Best Practices for On-Camera Interviews Using a Mobile Phone

Speaking to online audiences requires a different set of skills and best practices. There are certain things you just can’t (or shouldn’t) do. 

When it comes to communicating through video, people around the world are changing how they engage audiences on-camera. This includes an increase in mobile phone usage.

How should you be using your mobile device? Keep reading for 6 best practices about how to conduct on-camera interviews during your next webinar or virtual event.

1. Why Landscape Orientation Is So Important

Nothing ruins great footage like having two black vertical bars along both sides of your video.

To avoid this mistake, make sure to use landscape orientation and not portrait orientation while recording. Not only does landscape make your video more aesthetically pleasing in general, but you’ll capture more in the actual video.

2. Staying Steady Is Key

If you don’t want your video footage to come out distorted, blurred, or affected by “rolling shutter,” the best thing to do is to keep your phone steady while recording.

Use both hands to hold your smartphone as close as possible to your body as you record the video or ask a friend to record the video.

You can also use these tools:

• Stabilizers, tripods and camera cages allow you to keep your smartphone or mobile device still when taking a video with it. They have perfect handles to accomplish this. 

• If a smartphone tripod or stabilizer isn’t accessible, you can rest your phone on other physical supports like tables, chairs, desks or shelves.

3. Ensure That You Have High-Quality Audio

When creating your video, choose a quiet place, preferably indoors when possible with less ambient noise.

For exceptional quality videos with superb audio, you should get an external recording device or at least a directional microphone that will work with your smartphone.

If using an external microphone isn’t possible or practical, stay as close to the audio source as possible and try this little trick: use your hand to cover around the phone’s microphone (but don’t completely cover it).

This way, unwanted noise can be reduced.

4. Follow the Rule of Thirds

Let’s talk about framing.

One common mistake a lot of people make when taking pictures or shooting video is centering their subject in the middle of the frame. Just aim and shoot…right? Well, not really.

A better way to frame your shot is to use the rule of thirds.

The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

Almost all camera and video apps will give you a grid option. Turn it on and leave it on.

Also pay attention to the amount of space between the subject’s head and the top of the frame (called head room).

5. How to Frame Faces

Here are some quick tips about how to better frame faces in a shot, using your mobile phone:

• Rule of thirds: position the eyes about one third of the way from the top of the frame. 

• The eyes are the center of attention in face shots – make sure they’re located in this spot!

Headroom should be about 10% of the total height of the shot. The closer the shot, the less headroom there will be. Crop out the top of the head rather than the chin if cropping is necessary.

6. Having Good Lighting is Critical

Proper lighting has a huge impact on smartphone cameras because they have smaller image sensors and lenses.

Try as much as possible to shoot your video in brightly lit areas. This will help avoid unnecessary shadows and grainy areas in your video.

Conversely, you also must be careful not to point the camera directly at bright light sources, which will cause unusable overexposed footage and lens flaring.

Get a Demo of Our Webcasting Platform

Video presentations and interviews make up a large part of webinars and virtual events. Are you ready to learn even more?

No matter if you’re a first-time planner or a seasoned veteran, Notified is here to help bring your vision to life. 

Our events solutions include:

• Dedicated project managers
• Interactive environments with live and on-demand programming
• Flexible branding and personalization options
• Accessibility - anytime, anywhere, and from any device
• Robust analytics and reporting  

And, from strategy and planning to implementation and delivery, our consulting services team supports you every step of the way.