.

Break every step down to something you can do easily.

If you get stuck, analyze what’s holding you back, literally take apart what the problem is and tackle the tiny pieces that are getting in your way and tackle them one at a time until it’s done.

Remember that professional does not always mean “slick” and “flawless”.

For a start, nothing can ever be completely flawless.

And most of the time, professional just means getting the job done!

Getting Ideas

Contrary to what people say, you should accept that ideas do indeed, grow in trees.

Yep.

They’re everywhere.

Literally, figuratively and metaphorically.

Ideas are all around you, ripe for the picking, all of the time.

Ideas are really not the problem.

It’s developing ideas into usable concepts and practical solutions, that’s the hard bit.

But, you know, I can accept that when you’re starting out it can seem like ideas are hard to come by.

So, if you’re short on ideas and don’t know where to start, try this:

First, write down what you want to achieve.

If you don’t know, that’s a problem.

Maybe you should just give up and do something else!

Or as, Mark Twain suggested, take up another profession like chopping wood…

Or, think harder.

Where do you want success?

Write down your answer.

For example, if you want to sell a book, or a novel, write that down

Or maybe you want to promote an event, or advertise a product.

Write that down too.

These aspirations are your goals.

Then write the numbers one to ten down the side of the page.

Force yourself to imagine a series of scenes that will “show” the story or infomercial you want to tell.

As a quick aside, if you have trouble coming up with good ideas, try the following.

When you go to bed at night tell yourself you will have three great ideas when you wake the next morning.

Then , when you wake up next morning, write down the first ideas that come into your head.

Do his every day until it becomes second nature.

Next we look at planning your video creation project.

Planning

Take some time out, before you start... to think.

Calm your mind, meditate if you like, or go for a short walk.

Do whatever it takes to get your mind clear to think through all the things you need to get done to achieve your aim.

First of all, when it comes to video projects, don’t be over ambitious.

Trust me, it’s hard just to do the ordinary stuff.

And often people don’t appreciate the work that goes into the hard stuff, like CGI and effects.

I once imagined a long complicated “adventure” for one of my writing courses.

I mapped it all out. Took forever over it.

You can guess what happened.

I spent a couple of weeks filming the first five minutes and realized it was probably going to take me the rest of my life to complete it, so I let it go.

When you have bills to pay, you have to be realistic about what’s possible.

So…

Planning artistic projects is, to me, a three-part process.

1. First you need to set aside TIME.

2. Then you need to imagine - and list - what needs to be done

3. Then you need to make a note of how and what you want to do - break everything down into small parts and then allocate how much time you’re going to give each part.

As a general rule of thumb, you’ll usually need to put aside an hour for every five or ten minutes of film you envisage making.

And that’s just filming time.

Sometimes I will spend an entire day setting up a filming space, making sure the lighting is good, the cameras are charged, the background looks right and/or the green screen is sharp.

Sometimes I’ll just sit in the space and get a feel for it, soaking in the atmosphere, asking myself, “What else do I need?”

It’s not wasted time because once everything is perfect you can run through the filming quickly and there will be less work and fixing to do in the post production stage.

There’s nothing worse than rushing the filming process only to discovery later that the lighting was wrong or that there’s some stupid object like an ugly lamp that looks like it’s sticking out of your ear that you should have spotted before it was too late.

So use the above three part process and be sure to give yourself lots of wiggle room time wise because, for some strange and occult reason, filming always takes longer to complete than you think it will!

Tools

Now, before you worry that I’m just about to give you a huge shopping list of gear, let me reassure you…

You really don’t need much to make decent videos these days.

In fact it’s possible to make videos with sites like Invideo without having any gear at all.

Later I’ll show you how to make perfectly acceptable promos or explainers using only the footage that you can “borrow” without using any footage of your own.

Yes, making videos with stock footage is fine and will take you part of the way to our customer’s heart.

If you want to do anything that approaches personal - so you can really connect - you’ll need a minimum of gear.

Here goes.

1. A camera - of course.

2. A microphone - and usually not just the one that comes with your camera.

AND

3. Some kind of Editing software

That’s the absolute minimum.

Of course these days your camera and microphone could be on your phone.

People do make perfectly acceptable videos with their mobile phones.

As long as you remember to turn the phone ON ITS SIDE, to get the wide screen option.

In fact I’ve heard people record entire music albums on their phones too.

Technology allows us to do that kind of thing now.

But if you want to go the extra mile, you might also want some lighting, a proper microphone like a lavalier you can wear on your lapel or perhaps a condenser mic that will help you with getting rid of room reverb and such.

I have a few Canon cameras I use for filming which I connect to a TV monitor so I can see what I’m filming.

I also use an old green screen so don’t have to dress a set if I don’t want to.

But none of that’s necessary if you don’t want to go that far.

I use lights but they’re not flash studio lights.

Just the ones you buy at the hardware store.

If they’re too bright - as some of them are - I’ll use a tea towel to diffuse the intensity.

You need to be careful not to over light your set with modern cameras.

Too much light from one direction will make your face look odd or sinister.

Either that or the camera will overcompensate by changing the color spectrum of your image.

Better to use 3 or 4 lights of medium intensity to wash the scene rather than use just one 1000watt beam!

If you’re using your own footage, you’ll probably need video editing software.

Like Adobe Premiere Pro or Pinnacle Studio, both of which cost a little bit of money.

But people also get by on free software like Windows Movie Maker.

Also a lot of people use Camtasia for screen capture videos, which I personally loathe.

Actually I can never get Camtasia to work. Not sure why.

People say Vegas Pro and Final Cut are good on a Mac.

I couldn’t say because I’ve never owned a Mac.

On principle.

Free software includes Blender, Lightworks, Shotcut, DaVinci Resolve, Openshot, HitFilm Express and Invideo.

Honestly there’s no shortage of free editing software that’s all very good.

Just Google “free film software” and download whatever takes your fancy.

Me, I like Premiere Pro - mainly because it doesn’t crash my computer!

That’s a big plus for me because I tend to think faster than I can edit!

Time

As I may have mentioned, film always takes longer than you think it’s going to.

That’s one of the rules of the game.

So, always allow much more time than you think you’re going to need.

I’d say double the time you allow as a general rule.

If you think you can get everything done in a day, allow two.

If you think you can produce an entire course in month, then two months would be about right.

It’s okay to try and work towards a shorter time frame, just don’t be surprised if you consistently run out of time.

This has happened since the advent of film.

Everything takes longer than you’d think.

But it’s all part of what I explained earlier.

I think there’s a more simple reason actually.

Film does not record real life.

It creates the illusion of real life yes, and sometimes in real time.

But real time on film is an illusion.

Live and spontaneous is often slow, glitchy and dull.

It can take months to create the illusion of a live performance that is consistently engaging.

If film was an accurate way of portraying drama, Hollywood would just film stage plays.

Which clearly they don’t!

As you probably know, a two hour film can take anything up to a year to make.

That’s how slow and complicated the process is.

So, keep things simple and you’ll be glad you can create a short video, at home, in almost no time at all!

Next we look at what many people think is the most scary and difficult part… the writing!

The Writing

You might want to know: Is writing a script absolutely necessary?

Duh, yeah…

What happens without it?

A big mess. Total chaos. Unstructured nonsense…

Many people ask me, How can I do write a script without any experience,

Or self discipline, or the required energy, even some talent or ability?

Well if you’re just starting out and don’t know what to do.

Take a breath.

Put a short title at the top of the page that outlines what you’re intending.

Sell my book. Film my article. Make people laugh.

That kind of thing - then…

Just make notes.

Don’t fret

Simply make a list of things to do, like a shopping list.

At the end of the day, the main function of a script is really to make sure everyone working on a visual project is on the same page.

(No pun intended!)

Okay.

That’s not really as important if it’s just you and you can remember everything you have ti do and in what order.

Some people, probably the same people who don’t need a script, can do that.

The rest of us mere mortals need a script, if only to hone your commentary into something coherent.

Remember the clearer your video text, the better your message will be understood by your audience.

And that becomes doubly important if you’re trying to sell something.

True, if you’re not used to writing, as in organizing your thoughts through words on page, then writing can seem arduous, even stressfully so.

To be honest I remember when writing was hard.

From when I was young, right through my twenties I found writing physically exhausting, not just because the words were torn from me but because I had to literally get up and walk around every ten minutes, as part of my process!

I’ve found the best way to progress when you need to write screenplays is to make a list of trigger words that become notes or sentences that I later expand into sections of text.

As I edit and polish what I’ve written, I’ll add ideas I want to share and include linking material to get from A to B.

What I end up with can often look like it was the first thing I thought of and that I wrote with confidence.

Guess what?

This is how many NOVELS are put together by even the most professional of authors.

Words written one at a time, sometimes at random but eventually compiled to appear as one long text.

So yes, even just to keep things easier and more focused, I recommend writing a script for what you intend to film.

If only so you don’t forget what you’re trying to do!

Editing Your Script

If someone is giving you a hand with the filming, you’re going to need the best possible version of the script, which means editing it to “somewhat” perfection.

But, as I say, if you’re working alone you might need only the briefest of notes to tell you the order of things and a list of things to do, in order to help.

If there are other people in your film crew, they’re probably going to want to know what you’re going to say while the camera is on you but, if it’s just you, the script doesn’t need to be perfect if only you understand it.

Everyone works differently but mostly in the pro world, everyone makes film projects the exact same way - because it works.

In movies, TV, documentaries, game shows and even in reality shows, the script is written first.

The script defines everything.

Number one of course is how much it’s going to cost to film it.

Also how long it will take.

Plus, when there’s a script, certain decisions can be made.

Who’s going to be in it.

Who’s going to film it.

What kind of equipment is suitable

Will there be a crew

Someone to record the sound?

A composer to do the music perhaps?

A professional to edit the thing and format it properly.

Basically the script also acts as a kind of business plan for your project.

In the real world, scripts are used to raise finance and attract investors.

That’s why scripts are often polished, brainstormed, amended and reworked until they’re as perfect as it can be.

That process also includes it being properly formatted on Final Draft software, which is expensive and probably not necessary for short videos.

As I keep repeating, it’s best if you write the whole idea down, from start to finish.

You’ll be surprised how many times you’ll be tempted to think, Oh, I’ll remember that, only to forget completely during the filming process.

It’s easily done, especially if you have a lot to think about.

In fact, that’s really why you use a script,

So you don’t have to think during the filming process.

You can get to work on all the technical stuff without having to worry about the words.

Next we look at what type of video you might want to make.

And the pros and cons of each.

Types of Instructional or Marketing Video

There are four main ways you can present videos, each with their own pros and cons.

The Talking Head

This is by far the most common way to present a video.

It usually requires the presenter to have a teleprompter of some kind so that you can talk directly to camera without stumbling or appearing slow or foolish.

The background is often completely bland or even blank - one color - but can be busy or synthetic, especially if you’re using a green screen effect.

Think in terms of the TV news reader.

Or a weather presenter.

This type of presentation has been used successfully since the birth TV and shows no signs of becoming redundant.

I guess we like to see people’s faces when they talk because we pick up at least 50% of the meaning from a person’s face and their expressions as they talk.

Also, I’ve noticed that my students seem to engage more with a simple talking head, rather than anything more ambitious on my part.

That’s the takeaway.

Keep It Simple.

Explainer Videos

These fall into two broad types.

Screen shot explainers where you film what you’re doing on screen with Camtasia or some other screens software and you explain what you’re doing on screen and the rationale behind it.

Sometimes presenters put themselves in a little box in the corner of the screen to better humanize the experience for the viewer.

The other type of explainer video often uses animated characters in place of live presenters and might have a more slideshow feel to it.

These kind of videos are often used to relate product information and can be fast moving and compelling to a viewer especially if care has been taken over the editing and presentation.

Selfies

A growing and fairly trendy approach is to appear spontaneous and fun by giving the illusion that everything is being shot live and in real time.

There used to be a guy who "shot" himself called Man Versus Wild, in which he used a handheld camera to film himself confronting wild animals and the natural world. The illusion was that he was alone. In reality he traveled with a film crew who helped him create the illusion of being alone!

People find this kind of run and gun type of shooting engaging because it appears to represent real time action.

It can be fun to put together if you’re the type of person who can speak spontaneously into the camera without much of script, and can react well and quickly to unexpected events.

Full On doco style videos

This is where you use all the tricks of the trade to look like a normal TV show using video, text overlays, animated graphics, scenes with a presenter AND voice overs and, hi-tech post production and original music.

Whatever you decide, you should have fun with the process.

Of course the final decision will be yours but my experience of teaching online over the last six years has been that simple is often better received by your audience.

Don’t know exactly why but complicated, highly technical videos are not as appealing as the more basic talking head type videos.

Microphones and Sonics

The number one complaint from study companies and people on YouTube is about sound quality.

People will forgive dodgy visuals, grainy footage, bad green screen and generally unprofessional presentation but they never forgive poor sound.

This is almost always to do with too much room reverb.

You know - that sense that the sound was recorded in a aircraft hanger.

It’s weird because it’s very easy to get this type of sound, even in rooms that would appear to be faulty sound-proofed.

But even when a mic is placed just a foot away from your mouth, you’ll be sure to get varying degrees of room reverb.

But what can you do?

Lots of things.

First, insulate your room.

Cover your flat surfaces.

For example.

You can pull the curtains on your windows.

Put up blankets on the walls, even hang a blanket from your ceiling. I’ve done that in the past.

Fill your room with sound absorbing material like mattresses, book cases and empty boxes.

Done that too - till there’s barely enough room to move about!

In my usual recording space, I put up sponge all around the room, especially in the corners which apparently are the worst for kicking around sound.

Alternatively, you could insulate your microphone, use some kind of shield.

Or get a lavalier - a lapel mic to isolate the sound - but even that will echo sometimes

Here’s a tip:

Speak into the mic less than eight inches from your face.

And speak quietly.

Speaking loudly will get your voice bouncing around your room!

You can use some software to clean up reverb but to be honest, nothing really works that well.

It’s best to have a clean source.

Some condenser mic's hiss or hum, which you can mask that with Audition or you can use background music to hide noisy vocal takes.

Basically it’s best to get the least noisy vocal take possible and treat it afterward - to make it sound like a Radio voice.

|To give you some idea what |I do, I record my vocal takes separately onto my mobile as I’m filming, then I take the vocal track off and run it through a compressor, a gate, an equalizer and a limiter.

I then take the vocal track and paste the it back onto the film clip with Premiere Pro - but you can use any film software to do that.

From my perspective, I think Rode lavalier mics are the best and they’re not too expansive, especially if you see it as an investment.

Better sound will mean happier listeners and therefore more sales.

Best to get it right first time.

In the past I have been know to remake an entire course just to get a better sound on the voice.

Background or Green Screen?

Again, there are pluses and minuses for using different types of backgrounds.

Using something real like your bedroom or the office at least looks honest and friendly.

People perceive you’re being more genuine if it just looks like you talking into a laptop.

But remember that most laptop cameras point upwards, which means your viewer gets a distorted perspective of your room.

To my mind, lots of ceiling behind you looks unprofessional.

Far better to put the laptop on top of a few books or a platform of some kind so it’s straight on and shows your room at a more traditional - less weird - angle.

Plus you have to bear in mind, the camera in your laptop is probably not very good.

It will often distort the image through a kind of fish-eye effect, or the auto-focus will pulse and/or the automatic light meter will not always reflect a true image.

My preference is to use a separate camera, even a mobile phone.

These days the cameras in mobiles can be very good.

Using green screen is getting easier because the technology that recognizes the background is getting a lot more sophisticated.

Used to be you needed bright lights and often a barrage of extra light on your green screen.

Now you can buy cheap and portable green screen “umbrellas” you can use anywhere.

I’ve got an old green cloth taped to my studio wall I bought about a decade ago.

It was expensive back then but it still works well, I think mainly because technology has advanced to cope with any kind of green the camera sees.

I guess that’s because Hollywood uses green screen so much, filmmakers have been investing in the technology!

Now Premiere Pro - itself used to make movies like Deadpool - has a function whereby you can specify the green color and then ask the program to be more aggressive about what it sees.

Plus you can cloak the sections of the screen around you - the presenter - so that you’re only using the minimum amount of green space around you and blocking out any imperfections further away from you.

But then of course you need to find backgrounds - to replace the green - that look good.

I’ve used all kinds of backgrounds and I’ve found the ones that work best are the ones that are basically invisible - in that they don’t draw attention to themselves.

I’m the most pleased when people think the background is real.

Just like in a movie.

If you know the image is fake, you’ve lost the trust of the audience.

Your viewer shouldn’t know the image is manufactured.

It should seem totally real.

That’s what you want - or at least something that doesn’t distract.

Remember if you’re trying to create a real effect, blurring your background slightly can help the illusion of the background being real (because a camera focused on your face will naturally blur the background.)

Using your own house or garden as a background can work if you live somewhere nice, clean and tidy.

But remember that sound might not be ideal outside, or even in a large and uncluttered room.

Plus, before you start filming, you will need to study what’s in the background because it’s easy to miss something that could be distracting, even unintentionally funny, to watch.

I use a TV monitor plugged into my camera to check the background.

Sometimes I’ll stare at it for hours, just to make sure there’s no overflowing bins or messy cupboards - or strange looking ornaments - in the background!

Next we consider what to do about lighting.

Lighting

Cameras loves light.

When it comes to film, that’s really all you need to know.

It’s interesting because - back at the beginning if the 20th century - Hollywood rose to prominence primarily because of the Californian light, which shines with a soft white brightness for most of the day.

From early in the day till dusk.

Combine that with the proximity of lots of deserted locations - and the availability of cheap living accommodation - and you had the perfect environment for filming.

120 years later it’s one of the most expensive places to live on Earth - but the light is still good!

Despite the advances in technology, especially in camera design, cameras still love light.

So you may have a DSLR that works well in low light but for filming, your image and your face will always benefit from being lit with extra light.

Electric is best because it’s controllable and consistent.

I’ve found that even when it’s sunny outside, it’s best to fill your studio area with artificial light and curtain off extraneous sunlight which may have an inconsistent effect on the image.

But don’t think you have to spend lots of money on studio lighting.

You don’t.

Proper studio lighting is expensive but unnecessary for making short video presentations.

And remember, it’s better to have lots of soft lights than one or two huge bright ones.

If you’re getting bleached orange pictures, you probably have too much light.

TV cameramen sometimes use soft boxes - which diffuse harsh light through gauze or strips of webbed material.

I use old T shirts and throw them across hardware store lights to get the same softness.

You can buy arc lights which are every bright - 1000 to 1500 watts - but that’s probably too bright for close up work. Plus they’re hot and can burn paper, material and even melt plastic.

Better are the new LED lights.

The light is whiter and projects no heat, so you can safely put cotton sheets and paper over them.

I always wanted to have lights hanging from the ceiling, like they do in professional studios, but this is actually quite hard to achieve without installing metal gantries etc.

Plus, when lights are overhead, they tend to throw shadows on to face that are not always flattering.

Plus they can make hair shiny and white - you can sometimes see this effect in American sitcoms - and it’ll probably bug you now I’ve pointed it out!

Lights coming from just about 10 to 20% above your eye-line, and at least six feet away, is ideal as this will wash out the face and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

That’s if you have any of course!

You, the Presenter

There’s a famous presenter in the UK called Philip Schofield.

An interviewer once asked him how he appeared so confident and relaxed on TV, especially when he knew he was addressing a few million people live on air.

He said he never thought about it like that.

To Philip he was simply addressing one person - on the other side of the camera.

Not the cameraman but just one ideal viewer, who would be transfixed by him, a fan, a loyal follower.

He said once you imagined you were only talking to that one person, then presenting the show became easy.

I think that’s the best advice about talking on camera that I’ve ever heard!

How To Dress

How do you want to come across?

Formal or relaxed and casual?

Some people like to dress up in their Sunday best for the camera - and that’s fine.

Especially if you’re natural slob and want to make an effort.

My Sunday best is just about normal, showered and shaven with a clean shirt.

That’s about as far as I go.

That’s the image I want to present.

Casual, informal, and approachable because I think if I wore anything too smart I may not seem in tune with my topic, or even my audience.

Writers are notoriously scruffy, except in silly TV shows where authors = especially bestselling authors - are often depicted as wearing black tie and cocktail dresses, sipping on Chablis in the day time.

Give me Hemingway chic every time!

Seriously, give some thought about how you want to come across.

But also bear in mind you want to look and feel relaxed during your delivery.

So whatever you think is right will do.

Persona

You’ll need to decide how you want to be perceived.

Smart, witty, erudite, serious, passionate, all of the above?

Much of what you say will be in the script but will you be super energized or flat, or somewhere in between.

My experience is that if you are falsely excited, that comes across.

Modern cameras are very revealing these days, they pick up the slightest nuance, affect and especially insincerity.

Best just be as normal and as natural as you can be.

My mother had what she called her “telephone voice” she used to put in every time she spoke in public.

She tried to sound like she’d been well educated at some posh finishing school, which she’s hadn’t.

Trouble is, it always sounded fake.

At least to my ears.

Don’t make the same mistake.

Just be yourself.

(Unless you’re Batman, of course. And then, be Batman.)

Style

Some people are more relaxed without a script.

Some use notes as prompts.

Some people look nervous even with a script.

Practice is the key.

Luckily we live in an age where film is pretty much free.

In the old days, acting and presenting was often wooden and insincere - because we didn’t have the privilege of seeing ourselves before the damage was done.

In old movies, film was expensive so you had the take the best shot and couldn’t keep taking more shots to get a better one.

All that’s changed.

Now we can do as many takes as we like, look at what we’ve done, improve on it, do another take because we have time to get it right every time.

My advice would be to experiment.

Shot yourself for two to five minutes. Examine how you’re coming across.

Post a bit of yourself online on Facebook or wherever and ask people what they think.

To Makeup or Not To Makeup?

The trick with using makeup is to look like you’re not wearing any.

And the thing is with modern film cameras is that they tend to pick up everything.

All the imperfections and wrinkles in your face, every mark and blemish in a way that makes you look much worse than you do in real life.

Basically we wear makeup on film to make us look normal.

Lights and cameras tend to reflect off facial makeup - which flatters the wearer.

Girls will generally always wear makeup for film but guys may be hesitant.

Don’t be.

A good light foundation like Nude will cover up the normal blemishes and lines in a male face.

But not so you look pretty or made up.

Really just to make you look normal.

You don’t need heavy duty stage makeup either.

Just normal skin colored creme and a bit of powder to prevent shiny spots on your face.

Stance

"Attitude" (or maybe just "tude") might be a better word.

How do you want to be seen?

Smart?

Arrogant?

Uncaring?

Patronizing?

All of the above are all too easy to create.

Relaxed and confident is the ideal. You really don’t need to wiry about anything else. Even the odd stumble or hiccup is NOT going to matter if you’re confident, poised and you look fairly “nice”.

If you’re nervous, upset or angry, even overly boisterous, all that will come through in your delivery and it won’t always endear you to your audience.

Be like most movie actors.

Soft spoken, calm and rational.

Avoid over expressiveness because, contrary to what you might think, that can easily come across as fake.

Being on screen is about creating trust.

And people trust someone who is calm and obviously centered.

They naturally shrink away from people who shout, intimidate, sneer or act superior.

If you need to, calm yourself and count to ten before the camera rolls.

And again, practice makes perfect.

Don’t attach too much importance to the camera rolling.

Just relax and have fun.

The Filming

When you get to the filming, you may be tempted to go crazy and try all kinds of things.

But honestly, the best thing to do is stick to what you set out to do.

Don’t worry overly about the equipment, which can get overwhelming if you let it.

If in doubt, stop, slow down and think through your problems.

Film making is a slow process for a reason.

There so much to consider.

So much to go wrong!

Keep it simple you can.

For example, if your camera has an auto function, use it.

If your sound recorder has an auto function, use that too.

Just because there are hundreds of ways to change dials and meters, doesn’t mean you have to use them.

Don’t get carried away with the possibilities because that will just complicate everything and add lots of time and money onto your limited budget.

Plus, let’s face it, most people don’t care what they’re watching as long as your content is full of value.

Having expensive drone shots of your house and the surrounding countryside might look good - for a few seconds - but at the end of the day, is 5 seconds of wow worth the money it costs to get it?

I guess Hollywood might say yes but we’re not talking about movies here.

We’re talking about people like you and me trying to communicate with our clients, our students, whatever.

I’ve seen many teachers try to shoot in alternate environments just for the sake of being different.

I’ve done it myself.

But really, when it comes down to it, the courses that are static and in theory boring, sell just as well as the run and gun action videos that try to blind you with awe and CGI.

Keep it simple.

If you want to create snazzy links and intros use company’s like Invideo, Reevio and Videoze. They all have stock footage and special graphics you can use to spice up your production.

I generally use a green screen these days because it’s much easier to shoot against than trying to arrange parts of the house and garden for filming.

Plus, when it’s all static then I don’t have to worry about the lighting, the auto text or the little things like focus, makeup and sound quality more than once.

That’s what you want.

To have a good setup you can use for the entire shoot.

That way you can record two to four hours of material in a day or two,

Each new location will add a day so if you’re using 10 locations you’re looking at least a 10 day shoot.

As I say, keep it simple.

Stick to The Plan

We’ve all seen the cliche of the movie director.

He’s overweight, wears baseball cap and has a beard.

He’s pacing around shouting action and cut!

He’s trying to get a certain performance out of the actor, he’s making an actress cry, or he’s shooting stuff off the cuff that he hopes may capture some special essence.

The reality is very different.

Film directing is mostly about coordinating a lot of technicians to do their job well.

Fact is, most filming is dull and repetitive.

Basically you have a shooting script of things you need to get “in the can” and you have to work methodically through the list and not forget anything.

So you can’t get distracted.

Believe me, I’ve made short films as well as other stuff.

You can sometimes get so wrapped up in capturing something on the list, you forget all about context, veracity, logic and even which way is up sometimes.

You just have to trust you will need what you’re doing later and that it was in the script for a good reason.

There’s nothing worse than getting to post production and realizing you forget to film a scene or even record a small piece of dialogue.

Of course, creative problems can bring out the best in all of us but really when it comes to film, it’s best practice to just keep to the list - the script - stick to what you have to do and not get distracted.

Polishing Your Project

There are two types of video online.

Amateur and pro.

Many amateurs like to press record, sit in front of the camera and talk aimlessly with lots of stumbling, umms and errs, and usually fairly flat delivery.

Don’t get me wrong, some people are really good at doing only that.

They can make effective videos because they are naturally garrulous, or charming, or maybe they’re so gorgeous it doesn’t matter what they say, you’re going to listen.

But hey, for the rest if us mere mortals, we might have to work at looking slick.

Not just personally and physically but by using the kind of graphics you see on TV.

All that stuff is actually easier to create than you think.

More on that later.

I’ll be taking your through the exact process to make easily intros, outros, logos and graphic based adds on in the later videos.

Editing

There’s a lot riding on how you edit.

In Hollywood they give Oscars to people who do it well.

But don’t fret, it’s really not hard.

Stick all the bits of film together so that you tell the story, then cut out the gaps in between.

Simple, right?

Just don’t make cuts too abrupt and keep things moving so that you don’t have long embarrassing silences or places where you look confused, or where you have have made a mistake.

That’s it.

Graphics

We’ll talk late about how to actually make these add-ons below but you’re going to need a few basic things to make your project look half decent.

Intro

Usually 10 to 30 seconds of music and graphics and stock footage to let your viewer know what’s coming up. Like this! Best to make these with a dedicated website like InVideo.

Outro

Usually 10 to 30 seconds of music and graphics and stock footage to let your viewer know what’s just gone. Like this! Best to make these with a dedicated website like InVideo.

Outro can include your credits and suggestions for further viewing.

Logo

Having a custom logo in the bottom right of your screen can look very professional. If you can’t Mike you're own PNG file with Photoshop, then have one made cheaply with fiverr.com

Lower Third

These are those natty bits of script that tell people your name and title. Like this! Most film software programs will let you make them without too much hassle.

Transitions

Most times you will just make a cut in your film where you want to move from one piece of film to the next.

Sometimes you’ll want to have a transition from one piece of film to the next.

Cross fades can usually be done automatically. Like this.

Or you can make a special piece of film to separate - for instance - two sections.

Colorization

You don’t always need to colorize your film, especially if you’re using just one shot from one camera.

Often colorization is about making different sources look consistent.

I often use the default color mode just in case my eyes get used to seeing something that’s perhaps too dark, or too light, or too pale on someone else’s screen.

You can use colorization to create lots of different moods.

But it’s best just to use it to make your color look normal.

Next, one of my favorite parts!

The Music!

Yay.

Music

As most of you will know, I’m a musician in my other life, so I have no difficulty creating pieces of music for my videos.

It’s fun and I love doing it.

Writing and playing original music always makes a video project better.

But as I pointed out at the beginning of this course, music is a special concern when it comes to video because you can’t just use someone else’s music because you think it sounds right or because you think nobody is going to question it.

If you’ve ever tried to upload someone else’s music track on your video recently you’ll have noticed that all the major players like YouTube and Facebook won’t let you use copyright protected tunes, especially by pop stars and established music artists.

Even film music is protected.

Mostly this is done by robots which - believe it or not - are programmed to detect the musical patterns of every copyrighted piece of music in existence in order to prevent unauthorized usage.

Actually, you CAN apply for authorization to use copyright material.

Mostly it’s expensive and time consuming and not always successful.

Certain artists like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin for instance NEVER allow you to use their tracks.

But even if you get legal permission, the robots can still refuse your videos.

Thankfully there are many places now that offer you library music that is free - or nearly free.

In fact Facebook will guide you towards their own music library if they think you are about to infringe someone’s copyright.

Also many of the new film and logo making places offer royalty free music that you can use without fear of your work being taken down.

Many people don’t understand that most things are copyright these days.

They see everything as free because it’s online.

Sure, the internet has confused a lot of things when it comes to copyright and there are people on both sides who argue that art - as well as information - should be free to all but in practice that is not a sustainable argument.

If no actors, directors, producers, musicians, photographers, artists ever got paid, then none of them could survive.

The entertainment industry, including movies, TV and computer games, would collapse overnight if nobody got paid through royalties, which can only happen if you enforce copyright protection.

So do as I do - and make your own.

Now there’s a subject for another video course!

Let me know if you’re interested!

A live demonstration of making a short video with online software