Video podcast

Why record video

• YouTube is one of the places where the most podcasts are consumed, and it works as a search engine: a well-titled episode can find listeners for years.
• Social clips: a one-minute excerpt with picture is shared far more than an audio-only one. You'll see this in promote and measure.
• Some audio platforms already let you publish the video version, and the listener chooses.
• Seeing faces creates more closeness with the hosts.

But video multiplies the work: more gear, more files, more editing time. If you're starting alone and short on time, it may be better to launch in audio and add video later, or to film video just for the clips.

How many cameras and which shots

The classic setup is one wide shot showing everyone and one shot per person. You can start with less:

• Place each person's camera slightly off to the side, at eye level, facing the direction that person is looking (toward the person they're talking to).
• Leave room around them: people lean back, gesture and move.
• Phones, photo cameras or webcams work if they record well. Go over podcasting on your phone for phone settings.

Settings that must match

So that switching cameras doesn't look like two different videos, set them all the same:

• Same resolution and frame rate (30 fps is usual in the US; 25 fps in the UK and Europe).
• Fixed white balance, in kelvin, never automatic.
• Exposure and focus locked on the face.
• Check the battery, card space and whether the camera cuts off long recordings or overheats. Use external power for sessions of an hour or more.

Framing and background

In each person's shot, keep the eyes in the top third of the frame and leave some space toward the side they're looking. Take care with the background, because it'll be on screen for an hour: tidy, with something that says something about the podcast (a bookshelf, a sign with the name, a lamp) and no backlit windows behind anyone. Moving people three feet or more away from the wall adds depth and avoids shadows stuck to them.

Basic lighting

You don't need a studio, but you do need to control the light. A good base:

• One soft key light per person, at about 45° to the face (a side window works too during the day).
• A soft fill or a light-colored wall on the other side.
• Lights in the background (lamps, an LED strip) to add depth. The background a little darker than the faces.
• Turn off the ceiling light if it casts shadows in the eyes, and avoid mixing window light with bulbs of a very different color.

The microphone in or out of shot

If the mic is in shot, place it slightly to the side and below the mouth, so it doesn't cover the face but stays at the right distance. Having all the mics the same and at the same height looks tidier.

Syncing and multicam editing

Audio is recorded separately, on separate tracks (recorder, interface or mixer), and the cameras record their sound only as a reference.

1. At the start, give a clap that all the cameras can see.
2. In the editor, sync all the clips by waveform; most programs do it automatically.
3. Create a multicam clip and cut between shots live while it plays: to whoever is talking, to whoever is reacting, to the wide shot for a breather.
4. Cut on the audio and let the picture follow: J and L cuts make the shot change less noticeable.

Your turn: ten minutes with three shots

Film ten minutes of conversation between two people with a wide shot and one of each person (they can be phones).

1. Set the resolution, frame rate and white balance on every camera, and record the audio separately.
2. Clap at the start and sync in the editor.
3. Cut a two-minute section in multicam, switching shots according to who's talking.