Now that you’ve built up your skill of writing scripts a little bit, we are ready to record. In this video, we will cover the preparation steps for Pre-Production.

Preparation to record usually is the most time-consuming, or it is better to say it should be the most time-consuming. We don’t want to spend our time on recording the same topic again and again. You will have to resist the temptation to record multiple times and learn to prepare.

Preparation saves you time both during production and video editing.

By the way, video content creation usually has 3 phases:

• Pre-Production
• Production
• Post-Production

Pre-Production – is what we are doing right now: research, scripting, scene planning.

Pre-Production

At this point, your Pre-Production must be complete.

You must have your scripts, understanding of how your lights will be placed, what will be the background, your batteries fully charged, all equipment ready to work, and your outfits ready. Let’s review it one by one.

Get the Script Ready

You must be ready to record at least 20 reels/shorts. Not 1, not 2, but 20 reels. Why 20?

For your mind to switch to a new activity, it has to “slow down,” so to say, and then “build up momentum.” We want to optimize production time. We don’t want to waste it by building up momentum all the time. So have a minimum of 20 reels/shorts before you start. How much of the shorts you will cover during recording depends on the time you have, but you have to be ready for 20.

If you have developed 2-4 reels/shorts for each problem you have in your 100 problems list, each set of reels can be called a series. You have to assign the series name and all the reels have to be numbered.

Let me demonstrate to you the file with my reels.

Demonstration

Preparation includes highlighting the most important words. Your script should be structured. It should have the most important words highlighted.

Get your Outfit Ready

If you plan to change your outfit, it has to be prepared and ready.

Yes, if you are planning to record 10 – 20 short videos, you want people to see something different on you from time to time. So you can record one or two series in one outfit, then another series in another outfit. You can change the top part of your outfit because with the style of videos we are recording, that is what will be visible.

I tried recording everything in the same outfit, but it turns out that when people see the same outfit more than 3 times, they start thinking that they have already seen this content and will most likely skip the video. We don’t want that.

You are not going to release the videos from a series one after another, so people will not notice that you have recorded them in one day. It will create an impression that you are recording and releasing content every day. That is why you need to have a mixed outfit.

Your outfit matters! It should be bright, stylish, and not too busy. Also, it should be comfortable for you to work in. If it is too hot and you are wearing a suit, the lights are heating the room, and the room is closed to eliminate the noises, you will end up boiling in the suit. Get a comfortable outfit too.

1. Get your Location Ready

It is great if you will be able to have a permanent location, a corner where you will be doing recording. But many people will not have this luxury.

In any case, whether you have a place or not, you need to identify where you are going to be shooting and how your equipment will be set up.

You don’t want to figure it out right before the recording. So this setup and testing the lights and all has to happen way before you are going for recording. And it will take time.

So here is how you prepare the location:

• Identify the background or set it up.
• If you have prepared the backdrop, get it ironed, hanged, and tested on camera.
• If you have decided to work without a backdrop, work on composition to ensure that your background is clean, not too busy, and lighted properly. Note that if you choose to have an interior as your background, it has to be slightly blurred on camera.

2. Prepare your Seat

Where are you going to be sitting? Try to avoid showing the back of your chair because it will present a challenge during editing, especially if it is a computer chair that can rotate.

You need to have only you in the frame for reels/shorts. Anything else is distracting.

Why do you need to have a seat and not a standing position? A standing position gives you more freedom to move in the frame. That is okay if you are framing your image horizontally like for YouTube. Because you have wider space. But for reels/shorts that are

3. Set up your Backlight

It should create a contour around your hair and shoulders.

4. Set up your Camera

Your camera’s lens should be set at the level of your eyes. Imagine that there is a straight line from the camera lens to your eyes. This line should be horizontal. Not higher on one side and lower on the other side – horizontal.

The distance of your camera should be over 1 meter. We will talk about camera settings in another video, but for testing and preparation of your setup, it is important to have your camera on the tripod.

Not handheld by someone assisting you, but on the tripod. Because if it is handheld, you can’t identify the proper location of the lights, and any change in the camera level will affect the image.

5. Set your Key Light First

Turn on your camera and your key light. From the previous videos, you know that your key light should be set slightly above your forehead, and you can set your key light in positions 1 – 3 o’clock. Try 1 o’clock first and sit for 10 seconds, then move your light to 2 o’clock, sit for 10 sec, and then the same for 3 o’clock, and do this from both sides. Each time you sit in front of the camera, say where the camera is and show the location with your hand without turning your head.

After this, analyze the video and see which key light position is best for your face. You should like it. If you did not like it, work with the height of the light. Make it a bit higher and set it in all 6 positions again.

6. Set the Fill Light

After you are satisfied with your key light, the fill light will naturally come from the opposite side, and you can experiment with its intensity the same way you did with the key light: turn your camera on and change the intensity of the light with your remote control or manually move the light further from you or dim it with a diffuser and come back to the sitting position. Record 10 seconds in each fill light position so that you can watch later and make a choice.

This way, in 6 steps, you will prepare your location. If your location setup can’t be permanent, then you need to remember the setup and be ready to set it as quickly as possible.

If you have done your preparation, you are good to plan the recording. Download the checklist for printing under this video.

In the next video, we will work on the Production part.