Make better videos tutorial: How to frame your video

Want to make better videos? I walk you through how to frame your videos in this tutorial. An easy to guide to looking good on camera whether you are looking to livestream on Facebook or YouTube, or to upload videos.

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🕒Timestamps🕒
2:23 Tip 1: Use symmetry
4:26 Tip 2: Thirds
6:11 Tip 3: Headroom
7:57 Tip 4: Get closer
9:26 Tip 5: No rules

Make better videos tutorial: How to frame your video – Video Transcript

So hello and welcome to the broadcast. Whether you are watching live with us now, thanks for being here, or if you’re catching us on the replay. If you’re new here, please say hello in the comments or in the chat so that I can welcome you. I’m super excited for today’s topic.

So how do you make better videos? It’s a common question that people ask me all the time. Whether people are looking to start live streaming on Facebook or YouTube, or to upload videos to social media, to grow their business. I’m going to look at how you can do this specifically by framing your videos.

Because I feel that the information out there at the moment is a little bit over complicated. So people talk about the golden ratio and the Fibonacci something, something, and it’s all a little bit confusing.

So I’m going to break it down for you today and give you a couple of tools that you can use so that you can, you can apply them in your own videos.

This is probably most relevant for live streaming videos, but you can apply it for non-live streaming videos as well. So for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sara Nguyen, and I help coaches consultants and creative pros build their business, using video with ease and I live stream a lot about live streaming.

Now make sure that you check out the links in the description because I’ll go back and I’ll add all of the resources that I mentioned and all of the goodies are always in the description. Now let’s get right into it.

Now, when it comes to framing your video, particularly for live streams, the thing that you need to keep in mind with framing for live streams is that unlike if you’re recording a video to be uploaded and to be edited later, you don’t get the chance to edit, right?

So you kind of need to be mindful of how you position yourself on the screen. So that one, you can maximize that real estate. And two, you can look, you know, look your best. And the tips that I have for you today

they really are, they’re not rules. They’re just guidelines to help get you started, particularly if you find this a little bit all overwhelming because I remember when I first started, people talked about the rule of thirds and I was trying to place myself on these accesses and people talked about the golden ratio thing and I was just like, this is a lot of math.

I don’t understand this, but I’m going to break it down to make it as easy as possible for you today. So let’s get right into it. The first tip that I have for you is to use symmetry.

So you may notice that I’m typically positioned in a couple of places on screen with my live streams, right? And at the moment, I’m positioned in half of the screen. So let me show you what I mean. So this is a line and I try to occupy half of the screen.

So that one, like if you apply this rule of symmetry where your, you know, either in one half of the screen or the other, it looks more balanced and it’s more aesthetically pleasing. So that’s one reason why you want to do it.

The second, why I use half of the screen is that it allows me to then put my overlays. So if I have teaching points on the other side of the screen and fill it up, right? So it’s a good little tip to have because sometimes I see people position themselves and they’re not maximising the space that they have.

Particularly with live streams where you’re not unlike an edited video where, you know, the editor may zoom you in and out. You’re kind of more static. You kind of just in one place for the most part unless, you know, of course, if you have different cameras and you’re doing different angles, but that really isn’t necessary I find with live streams.

So tip number one is to use symmetry and go halves, right? So position yourself on either side of the frame. So I don’t have a preference one side or the other. I don’t think it really matters. Why am I on this side?

Because the microphone needs to plug into my computer and my computer is on this side, not that side. So that technically is why I’m on this side. So I just apply it and make it work for my circumstance.

So that’s the first tip is to go halves. Do you have to have it perfectly in ruler line in the centre? No, you don’t. It’s just a guideline to kind of, you know, give you something to work with.

So the second tip that I have, and this is the one I thought was a little bit over-complicated because it was applying rules of photography and design, but I’m going to simplify it the best that I can.

The second tip that I have is to use your thirds, right? So people talk a lot about the rule of thirds. And I think that when it comes to video and live streaming, it’s not as relevant. So instead of trying to apply the rule of thirds grid, I say, go thirds like this.

So you’ll typically see me positioned in the middle, third of the screen, and this is deliberate. Once again, it’s about balance. So in the other video or on the other tip, I was in the half or I’m typically in the half of the screen, the other way that I position myself is in the third.

So I’ll either be in this third. This third is the most common one you’ll see most people have or all the way over here. So it’s all about balance. And this rule of this, this third, you know, this use your thirds is an easier way to apply the rule of thirds.

Now the rule of thirds, it’s a photography/design theory is that you, you may have this already on your camera, but it divides your screen into thirds, both vertically and horizontally, and you’re supposed to put your subject or, you know, the person you’re filming their eyes at the intersection of these lines.

So I would be like here, right? And for me, it doesn’t quite work. It’s not perfect. It’s not a perfect rule, which I find it a little bit complicated.

I find it easier just to go use the centre, the centre, the, that keeps it simple and you get a good shot that way. So that’s tip number two. Use your thirds, divide the screen into thirds and go into either one, right?

This one, this one or this one. Okay. So tip number three, headroom my friends. So as you can see at the moment, my head is here and the space between my head and the top of the screen is about two to three fingers.

Right? So that’s what I would recommend that you have. So I see sometimes with live streams, people are a little too, there’s too much space between their head and the top of the screen.

So it looks a little something– that’s not too bad. It may look little something like this and this is okay, but like, you’re not maximising the space here. And typically like, all this action is happening with your hands here.

And if you’ve got too much space, they’re like, people are not going to see it. It’s going to be a bit like this. And it’s a bit awkward of a shot. So rule of thumb, I’m going to zoom myself back.

Try to have it so you’ve got about two fingers, two to three, three max, two fingers between your head and the top of the frame. And that’s kind of where you want to have it.

So watch your head space. Don’t have too much space above your head because you want to maximise that space. So zoom, zoom it so that, you know, you’re not putting too much space and you can make more use of the space like here.

The other thing that I see that people have started to do, is they’ve started to like cut their head out a little bit like this. And I don’t understand why it may be a trying to get more intimate, but it seems to be a thing where people seem to crop themselves in very, very close.

And I’m like, okay, if that’s your thing. But my rule is with the head space, try to have about two to three max, two-finger spaces between the top of your head and the top of the screen. So that keeps it really simple.

Now, rule number four, now we’ve covered it a little bit is to get closer, right? So there is this, I guess when it comes to video, the closer you are to the screen, the more zoomed in you are to the screen the more people can see your facial expressions and the more intimate that it feels.

So use the opportunity to build a connection by being closer. And some people may feel a bit like, “hmm, I don’t want to get too close to the screen” and I get it. I completely get it.

But, you know, getting close can be as close as you are to myself now. And we’re probably about just over a meter away from the camera, right? So we’re zooming in so that your face is in shot so people can see it if you’re a little bit more intimate.

And I’m not so far away. So it feels like I’m actually talking to you, talking with you, we’re having a conversation as opposed to me being really far like this.

So it’d be like, no, like this, like who am I talking to? If I’m talking from here? And the audio is probably really bad, but you know, come closer, come closer, come closer.

It just creates that nicer feel so that, you know, it feels like we’re having a dialogue. It feels like I’m talking to you, we’re having eye contact here. And it’s an easier way of building connection when you can be closer to the screen and people can see you.

So get closer, not too close, but you know, use that medium close range to frame yourself with. Now my fifth and final tip that I have really is that there are no rules only tools.

So regardless of everything I’ve taught you today and spoken about today, it doesn’t really matter, right? These are just guidelines to get you started. If you want to start live streaming, particularly if you want to start creating videos so that you can figure out where to position yourself.

You may look back at my past videos and go, you didn’t apply this to all of those older videos. And you’re like, and I’m kind of like, yeah, you’re right. I had other people edit a lot of my other videos and they didn’t apply these rules, but for live streaming, these are the rules that I’m applying now.

And this is what I would suggest to you if you were getting started with live streaming, or if you were looking to improve your videos is to check your framing so that you can make use of the real estate that you have, yeah, on the screen, because mistakes that I see people make with live streaming is that they’ll just turn on the camera, it will be crooked.

They’ll be in a weird position and it’s not aesthetically pleasing. And does that really matter? Yes and no. So it doesn’t matter because, at the end of the day, they think that the most important is your content, right?

The quality of your content. So you can be framed like precisely geometrically, precisely with every single to the centimetre, to the millimetre but if your content is crap, then it’s going to be a crap video because everything revolves around your actual content, but this is just a way to, you know, quickly improve the aesthetic of your video with a couple of easy guidelines to get you started.

So that essentially wraps us up. So thanks for joining me today. I’m really excited to bring this video to you. If you found this video useful, give me a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe to this channel where I do a lot of tech reviews, social media training, and I live stream a lot about live streaming.

And I have a lot of fun. Now, if you are getting into live streaming, if you are getting into video, oh, that’s right in front of my face, make sure that you check out my Facebook Live Master Class. So it’s a free class that I have that will show you how to turn your Facebook live viewers into buyers.

So the link to the master class to sign up for the masterclass is in the description. So go ahead and check that out and thank you so much for joining me. And I will see you at the next broadcast bye for now.