Welcome to Perspective, a blog by the PLM staff! Here’s where we will break down current events, share tips for improving your communication and design skills, and peel back the curtains of who we are at PLM.
Here at PLM, we are a full-service ad agency. That means we brainstorm creative ideas, write ad scripts, film and edit videos, and place the ads on various platforms. Of all the work we do, people are often most curious about what it’s like to be at one of our film shoots. What’s the must-have equipment? How do you set up? Is it just like Hollywood? (Okay, maybe no one is asking us that last one.)
So today, our videographer takes us behind the scenes of a film shoot and gives us five tips to ensure everything goes smoothly:
1. Ensure you have the right equipment
Always start with the basics! A day or two before the shoot, check that the camera is functional, lenses are clean, batteries are charged, extra cables are available, and SD cards are formatted.
Some videographers operate without a teleprompter, but we highly recommend one – they make life so much easier. Ideally, the talent has already familiarized themselves with the scripts, but the teleprompter serves as a great safety net. It’s best to make sure the .txt files of scripts are loaded onto the teleprompter beforehand to leave less room for technical glitches on the day of.
2. Adjust your camera settings and framing
Next up is the technical details. Producing a professional and visual appealing ad relies heavily on intentional camera settings. Here’s what we do:
- Our ads are filmed in 4K resolution at 24 frames per second
- Shutter speed should be double the frame rate (i.e 1/50 at 24 frames per second)
- Aperture can vary depending on the lighting situation, but we prefer a wider aperture that is less than f/4 in order to achieve a shallow depth of field where the background is blurred and the subject is in focus
- The ISO should be kept as low as possible, ideally less than 500 to avoid a noisy image
- If your camera is able to keep auto exposures locked, then it won’t be the end of the world to use auto white balance. If not, set it manually to ensure consistent color and skin tones. This is done by having someone hold a white or gray card in front of the camera and calibrating accordingly based on your camera’s white balance set up. This step happens after the lighting set up is complete.
Once your camera is set, it’s time to frame the shot. For direct and urgent messaging, we position the speaker in the center of the frame, while for messaging that feels more conversational, we’ll place them a little off center (while still following the rule of thirds).
3. Match the lighting to what you want to convey
Lighting has such a huge impact on the way viewers perceive speakers’ credibility and emotional tone – often within seconds of viewing the ad. When viewers see natural and evenly distributed lighting, they subconsciously associate the message with honesty and openness. Inconsistent, dim, or harsh lighting creates the opposite impression and can also suggest that the production is unprofessional.
The temperature of the lighting can also be adjusted to match the tone of the message – warmer lighting works well with compassionate messaging and cooler lighting can convey determination.
Our set up uses key lights, fill lights, and backlights that are all calibrated to avoid shadows, glare, and flatness. This involves testing different combinations of brightness, temperature, angles, and camera settings – and means extra time during set up.
4. Ensure you have crisp audio
We can’t produce a finished product without good audio. While minor sound issues can be repaired in post-production, poor audio quality often cannot. So we are always paying attention to sound levels throughout the shoot.
For a clean look, we ask the speaker to comfortably run the lav chord through their shirt, then we clip the mic to their collar angled toward their mouth to capture clear sound. For back up, we use a boom mic positioned above or below the speaker’s chest just outside the frame. It is important to continuously monitor levels through headphones and camera monitors. Oh and don’t forget to ensure XLR cables are intact!
5. Establish a comfortable environment for the talent
Since most of our speakers are not actors, it’s imperative to spend some time making them feel comfortable in front of the camera. It is important to remain pleasant (even during technical difficulties) and reassure them that it is normal to feel nervous. It is no big deal if they mess up as we are able to do multiple takes. We always maintain a respectful atmosphere on PLM sets, as we believe that it is impossible to achieve a good, authentic ad under hurried or negative conditions.
And that’s a wrap, folks! As always, if you have tips of your own you’d like to share with us, feel free to drop us a line at admin@progressivelensmedia.com