Video Lessons

edwardmp2

Hi Everyone,

I'm a guitar tutor who wants to create video lessons for promo reasons with a hope to have regular releases. I am new to recording video but I have the audio of the recording covered.

My question is regarding the recording of the video, be it camera/lighting/reflectors/location, any advice would be great.

I want to hopefully begin cheaply with the hope of investing in new equipment over time, would an iPhone camera suffice to begin?

These are some examples I like:
martyschwartz (YouTube)
Guitar lessons.com

Thanks,
Ed

ScumLord

Had a look at martyschwartz videos, it's pretty straight forward, you won't need much equipment to do the same thing. A camcorder would be sufficient.

You could use any camera, even an iPhone but the quality would be terrible. It wouldn't be great to work with either, mounting could be an issue. A dedicated camcorder would be much easier to work with. Cameras in general these days are pretty good so you don't have to spend big money, maybe get something second hand.

Lighting can be a big issue indoors. If you can move into a well lit room like a conservatory. Try not to have a bright light behind you so you don't end up with you being a silhouette infront of a lovely bright outdoor scene, try and have the light hitting your front.

For a good looking video read up a bit on composition, because you will be working with a fixed camera and won't need any camera edits setting up that initial shot is your major concern after lighting.

edwardmp2

Thanks for the reply Scumlord!

All great info, would you recommend a stationary photography light so I could have a reliable light source? Worried that the conservatory light would be to unpredictable?

Thanks,
Ed

ScumLord

edwardmp2 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Scumlord!

All great info, would you recommend a stationary photography light so I could have a reliable light source? Worried that the conservatory light would be to unpredictable?

Thanks,
Ed

When I mentioned the conservatory I was talking about using sunlight. You could go the full hog and take advantage of the Irish countryside as a background by just going to your nearest field, foreigners would love it.. The only tip I'd give there is to avoid mid day when the sun is at it's highest point. It creates unflattering shadows. Either do it in the morning, or in the evening. Face the sun so your well lit.

Of course this is going to become a problem as the year turns to winter but you've got a few months to prepare. But you could make it your thing, to find a nice new outdoor location somewhere around Ireland and if it rains, it rains.

Photographic lights come with their own set of problems, one probably won't do. One light will create shadows on the wall behind you which might not look to good, so you might need another light to offset the shadows of the first light.