February 21, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, we dive into key takeaways from our latest Socialize Studio sessions, featuring expert insights on casting, camera angles, and video production techniques to enhance your content.
🎭 Casting Director Donald Case’s Session
- Discussed shifts in commercial and video content casting
- Compared the use of actors vs. real people in production
- Shared advice for pursuing on-camera opportunities
- Members enjoyed the insightful discussion and nostalgic industry stories
🎬 Public Transition Lesson Workshop Recap
- One-hour session on making clothing appear to fly in videos
- More efficient than traditional tutorial recording/editing
- Open to all, but studio members receive personalized feedback
- Helps participants refine their video skills for dynamic content
📹 Camera Angle Discussion: What Works & What Doesn't
🔻 Low Camera Angles:
- Unflattering (shows nostrils, awkward ceiling backgrounds)
- Subconscious messaging: dominance, looming presence
- Advertising insight: subliminal messaging impacts perception
🚶♂️ Walking & Talking Angles:
- Holding the phone too low is unflattering
- Eye-level framing is more engaging but may require arm support
- Balance between practicality and aesthetics for best results
👁️ Eye-Level Camera Angles:
- Creates connection and equal footing with the audience
- Most effective for engagement and relatability
- Higher angles can be flattering but may seem unnatural if overused
🎯 Close-Up Shots & Viewer Comfort:
- Viewers dislike feeling like their personal space is invaded
- Ideal distance: at least an arm’s length away
- Looking at oneself instead of the camera lens creates disconnection
- Pro tip: Focus on a marker (e.g., numbers on the screen) for better eye contact
🗣️ Filler Words & Speech Habits
- Overuse of "um," "right?" and "you know" can signal insecurity
- Easy to edit out, but better to practice eliminating them naturally
- Common personal habits (e.g., saying "so" or "anyway") can be adjusted with practice
✂️ Editing & Angle Variation: When & How to Use Them
- Changing Angles for Engagement: Effective when purposeful (e.g., cooking demos)
- Avoid Overuse: Random angle shifts can feel distracting
- Zooming In for Emphasis: A strong alternative to unnecessary cuts
- Natural Storytelling Matters: Some creators captivate without flashy edits
🎥 Final Thoughts on Camera Angles
- Camera angles should enhance content, not distract from it
- Ensure changes serve the story rather than feeling forced
- Balance creativity with audience expectations for a polished, effective presentation
👉 Join Socialize Studio for exclusive workshops, feedback, and insights to elevate your content!
📩 Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly video tips & industry updates.
🎧 Listen & Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Helen (00:00):
Welcome to the socialized strategy, Friday, February 21. I
hope you had a great week. Iwill start off by saying this
topic was touched on in theprevious episode, but very
lightly because it was promptedby a tutorial that I did this
week. And the tutorial wasreally an overview about camera
angles. And I was reallysurprised at the response, so I
(00:22):
decided it is worth a revisitand more of a deep dive.
I do think a lot of peoplemisunderstood my post. Maybe
they took it personally like itwas in a purse a personal attack
on their content. And I alsolearned a lot in the comments,
which is why I want to take it astep further. So I'm gonna do
that. But before I get started,I wanna talk about what we did
(00:43):
this week in the studio that wasmajor, major of interest, which
is my casting director, DonaldCase, show he actually did a
Zoom session with us where hetalked to my members and talked
about casting and how it haschanged in commercials and and
other video content and inprogramming now that the rise of
social media has happened and wehave lots of influencers in the
(01:05):
mix.
We talked about the differencebetween actors and real people
and what that really means inthe world of production. He gave
advice about what to do if youwanna get into the, potentially
being on camera and doing actingas a job. So it was a really,
really productive session. Andwe had a little walk down memory
lane together, which was fun.So, yeah, that was that was a
(01:28):
good one.
I think that, I think my studiomembers really enjoyed that. And
then on Wednesday, we did atransition lesson that was open
to the public so everybody couldjoin. It was webinar style, and
I did a one hour lesson on howto make your clothing fly on
your body in your videos. Thatwas really, really good because
usually I it takes me a longtime to film a tutorial and then
(01:50):
teach that editing lesson andthen have to edit the editing
lesson. I record it and then Ihave to edit it myself.
So this saved me a lot of timebecause I could teach it as a
classroom type of thing, and itwas an open session for all to
attend. And my studio membersalso get the benefit of having
my feedback on their videosmoving forward. So when they do
the lessons, then I will givethem I can give them pointers
(02:11):
and I help them really take itto the next level. Okay. Now
let's get into the camera anglediscussion.
And I'm gonna just take it fromall the angles I discussed in a
tutorial, but I'm gonna go alittle bit further as as to why
I even talked about it. Firstoff, when you have a low camera
angle, if you're holding yourphone down here, aside from it
being very unattractive forthose of us with any type of
(02:31):
neck issues but you don't wannabe looking up someone's nose.
You don't wanna be at that anglewhere you're seeing mostly
ceiling. It's not attractive. Sofor starters, it just sucks as a
camera angle.
But aside from that, what ittells your viewer is that
you're, like, dominating overthem. It's the way and I I will
say it by, like, if I put myphone down here in front of my
(02:54):
laptop and I just let it sithere and I was I'm looking down
into it and I'm kinda loomingover it. And that's gonna give
my audience on the receiving endmore of a bigger presence boss
type of vibe. It's gonna seemlike I'm looming over them,
maybe talking down to them. Soaside from it being
unattractive, it also gives asubliminal message.
And I wanna say that people inmy comment section on this
(03:16):
tutorial when I talked aboutthis were like, almost felt
attacked. Like, I don't thinkabout that when I watch content.
And I'm saying to them and toyou, I'm not saying people are
consciously thinking, oh oh my,this person's talking down to
me. I'm saying that it's givinga subliminal message. So from
years of being in advertising,I've got we've studied
(03:36):
subliminal messaging and howthat how you can impact your
customers by bright colors or ata certain setting, how they're
impacted by subtle things you doin your production.
And so it's the same thing withsocial media. There are subtle
things that are happening thatare telling your viewer
something subliminally. This isnot a list of, like, saying, oh,
(03:56):
that person's a boss becausethey're doing no. I'm just I'm
just sharing that this is thekind of thing that will subtly
give your your viewers afeeling. So that's why I think
thinking about camera angles isis important.
So that that looking downunattractive but also looming
feeling, It's not great. A lotof people walk and they record.
(04:19):
And so what happens is as theydon't like to walk like this.
They feel obnoxious holding upthe phone like this and walking
and talking. So it tend theytend to do a little bit of this
and holding it down.
I mean, that's a style and a lotpeople do it. And they peek down
at their phone and that maybefeels connected with their
audience in some way, but it'snot gonna be as attractive as an
angle for that person who'swalking and talking. It is more
(04:40):
attractive to hold it up likethis just that your arm might
get tired. I'm gonna tell youwhen I walk and talk into my
phone, I make sure to hold it atan attractive angle that's,
like, even with my audience,like, eye level. But when I my
arm gets tired, I put my otherarm underneath and I'm I hold it
up and support it a little bitbecause I wanna make sure I'm
not dropping it down andsuddenly having it's all sky in
(05:01):
the background and looking upthe nostrils or whatever.
So pondering that as you'remaking content about keeping the
camera a bit higher. Now if youkeep your camera at eye level,
that is putting you on an equalwith your audience. That's
making you feel connected. It'smaking them feel connected. They
sense eye contact, which we'regonna get into next, but they
(05:23):
sense that you're talking tothem on an equal level.
It is the most effective angleif you're really trying to make
a connection with someone.There's always people who say, I
need a higher angle because Ineed to look more attractive
because, yes, does a higherangle give you more of a beauty
vibe? Yes, It slims you down.Yes. It has a feel to it that is
(05:43):
more beauty fashion andsomething attractive about it.
But I will tell you some peopledo it and it's like they're
looking up at their phone andit's so obvious that it's almost
when I visualize these peoplerecording their videos, I
picture their phone hanging in ahanger, like, up high. I find it
(06:04):
amazing. I don't even thinkabout it as a tripod. I and I
know in my kitchen when I usedto record, I'd put my camera up
so it would look down into mypots and things and I'd be
looking up into my phone. I wasso conscious of looking up and
at my phone like that.
So I picture the same thing. Ipicture these people, like,
talking up to their phone in away. And, you know, what can I
(06:25):
say about that? If you want ahigher angle because you want to
minimalize your what your neck,your gels, whatever, do do what
you have to do. But just knowthat it's giving off a certain
subliminal message there as wellthat you are trying to do
something.
You're trying to be a little bitmore, beauty polished, giving
(06:46):
yourself an angle. I love togive myself a little bit of a
higher angle. And it's funny toobecause sometimes my husband
will take a picture of me andhe's got his phone down here.
I'm like, hold it up. What areyou doing?
Hold it up. Always holds it downlow. And I'm like, no. Pick it
up. I want it at eye level.
You know? Sometimes anyway,that's another story. I I
really, very conscious of thisbecause as a production person,
(07:08):
I've been studying cameraangles, and we list what the
angles are gonna be for theshots when we're shooting. I
mean, it's just been somethingthat's been ingrained in me to
think about, to think about whatit's telling the viewer, to
think about how it's gonna beperceived on the other side, how
it's gonna work in an edit. Allof those things are are how I'm
trained.
Okay? So when you're doing yourcamera when you're doing a
(07:30):
speaking video and you'retalking directly to the camera
and it is in front of you and alot of times I have it on my
tripod just like this, but mytripod is positioned at my eye
level and I wanna talk distancebecause that's a little more
tricky. What I learned from myvideo is that a lot of people do
not like when you get too closeto the camera. They feel that
you are invading their personalspace. So if there's nothing
(07:53):
else you take away from thispodcast episode today, take away
that one.
People don't like when you'retalking this close. You need to
at least be at an arm's lengthfrom your phone for people to
feel comfortable. So you'reclose, but you're still you're
not on top of it like this. AndI think that is very telling. I
was so surprised by that commentbecause I know.
(08:14):
Then I started watching videos,and I'm like, oh, yeah. That
person's real close. I startedpaying attention to it myself. I
hadn't really thought about thattoo much before. But it's they
people don't like their spacebeing invaded, like, in that
way.
And part two of this is wherethe person is looking on the
camera. And especially if you'rereally close to it now, if
you're really close to yourphone and you're looking at
(08:34):
yourself and you're lookingdown, oh my word. That is really
not good. Because when you'rethat close, it's more obvious
that you're not connected toyour audience looking into the
camera. It's obvious that you'relooking down, and it becomes for
a very, disconnected video.
As I said in my post that, youknow, the person loves to look
at themselves. I was jokingabout that, but a lot of
(08:56):
celebrities do it. They love tolook at themselves. And they
look down in the camera, and youcould tell they're, like,
admiring themselves or whatever.At least that's how I visualize
it again.
Just like how I visualize theperson with the camera hanging
up from a thread from theceiling, I picture the celebrity
just staring at themselves inthe camera. So you want to raise
that eye level up, get it to thetop of them, and here's the spot
(09:17):
that I look at. I'm gonna showyou on my phone. So when I'm
recording, you see how it'sthere's numbers at the top of
the screen here. Let me point.
And that is what I look at. Idon't necessarily look at the
green dot. I look at thesenumbers, and I just kind of make
that where my eye locks in. Sothis way when I'm recording, it
gives the appearance that I'mtalking to my viewer and they
(09:38):
feel connected to me versus melooking down here and what who
am I talking to and what am Isaying. It's just, it's just
odd, and it's not it's notmaking a connection.
And a lot of people say theyfeel weird doing it, and it's,
like, really a matter of justgetting used to it. It's get
it's just a matter of gettingused to because you want to you
wanna just give yourself thebest chance of success, really,
(10:01):
and not set yourself up forlike, oh my god. People are not
they think I'm too close or theythink I'm too far or they think
I'm not looking. I'm not makinga connection. All of these
things that you do that youdon't think about are telling
your view or something.
They really are. A lot of peoplewho use filler words, that's
another thing that tells theviewer something. If you use a
(10:24):
lot of you're really not surewhat you're saying or you're
maybe you're not even becauseyou have to say so much to
think, maybe you're not eventelling the truth. Like, I don't
know what it's subliminallytells a person when you start
using filler words or endingwith the word right. Right?
Like, what are you looking forapproval when you end those
sentences with right every time?It's one of my pet peeves. I
(10:44):
just don't enjoy it. I don'tlike listening to it when I'm
listening to videos. The minuteI see that, I scroll.
If I hear a couple of rights,I'm out. I don't like umms. I
start to really obsess on theumms. I can't listen. And those
are easy easy to edit out.
But it's also easy to clean thatup when you listen to your
videos and you learn, oh my god.I say a lot or you know what I
(11:05):
say a lot? I'm I'm gonna throwmyself right under the bus. I
always used to say you know atthe end of my sentences. That's
very seventies or eighties.
So I stopped saying it. Icleaned it up because I start I
was sick of editing it out allthe time, so I just stopped
saying it. I also do say words alot. I mean, I use so a lot. I
hate that.
I use anyway a lot. I can hearthings when I'm recording, and
(11:26):
I'm I try to self edit before Isay the things, but, you know,
we're not perfect beasts. We doour best. So a lot of times I
say the things. I also say theword interesting way too many
times.
Now I'm telling you all my mywords to listen for. But for for
real though, you can change bypractice. As you do these
(11:47):
things, you can change bypractice. You just get used to
saying them and you get used tothe fact that you're saying
them, so you say, I'm gonnaleave that word out so I'm not
having to edit those words outall the time. Okay?
It's all fixable. It's allfixable. I love it. Alright. So
the other thing I mentioned inmy cam in my video about angles
is when you're far away fromyour camera and how that makes a
(12:08):
lot of times people are shoutingat their camera because they've
stepped back and they wanna makesure they're heard.
And that gives off eitheramateur vibes because they don't
know to use a microphone orunpolished vibes like it's bad
audio, just like not crisp,clear. And it's so easy now with
these very inexpensive portablemicrophones that you can get on
(12:31):
the TikTok shop for, like, nomoney whatsoever. And you can
have something that gives yourvoice a better sound. So why
would you not do that? Why wouldyou not give yourself the edge?
Instead of shouting at youraudience, and that becomes
annoying to them too. So that'sone. That's another one. Now
there were a lot of people thatcame into the comments and we
talked about the people thatchange their angles. And so now
(12:52):
we get into another thing, whichis editing and how editing with
different camera angles can makeyour content more interesting.
So a few people that werementioned were this creator
that's, girl in the bathroom. Idon't know. Lady in the
bathroom. I forgot her actualname. But she does singing
videos where she moves aroundclose-up wide shot bathroom.
So she records multiple anglesand then she edits them. This
(13:16):
type of editing is a style thatcan keep your audience engaged.
So you can do the same thingwith your speaking videos if you
wanted to. If you wanted to dostart here, go here, like,
record your content anddifferent change your camera,
and then when you edit, takebits from different angles so
that you could be moved around.The problem I always have with
(13:38):
that is what's the purpose ofthe angle change?
Is it just for jazzing it up oris there a reason you're
changing from one angle toanother? So I started to
overthink that kind of thing,and I don't think it necessarily
works as well. I think zoominginto a tight shot for when
you're emphasizing something andthen popping back out is more
acceptable in my mind. But ifit's if this person's, like,
(13:58):
bouncing around their house,what's the reason? I mean, it'd
be good if there's a reasonthey're bouncing around the
house.
So it's like, I'm gonna show youand then next shot's in the
kitchen how to bake this cakeand then the next shots in the
with the finished thing so itlooks like this in the end.
Though those would be three cutsthat make sense to me. So if it
makes sense with the story,then, yes, move the angles.
(14:21):
That's a plus, and that can addto your story. Actually, that's
such a great idea for a personwho's doing a cooking video.
So please feel free to take thatidea. Like, you start here, you
go in there, you're talkingabout that, and then you cut to
the finished thing, and then youcut back to yourself starting
it. So lots of different funstyles of editing can be
(14:42):
achieved by shooting differentcamera angles. So I think my I I
don't know if this is like mywrap up, but my my thought here
is if if I, for my job, thinkabout camera angles when I'm
doing a commercial, I can justas easily think, okay. How are
these camera angles going toenhance my content now?
And how can I change them andwhere should I change them? For
(15:05):
what part of the thing that I'mtalking about? So if you plan
your content in that way and youhave a scripted quote, scripted
idea of something like you'regonna create a baking video or
you're gonna create, a productdemo, then, yes, change the
angles for what makes sense. Ifyou're just going to change
angles for the sake of changingangles, be aware that some
(15:28):
people might be annoyed by that.They might watch that and think,
oh, they're just trying to keepme engaged, and they might
scroll or they might just getannoyed because you're moving
around too much.
So you've really gotta balanceout, I think, how much you want
to be creative within a piece ofcontent and then how much you
(15:48):
wanted to just let that contentbe the subject. Let the subject
rule the content versus thetricks. Some people's content,
they don't even move from theircamera. They're up here the
whole time, and they keep youriveted to the story. That's
because the content is soengaging.
They don't even need to changechange angles. So I don't know.
(16:11):
I think it's something topercolate. Do you need to change
angles? Why?
And ask yourself those askyourself those questions before
you decide to just do itarbitrarily. But overall, the
summary of angles the summary ofthe isosceles angles no. The
(16:32):
summary of angles is you've gotlow I'm gonna just do a recap.
Low, dominant or unattractive.High, beauty, vibes, thinner,
trying to be a slick, whatever.
Even, you're gonna be on equal,like, eye level. You're gonna be
on equal terms with youraudience. You're gonna have a
connection. You're gonna lookinto the lens and you're really
(16:54):
gonna, like, connect with yourviewer soul to soul. And then
too close, no good.
Back it up a little bit soyou're not invading their
personal space. Too far, makesure you have a microphone so
you don't sound like you'reshouting at your audience. Okay?
So then think about that. Andthen when you want to cover up
(17:16):
some of your talking, thinkabout what are those shots that
are gonna enhance your video.
Maybe an overlay if you'retalking and you're talking for a
long time. Do you remember Alyceforgot her last name now. Alyce
who used to do all the stickersall over her videos to keep her
audience engaged. But herstickers were comedic. So it
wasn't just for the sake of thesake of having a bunch of stuff
on the screen.
(17:37):
It was comedic support to whatthe things were that she was
talking about. So all of theselittle tricks of the trade are
what are gonna keep youraudience engaged and interested,
and I just beg you to just thinkabout it and and not just do it
because this guru said I have tohave this angle. That guru said
I should do that do it that way.That person said I have to have
(17:58):
quick cuts. That person said,no.
There are no no no no no.There's no rules. The rules are
your rules to make. You can makeyour own rules here. This is so
beautiful.
And you don't have to followanybody's rules. You can just
say, I don't really care whatthe gurus say. I don't and you
don't even have to care what Isay. You can just absorb it,
take it in and say, alright.That was interesting.
(18:20):
I'm just gonna keep doing myvideos the way I do. I'm gonna
keep looking at myself in thelens because it makes me feel
more comfortable. Go rightahead. If you have engagement on
your videos and you're alreadyhappy with the engagement you
have, don't you have to changeanything? All because I said so.
These are all suggestions out ofthe goodness of my heart just to
help you. And they're mysuggestions from a professional
(18:41):
standpoint of having been inmeetings where all of these
things have been discussed andthought out through the years.
So I have the expertise to knowwhy the things are thought of
the way they are. So I justthought, well, let's let's share
because we can all learn, andlearning keeps us current, keeps
us relevant, keeps us young, andit it just keeps our minds
(19:03):
sharp. And I'm gonna leave youwith that today.
So I will remind you that I dohave a Jamaica thing coming in
May. So if you're interested incoming to hang with me for a
weekend in Jamaica where we'regonna do an entrepreneurial
workshop, There's gonna be somuch there that's gonna be
useful to anybody who's a smallbusiness. And I would say
(19:24):
specifically, like, travelbusinesses and salons, all those
types of businesses that's thatthey really this this workshop
really caters to that. And so myportion's gonna be how to
elevate your social media foryour business. So that's
happening in May.
And the last thing I'll leaveyou with is if you missed the
transition workshop from thisweek, that was on Wednesday.
(19:47):
That was my free session where II taught an hour long lesson on
how to make your clothes fly onyour body to make a really cool
transition. That is available.The link is in the newsletter.
The link is in the show notes,and you can watch the replay.
So even if you don't wanna do atransition, it's always nice to
know how it's done because thenyou can look at other people's
content and go, ah, I know howthey did that. Just makes for a
(20:09):
little, I don't know, a littleinterest. I love to I love to
learn things whether or not I'mgonna use them. I just love to
know them. I'll leave you withthat.
Have a nice weekend, and I'llsee you next week. Bye.
Welcome to the socialized strategy, Friday, February 21. I
hope you had a great week. Iwill start off by saying this
topic was touched on in theprevious episode, but very
lightly because it was promptedby a tutorial that I did this
week. And the tutorial wasreally an overview about camera
angles. And I was reallysurprised at the response, so I
(00:22):
decided it is worth a revisitand more of a deep dive.
I do think a lot of peoplemisunderstood my post. Maybe
they took it personally like itwas in a purse a personal attack
on their content. And I alsolearned a lot in the comments,
which is why I want to take it astep further. So I'm gonna do
that. But before I get started,I wanna talk about what we did
(00:43):
this week in the studio that wasmajor, major of interest, which
is my casting director, DonaldCase, show he actually did a
Zoom session with us where hetalked to my members and talked
about casting and how it haschanged in commercials and and
other video content and inprogramming now that the rise of
social media has happened and wehave lots of influencers in the
(01:05):
mix.
We talked about the differencebetween actors and real people
and what that really means inthe world of production. He gave
advice about what to do if youwanna get into the, potentially
being on camera and doing actingas a job. So it was a really,
really productive session. Andwe had a little walk down memory
lane together, which was fun.So, yeah, that was that was a
(01:28):
good one.
I think that, I think my studiomembers really enjoyed that. And
then on Wednesday, we did atransition lesson that was open
to the public so everybody couldjoin. It was webinar style, and
I did a one hour lesson on howto make your clothing fly on
your body in your videos. Thatwas really, really good because
usually I it takes me a longtime to film a tutorial and then
(01:50):
teach that editing lesson andthen have to edit the editing
lesson. I record it and then Ihave to edit it myself.
So this saved me a lot of timebecause I could teach it as a
classroom type of thing, and itwas an open session for all to
attend. And my studio membersalso get the benefit of having
my feedback on their videosmoving forward. So when they do
the lessons, then I will givethem I can give them pointers
(02:11):
and I help them really take itto the next level. Okay. Now
let's get into the camera anglediscussion.
And I'm gonna just take it fromall the angles I discussed in a
tutorial, but I'm gonna go alittle bit further as as to why
I even talked about it. Firstoff, when you have a low camera
angle, if you're holding yourphone down here, aside from it
being very unattractive forthose of us with any type of
(02:31):
neck issues but you don't wannabe looking up someone's nose.
You don't wanna be at that anglewhere you're seeing mostly
ceiling. It's not attractive. Sofor starters, it just sucks as a
camera angle.
But aside from that, what ittells your viewer is that
you're, like, dominating overthem. It's the way and I I will
say it by, like, if I put myphone down here in front of my
(02:54):
laptop and I just let it sithere and I was I'm looking down
into it and I'm kinda loomingover it. And that's gonna give
my audience on the receiving endmore of a bigger presence boss
type of vibe. It's gonna seemlike I'm looming over them,
maybe talking down to them. Soaside from it being
unattractive, it also gives asubliminal message.
And I wanna say that people inmy comment section on this
(03:16):
tutorial when I talked aboutthis were like, almost felt
attacked. Like, I don't thinkabout that when I watch content.
And I'm saying to them and toyou, I'm not saying people are
consciously thinking, oh oh my,this person's talking down to
me. I'm saying that it's givinga subliminal message. So from
years of being in advertising,I've got we've studied
(03:36):
subliminal messaging and howthat how you can impact your
customers by bright colors or ata certain setting, how they're
impacted by subtle things you doin your production.
And so it's the same thing withsocial media. There are subtle
things that are happening thatare telling your viewer
something subliminally. This isnot a list of, like, saying, oh,
(03:56):
that person's a boss becausethey're doing no. I'm just I'm
just sharing that this is thekind of thing that will subtly
give your your viewers afeeling. So that's why I think
thinking about camera angles isis important.
So that that looking downunattractive but also looming
feeling, It's not great. A lotof people walk and they record.
(04:19):
And so what happens is as theydon't like to walk like this.
They feel obnoxious holding upthe phone like this and walking
and talking. So it tend theytend to do a little bit of this
and holding it down.
I mean, that's a style and a lotpeople do it. And they peek down
at their phone and that maybefeels connected with their
audience in some way, but it'snot gonna be as attractive as an
angle for that person who'swalking and talking. It is more
(04:40):
attractive to hold it up likethis just that your arm might
get tired. I'm gonna tell youwhen I walk and talk into my
phone, I make sure to hold it atan attractive angle that's,
like, even with my audience,like, eye level. But when I my
arm gets tired, I put my otherarm underneath and I'm I hold it
up and support it a little bitbecause I wanna make sure I'm
not dropping it down andsuddenly having it's all sky in
(05:01):
the background and looking upthe nostrils or whatever.
So pondering that as you'remaking content about keeping the
camera a bit higher. Now if youkeep your camera at eye level,
that is putting you on an equalwith your audience. That's
making you feel connected. It'smaking them feel connected. They
sense eye contact, which we'regonna get into next, but they
(05:23):
sense that you're talking tothem on an equal level.
It is the most effective angleif you're really trying to make
a connection with someone.There's always people who say, I
need a higher angle because Ineed to look more attractive
because, yes, does a higherangle give you more of a beauty
vibe? Yes, It slims you down.Yes. It has a feel to it that is
(05:43):
more beauty fashion andsomething attractive about it.
But I will tell you some peopledo it and it's like they're
looking up at their phone andit's so obvious that it's almost
when I visualize these peoplerecording their videos, I
picture their phone hanging in ahanger, like, up high. I find it
(06:04):
amazing. I don't even thinkabout it as a tripod. I and I
know in my kitchen when I usedto record, I'd put my camera up
so it would look down into mypots and things and I'd be
looking up into my phone. I wasso conscious of looking up and
at my phone like that.
So I picture the same thing. Ipicture these people, like,
talking up to their phone in away. And, you know, what can I
(06:25):
say about that? If you want ahigher angle because you want to
minimalize your what your neck,your gels, whatever, do do what
you have to do. But just knowthat it's giving off a certain
subliminal message there as wellthat you are trying to do
something.
You're trying to be a little bitmore, beauty polished, giving
(06:46):
yourself an angle. I love togive myself a little bit of a
higher angle. And it's funny toobecause sometimes my husband
will take a picture of me andhe's got his phone down here.
I'm like, hold it up. What areyou doing?
Hold it up. Always holds it downlow. And I'm like, no. Pick it
up. I want it at eye level.
You know? Sometimes anyway,that's another story. I I
really, very conscious of thisbecause as a production person,
(07:08):
I've been studying cameraangles, and we list what the
angles are gonna be for theshots when we're shooting. I
mean, it's just been somethingthat's been ingrained in me to
think about, to think about whatit's telling the viewer, to
think about how it's gonna beperceived on the other side, how
it's gonna work in an edit. Allof those things are are how I'm
trained.
Okay? So when you're doing yourcamera when you're doing a
(07:30):
speaking video and you'retalking directly to the camera
and it is in front of you and alot of times I have it on my
tripod just like this, but mytripod is positioned at my eye
level and I wanna talk distancebecause that's a little more
tricky. What I learned from myvideo is that a lot of people do
not like when you get too closeto the camera. They feel that
you are invading their personalspace. So if there's nothing
(07:53):
else you take away from thispodcast episode today, take away
that one.
People don't like when you'retalking this close. You need to
at least be at an arm's lengthfrom your phone for people to
feel comfortable. So you'reclose, but you're still you're
not on top of it like this. AndI think that is very telling. I
was so surprised by that commentbecause I know.
(08:14):
Then I started watching videos,and I'm like, oh, yeah. That
person's real close. I startedpaying attention to it myself. I
hadn't really thought about thattoo much before. But it's they
people don't like their spacebeing invaded, like, in that
way.
And part two of this is wherethe person is looking on the
camera. And especially if you'rereally close to it now, if
you're really close to yourphone and you're looking at
(08:34):
yourself and you're lookingdown, oh my word. That is really
not good. Because when you'rethat close, it's more obvious
that you're not connected toyour audience looking into the
camera. It's obvious that you'relooking down, and it becomes for
a very, disconnected video.
As I said in my post that, youknow, the person loves to look
at themselves. I was jokingabout that, but a lot of
(08:56):
celebrities do it. They love tolook at themselves. And they
look down in the camera, and youcould tell they're, like,
admiring themselves or whatever.At least that's how I visualize
it again.
Just like how I visualize theperson with the camera hanging
up from a thread from theceiling, I picture the celebrity
just staring at themselves inthe camera. So you want to raise
that eye level up, get it to thetop of them, and here's the spot
(09:17):
that I look at. I'm gonna showyou on my phone. So when I'm
recording, you see how it'sthere's numbers at the top of
the screen here. Let me point.
And that is what I look at. Idon't necessarily look at the
green dot. I look at thesenumbers, and I just kind of make
that where my eye locks in. Sothis way when I'm recording, it
gives the appearance that I'mtalking to my viewer and they
(09:38):
feel connected to me versus melooking down here and what who
am I talking to and what am Isaying. It's just, it's just
odd, and it's not it's notmaking a connection.
And a lot of people say theyfeel weird doing it, and it's,
like, really a matter of justgetting used to it. It's get
it's just a matter of gettingused to because you want to you
wanna just give yourself thebest chance of success, really,
(10:01):
and not set yourself up forlike, oh my god. People are not
they think I'm too close or theythink I'm too far or they think
I'm not looking. I'm not makinga connection. All of these
things that you do that youdon't think about are telling
your view or something.
They really are. A lot of peoplewho use filler words, that's
another thing that tells theviewer something. If you use a
(10:24):
lot of you're really not surewhat you're saying or you're
maybe you're not even becauseyou have to say so much to
think, maybe you're not eventelling the truth. Like, I don't
know what it's subliminallytells a person when you start
using filler words or endingwith the word right. Right?
Like, what are you looking forapproval when you end those
sentences with right every time?It's one of my pet peeves. I
(10:44):
just don't enjoy it. I don'tlike listening to it when I'm
listening to videos. The minuteI see that, I scroll.
If I hear a couple of rights,I'm out. I don't like umms. I
start to really obsess on theumms. I can't listen. And those
are easy easy to edit out.
But it's also easy to clean thatup when you listen to your
videos and you learn, oh my god.I say a lot or you know what I
(11:05):
say a lot? I'm I'm gonna throwmyself right under the bus. I
always used to say you know atthe end of my sentences. That's
very seventies or eighties.
So I stopped saying it. Icleaned it up because I start I
was sick of editing it out allthe time, so I just stopped
saying it. I also do say words alot. I mean, I use so a lot. I
hate that.
I use anyway a lot. I can hearthings when I'm recording, and
(11:26):
I'm I try to self edit before Isay the things, but, you know,
we're not perfect beasts. We doour best. So a lot of times I
say the things. I also say theword interesting way too many
times.
Now I'm telling you all my mywords to listen for. But for for
real though, you can change bypractice. As you do these
(11:47):
things, you can change bypractice. You just get used to
saying them and you get used tothe fact that you're saying
them, so you say, I'm gonnaleave that word out so I'm not
having to edit those words outall the time. Okay?
It's all fixable. It's allfixable. I love it. Alright. So
the other thing I mentioned inmy cam in my video about angles
is when you're far away fromyour camera and how that makes a
(12:08):
lot of times people are shoutingat their camera because they've
stepped back and they wanna makesure they're heard.
And that gives off eitheramateur vibes because they don't
know to use a microphone orunpolished vibes like it's bad
audio, just like not crisp,clear. And it's so easy now with
these very inexpensive portablemicrophones that you can get on
(12:31):
the TikTok shop for, like, nomoney whatsoever. And you can
have something that gives yourvoice a better sound. So why
would you not do that? Why wouldyou not give yourself the edge?
Instead of shouting at youraudience, and that becomes
annoying to them too. So that'sone. That's another one. Now
there were a lot of people thatcame into the comments and we
talked about the people thatchange their angles. And so now
(12:52):
we get into another thing, whichis editing and how editing with
different camera angles can makeyour content more interesting.
So a few people that werementioned were this creator
that's, girl in the bathroom. Idon't know. Lady in the
bathroom. I forgot her actualname. But she does singing
videos where she moves aroundclose-up wide shot bathroom.
So she records multiple anglesand then she edits them. This
(13:16):
type of editing is a style thatcan keep your audience engaged.
So you can do the same thingwith your speaking videos if you
wanted to. If you wanted to dostart here, go here, like,
record your content anddifferent change your camera,
and then when you edit, takebits from different angles so
that you could be moved around.The problem I always have with
(13:38):
that is what's the purpose ofthe angle change?
Is it just for jazzing it up oris there a reason you're
changing from one angle toanother? So I started to
overthink that kind of thing,and I don't think it necessarily
works as well. I think zoominginto a tight shot for when
you're emphasizing something andthen popping back out is more
acceptable in my mind. But ifit's if this person's, like,
(13:58):
bouncing around their house,what's the reason? I mean, it'd
be good if there's a reasonthey're bouncing around the
house.
So it's like, I'm gonna show youand then next shot's in the
kitchen how to bake this cakeand then the next shots in the
with the finished thing so itlooks like this in the end.
Though those would be three cutsthat make sense to me. So if it
makes sense with the story,then, yes, move the angles.
(14:21):
That's a plus, and that can addto your story. Actually, that's
such a great idea for a personwho's doing a cooking video.
So please feel free to take thatidea. Like, you start here, you
go in there, you're talkingabout that, and then you cut to
the finished thing, and then youcut back to yourself starting
it. So lots of different funstyles of editing can be
(14:42):
achieved by shooting differentcamera angles. So I think my I I
don't know if this is like mywrap up, but my my thought here
is if if I, for my job, thinkabout camera angles when I'm
doing a commercial, I can justas easily think, okay. How are
these camera angles going toenhance my content now?
And how can I change them andwhere should I change them? For
(15:05):
what part of the thing that I'mtalking about? So if you plan
your content in that way and youhave a scripted quote, scripted
idea of something like you'regonna create a baking video or
you're gonna create, a productdemo, then, yes, change the
angles for what makes sense. Ifyou're just going to change
angles for the sake of changingangles, be aware that some
(15:28):
people might be annoyed by that.They might watch that and think,
oh, they're just trying to keepme engaged, and they might
scroll or they might just getannoyed because you're moving
around too much.
So you've really gotta balanceout, I think, how much you want
to be creative within a piece ofcontent and then how much you
(15:48):
wanted to just let that contentbe the subject. Let the subject
rule the content versus thetricks. Some people's content,
they don't even move from theircamera. They're up here the
whole time, and they keep youriveted to the story. That's
because the content is soengaging.
They don't even need to changechange angles. So I don't know.
(16:11):
I think it's something topercolate. Do you need to change
angles? Why?
And ask yourself those askyourself those questions before
you decide to just do itarbitrarily. But overall, the
summary of angles the summary ofthe isosceles angles no. The
(16:32):
summary of angles is you've gotlow I'm gonna just do a recap.
Low, dominant or unattractive.High, beauty, vibes, thinner,
trying to be a slick, whatever.
Even, you're gonna be on equal,like, eye level. You're gonna be
on equal terms with youraudience. You're gonna have a
connection. You're gonna lookinto the lens and you're really
(16:54):
gonna, like, connect with yourviewer soul to soul. And then
too close, no good.
Back it up a little bit soyou're not invading their
personal space. Too far, makesure you have a microphone so
you don't sound like you'reshouting at your audience. Okay?
So then think about that. Andthen when you want to cover up
(17:16):
some of your talking, thinkabout what are those shots that
are gonna enhance your video.
Maybe an overlay if you'retalking and you're talking for a
long time. Do you remember Alyceforgot her last name now. Alyce
who used to do all the stickersall over her videos to keep her
audience engaged. But herstickers were comedic. So it
wasn't just for the sake of thesake of having a bunch of stuff
on the screen.
(17:37):
It was comedic support to whatthe things were that she was
talking about. So all of theselittle tricks of the trade are
what are gonna keep youraudience engaged and interested,
and I just beg you to just thinkabout it and and not just do it
because this guru said I have tohave this angle. That guru said
I should do that do it that way.That person said I have to have
(17:58):
quick cuts. That person said,no.
There are no no no no no.There's no rules. The rules are
your rules to make. You can makeyour own rules here. This is so
beautiful.
And you don't have to followanybody's rules. You can just
say, I don't really care whatthe gurus say. I don't and you
don't even have to care what Isay. You can just absorb it,
take it in and say, alright.That was interesting.
(18:20):
I'm just gonna keep doing myvideos the way I do. I'm gonna
keep looking at myself in thelens because it makes me feel
more comfortable. Go rightahead. If you have engagement on
your videos and you're alreadyhappy with the engagement you
have, don't you have to changeanything? All because I said so.
These are all suggestions out ofthe goodness of my heart just to
help you. And they're mysuggestions from a professional
(18:41):
standpoint of having been inmeetings where all of these
things have been discussed andthought out through the years.
So I have the expertise to knowwhy the things are thought of
the way they are. So I justthought, well, let's let's share
because we can all learn, andlearning keeps us current, keeps
us relevant, keeps us young, andit it just keeps our minds
(19:03):
sharp. And I'm gonna leave youwith that today.
So I will remind you that I dohave a Jamaica thing coming in
May. So if you're interested incoming to hang with me for a
weekend in Jamaica where we'regonna do an entrepreneurial
workshop, There's gonna be somuch there that's gonna be
useful to anybody who's a smallbusiness. And I would say
(19:24):
specifically, like, travelbusinesses and salons, all those
types of businesses that's thatthey really this this workshop
really caters to that. And so myportion's gonna be how to
elevate your social media foryour business. So that's
happening in May.
And the last thing I'll leaveyou with is if you missed the
transition workshop from thisweek, that was on Wednesday.
(19:47):
That was my free session where II taught an hour long lesson on
how to make your clothes fly onyour body to make a really cool
transition. That is available.The link is in the newsletter.
The link is in the show notes,and you can watch the replay.
So even if you don't wanna do atransition, it's always nice to
know how it's done because thenyou can look at other people's
content and go, ah, I know howthey did that. Just makes for a
(20:09):
little, I don't know, a littleinterest. I love to I love to
learn things whether or not I'mgonna use them. I just love to
know them. I'll leave you withthat.
Have a nice weekend, and I'llsee you next week. Bye.
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