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Lights, Camera… wait. Make up!

· Blog, Presenting on camera, Tips & Tricks · , , , , , , , ,

At Hunting With Pixels we often get asked about what to wear to shoots. Clothing isn’t as ‘make or break’ as it used to be because cameras have become much more forgiving, and so has our audience. There are a few things to keep an eye on that are easy to miss.

Clothing – the golden rule

Wear something that is congruent with your message, that is comfortable and won’t make you hot. Do that and you’re 90% there.

Congruent with your message

Consider what first impression your clothing gives if people see you ‘out of context’.

The video will be watched by total strangers, so they don’t necessarily understand the connection between your personality and your wardrobe.

Having said that, your personal style is your own. If you’ve got the killer content, what you looks like is secondary. Authenticity is key, so don’t ‘dress up’ to the point where you’re not ‘you’ .

ascot

Ascot: risky but good. Snowman hanging off tie? No.

Jewelry

Wear anything you like, as long as it’s not noisy when you move.

Big earrings look great, but will create weird clicking noises in they very sensitive microphones we use to capture dialogue.

Colours and patterns – ‘don’ts’

With today’s super sensitive cameras, most clothing is unproblematic. Here are few exceptions:

Very thin stripes or fine patterns. This can create weird light effects on video because of pixellation. –

Very strong contrasts. If you’re pale skinned, avoid very dark clothing and vice versa. This has to do with the light sensitivity of cameras; our eyes have a much wider dynamic range in terms of what it can see in shaded of light and dark. A camera would struggle with that level of contrast.

Tones that blend into the background. Pastel colours can look a bit bland if the background has a similar colour. Even if you prefer colours are not too strong, pick on that contrasts with the background.

Light orange can appear to glow in some cases. It’s more pertinent in broadcast situations.

Shape and Fit

Video can be a bit unforgiving when you wear baggy and shapeless clothing. Go from something that has a nice shape that will give you a taller and more fitted look.

The reason for this is that close up shots don’t give us a context of your surroundings, which can make you look bigger than you are. This is why we’re often surprise about how short TV personalities are when we meet them in person.

A few fashion tips

Here are a few things that will make you look your best.

Feel free to totally ignore this though; authenticity is more important than being polished. woman with frame sign

Men’s clothing

Collared shirts tend to look better than T shirts in close up.

There’s more texture and visual interest. Jackets also look good, especially if they’re nicely tailored around the waist. Never, ever wear a too big suit on a video shoot.

Unless you’re David Byrne. He kinda got away with it.burn

Light coloured shirts generally looks better than pure white.

Pure white tends to blow out and look a bit flat once you add video lighting. Ties work if you’d normally wear them too.

Try to go easy on novelty ties or large patterns, unless it’s very ‘you’ of course!

Women’s clothing

Power suits. We love the 80’s just like the next girl, but they look huge on video.

Avoid earth tones if you’re interviewed inside; you’ll blend in to the background too much.

Consider the surroundings and find a colour that both suits your skin tone and has a nice contrast with the background. Wear clothing that emphasises shape without being tight. Wear shoes that give you good posture, but make sure they’re comfortable: they’re unlikely to be in the shot.

Being comfortable will make you look and feel more relaxed and confident.

Make up

Video lights can make your face look shiny, which is not always a good look. We’ll bring blotting paper and translucent powder to fix that, but overall avoid clothing that’ll is too hot, make up that makes your skin shiny or exercise before you shoot.

Men: Use a bit of powder a shade darker than normal skin color, to even out skin tone and reduce the shine on cheeks, forehead and nose. We’ll have some on set.

Women: any make up is fine, maybe avoid dark reds/maroon for lip gloss and cheeks because the extra contrast of video may emphasise the make up too much.

Also avoid a lot under the eyes (none is best). We provide translucent powder in case of shine, but you may want to bring your own just in case.

Facial hair

Get a good shave before the shoot to avoid the five o’clock shadow.

Neatly trim facial hair if it matters to you, and if you bother wearing facial hair it probably should. hip

…and Action!

All of these suggestions are just that: if a snowman tie combined with an unkempt beard and too much make up is your style, go for it. Rules are there to be broken.

At Hunting With Pixels we work hard to make doing a video an enjoyable and relaxed experience, so contact us any time if you have any questions. We’re here to make you look and feel great!

Shooting With Pixels: So what’s in the box

· Blog, Client Videos, DIY Corporate Video Training · , , , , , , , ,

Shooting With Pixels is a course developed to help SMEs create quality video and social content. This means:  

  1. You can engage regularly in social media platforms

  2. You lower cost.

  3. Your business gets meaningful engagement from staff and clients because they’re part of building your brand.

  engagement

 

So how SWP different?

Most trainers sell you a process; you do a training, you get a certificate. If you’re lucky there’s a refresher course. Shooting With Pixels is about thinking and doing. We develop a strategy with you, we help you create the video and we put a system in place to keep the momentum going. Because ultimately we don’t create video for the sake of it; we want to engage and entice.  

It’s all about you

Our personalised approach extends to our training too: you get a business outcome and transferrable skills. Shooting With Pixels sets you up with the hardware, skills and support to make sure that:

   

An example of a clip created in the course

This clip was created by the clever people at Vetmed Randwick after only one module!

So what’s in the box?

Fundamentally, Shooting With Pixels has four modules:

Here’s a visual overview

 

It’s about getting you results, not a certificate

Our training is entirely based on what your specific business needs, your staff’s skills set and the allocated resources for social media and video: no cookie cutter approach here.  

How much?

If you’re looking for a $ 195 bootcamp, this isn’t one of those. It’s a tailored solution that will change the way your business communicates internally and externally.  

Ballpark

About $ 800 per module, which is almost entirely offset against the savings you do by going DIY. But let’s talk so we can give you a specific figure and set of outcomes!

 

A bit more info in a video:

  https://vimeo.com/74682017