How to Videotape a Seminar Speaker

Here is a post with tips on getting good quality when videotaping a speaker at a seminar.

Videotaping seminars and speakers is a common task all of us video makers and videographers will do at one point or another.

Although it is certainly not the toughest of assignments, getting good video of a seminar can be a bit tricky.  The three main things to be concerned with are:

• Good audio
• Decent lighting
• Position of tripod

If you do not have quality audio that can CLEARLY be heard, then I promise no one will watch your video. I have seen really nasty comments on some online videos where the speaker could barely be heard.  The comments were very extreme and expressed the sentiment that NOTHING the person said could possibly have any value because they were “too stupid” to record the audio well.

That goes way overboard in my opinion, but that is how many people felt.

The audio was bad because they had the camera was at the back of the room, and they were relying on the on-camera mic to pick up the sound.  BIG MISTAKE!!!! 

GOOD AUDIO IS CRITICAL!

The most important thing with an assignment like this is your sound.

You MUST have a mic close to the speaker’s mouth, or better yet, you need to plug into the soundboard.  Plugging into the audio board will get you your best sound.  In order to do either one, you have to have a camera that takes an external mic input. Not all cameras have that.  If you get up into the prosumer level of video cameras, they will all have mic inputs, but small home cameras and pocket cams usually do not.  The Canon Vixia line of consumer grade camcorders are the exception; almost all of them can handle an external mic.

PLUG INTO THEIR SOUNDBOARD

If you plug into the sound board, you will probably also need a little gadget called a Line Level Adapter (AKA decibel resistor, decibel pad)  that will knock the audio level from a “line level” down to a “mic level”  A line level input will over modulate any video camera.  The resistor knocks about 50 Db off the level.  The Pro Co Sound LMX pictured below costs is an example of a Line Level Adapter.  It costs $28 at B&H Photo supply, which is a really low price for quality audio!  Of course, to make this work, you will also need an XLR cable.

If you can not plug into the audio board, or use a mic close to the speaker’s mouth, then by all means, get your camera as close to the speaker as possible! If you set up way at the back of the room you can forget getting decent audio, it won’t happen.

CABLES GET IN THE WAY!

When shooting in a room full of people, it helps to have a wireless microphone, so you do not have cables on the floor that people can trip over. If you don’t have a wireless, make sure and run your cable around the edges of the room where no one will be walking. You’ll need a really long cable in order to do this. OR, you can tape the cable down on the floor. This is a royal pain, though. Duct tape leaves behind tons of sticky residue. Electrical tape won’t leave sticky goo all over your cable and the floor, but it is too expensive to use for this purpose with any frequency.

You can sometimes tuck the cables under the carpet, but the easiest way is usually to run the cable around the perimeter of the room where no one will be walking.

HOW TO GET DECENT LIGHTING

Since the seminar is most likely done in front of a live audience, the needs of the live audience often take priority over the needs of the video. This is kind of a drag, but it is usually the reality.

Having to give the live audience priority will probably cause relatively bad lighting on the video. Most speakers do not want to look out into a sea of lights, nor do they want the audience inconvenienced by lights, so they will request that you not set any up, but instead just shoot with room light.  Ugh.

But it gets even worse!

The majority of speakers I have videotaped wanted all the lights turned out in order for a screen to show better. If that happens, sometimes all you can really do is focus your camera on the screen.

If possible, you should plan in advance for one well-focused light to be positioned so that light remains on the speaker’s face even after the room lights are turned off. In order for this to work, the speaker would have to agree to stand in the correct spot and be still! Many speakers like to walk around and don’t feel comfortable standing still.

Now, if the room lights will remain on the entire time, that makes life a bit easier. Bright room light can be enough light to shoot with, although it probably won’t get you the best shot, and you’ll probably have unflattering glares and shadows. If you can, place additional light (bright and diffused) near the speaker, hopefully coming from a few fixtures attached to the ceiling. Putting them up on the ceiling gets them out of everybody’s way.

If you only have stand lights, that will work too. Place them close to the speaker, definitely NOT at the back of the room as the light does not travel that far, especially if it is highly diffused.

Now, if all you have is room light, keep in mind that the best looking shot will probably be a fairly wide shot. The closer in you go with your zoom lens, the more the lack of light will be obvious. The unflattering shadows and hot spots will be more discernible, too.

Sometimes a videographer has to deal with non-perfection.

Now sometimes you get lucky and a speaker will realize that the video should get priority so will allow additional lighting.  Rooms that frequently have speakers sometimes have stage lights already attached to the ceiling.  That, of course, is a delightful situation.

WHERE TO SET UP THE TRIPOD

Needless to say, you should use a tripod for a shoot like this. Hand holding the camera will not only get you a shaky, bad shot, it will hurt your back and shoulder trying to hand hold a camera for the entirety of a long talk!

The very back of the room is usually a good, out-of-the-way place to set up and is often the best choice.  However, if you want face shots of the audience, don’t set up all the way at the back of the room. Set up somewhere more toward the middle or the front.  From that position, you can get both the speaker and faces of the audience.

Besides being able to get shots of the audience’s face, another advantage to being relatively close to the speaker is that you will not have to stay on a fully zoomed-in shot like you would if you set up clear in the back of the room.

A fully zoomed-in shot will shake more, and appear darker than a shot on the wide angle setting of your lens.  That is just the nature of the lenses, so the only real way to not have those issues is to not shoot with the lens zoomed all the way in.

I hope this information helps you get better results videotaping speakers!

Lorraine Grula

FOOD FOR THOUGHT QUESTIONS

• List the 3 main things a videographer needs to be concerned with when assigned to cover a speaker or seminar?
• What is the single best way to ensure recording quality sound?
• What should you do with any cables on the floor where people might walk?