Frame Your Videos the Right Way
It's the first mistake people make.
Let's talk about framing.
Framing is hands down one of the most common mistakes I see in video content.
(Especially when it’s someone’s first time starting video.)
It doesn’t matter if it’s LinkedIn…YouTube…or heck, even the occasional Zoom call.
But I’ve seen plenty of bad videos with people’s heads stuck in the wrong place.
And that is so distracting to me and it's distracting to you and everybody else…
No one wants to watch a video where your head is super low or super high or in some contortionist position yoga instructors would envy.
So here are three basics you need to know.
If you get these down, you will be able to frame your body AND your head in the right place.
It’s the most basic fundamental for doing video effectively.
1) Check your body placement
Place your body so it’s mostly visible to the camera.
Yes, we're doing talking head videos, but I want to see more than just a floating head.
2) Keep your eyes and face in the top third of the video
Doesn’t matter if you’re filming vertically or landscape, your head and your eyeballs should be touching or completely in the top third of the video.
Use the grid on the camera to set this up properly or give it a rough estimate.
3) Don’t crowd the top of the video frame
Keep just a little bit of space between the top of your head and the top of the video frame.
Listen, it might be uncomfortable at first, but if you watch movies, you’ll see this framing all the time.
It moves the emphasis of the video onto your face instead of your surroundings.
4) Check your background
Make sure there’s nothing being captured on either side of you.
Think:
→ Pets licking themselves
→ Family photos if you don’t want your family on video
→ Open doors with people walking behind you
All these things can be really distracting.
Fix these 4 things and your videos will look better than 90% of the content out there. Now, go out and shoot some video.
About Justin
Justin is a marketing nerd. His gateway drug was in middle school when he and his buddies would make up brand names and draw logos for fun. He graduated with a B.A. in Graphic Design from UW Eau Claire. He then cut his teeth leading the marketing for a $4 million non-profit, moving them into the digital age with new channels and systems. He joined a $60M healthcare manufacturer as marketing team of 1, helping grow them to $90M in three years. Justin became a full-time marketing entrepreneur in 2018. He now enables founders to grow their pipeline and thought leadership through social media videos. Follow him on Linkedin here.
