Just returned from the Bay Area where I captured a live “Town Hall” presentation by a client’s top management.
The meeting took place in a huge, concrete-floored building with a giant white screen at the front, and minimal artificial lighting – probably the worst conditions imaginable for videotaping speakers. Fortunately, the client had the foresight to request that I bring a battery of powerful lights with me, which helped enormously.
What should that mean to you?
If you have a live presentation coming up soon that includes videotaping the speakers (a great idea, as there may be many times the number of viewers who watch online than are present in person), plan for the lighting requirements of video. Regardless of the size or configuration of the room, you should have a couple of lamps, more or less balanced to the lighting already in the room (artificial or daylight), each placed at about a 45 degree angle to the speaker. At the very least, your speaker should be brighter than the background.
PROTIP: lots of speakers pace as they speak, so make sure your lights are placed where he or she will always be in the spotlight.
Rolland Video Blog 