The best and worst of filming lectures and presentations

We're often asked on our training courses how do we film conferences and lectures and our answer is the same every time - unless you have the facilities, equipment and, of course, the training don't even try it. This presentation on 'The secret to making money online' is a perfect example of why.

From it's distorted audio (should have used headphones guys) to shaky one shot with enough headroom to park a bus (rule of thirds anyone) and out of focus this video is an awful advertisement for such a 'cutting' edge company.

Contrast it with this TED lecture – beautifully lit, great audio, multiple cameras and well thought out powerpoint presentations.

Now yes the TED lecture was professionally filmed with multi-cameras but there are many ways you can film a great lecture or presentation on a budget.

1/ Consider the room – if the lighting is poor and you cannot do anything about it forget filming in it. Record it as a podcast instead. 

2/ Use your headphones – if the audio is too loud and distorts there is nothing you can do about it in post production.

3/ Try to establish what the subject will be doing on the stage pre-shoot and go for a good mid-shoot with room for movement either side.

4/ If the speaker goes out of shot re-frame without turning off the camera and use a cutaway to cover the movement in the edit

5/ Don't switch off the camera to get audience cutaways– you're bound to miss the vital announcement. Get your cutaways with the audio running or film them at the beginning or end. 

Ultimately consider your audience. Do they want to sit and watch a hour long lecture or would they rather listen to a great podcast of the lecture and watch a related interview covering some of the lecture in-depth or answering post lecture questions?