Advice on videoing a talking head

Twilkes

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I'm videoing a talking head piece to be projected at an offsite event in our company, and while I don't think they're going to be too fussy about it (they asked for volunteers with own equipment) I obviously want to do it as well as I can. 


I have a Nikon P7100 which films semi-decent 720p video; access to a GoPro of some description; and a Zoom H2 that I can use to record sound more closely than the cameras can pick up.

Was thinking of having one camera static for the person to face directly into, and handhold the other camera off to the side for some extra coverage shots to break up the edit. Which camera would you mount out of the Nikon or the GoPro? The mounted camera would end up with the most footage in the end product.

The room is rectangular with a window on one of the short sides, brown wooden doors and off-white walls. The sun will be behind buildings and sky probably overcast, and there are maybe ten spotlights in the ceiling, so how would you arrange the speaker/cameras? And just film in front of the white walls to keep things simple?

There is a conference table but a seated talking head is a little too much like the Queen's Speech for me, so will maybe see if they would do it standing. 

Any advice appreciated!
 
Please will you expand on what you want to see. Are you referring to an individual giving a lecture? An interview situation between two or more people? Literally a talking head like the computer on Red Dwarf? Or what?:facepalm: What does your company expect?

My own experience with filming for my company was that they expected a workmanlike job with minimal compromise especially if it is to go on public view. (i.e. Outside the company) Would there be photos, graphs or drawings to display? Would there be demonstrations or table top models? Would there be a PowerPoint display?

Personally I would use camcorders with, if necessary, a mic attached. I would also use a conference mic for table top use.

As you can see from my signature, I can use two very similar cameras so there is no problem in the video edit. I would use the 700 for a fixed camera and the 750 for cutaways. Cutaways can be critical to tie parts of the video together, if you only want another angle on the speaker it can become tedious. This is why it is important to understand what you want to portray. Even political party broadcasts now have many cutaways in their five minutes of air time.
Do you have a video editor with multi camera editing so you can easily sync up multi cameras? Even a Zoom audio track will need camera audio to help sync the sound to the video.
 
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Thanks. It's one person talking straight to camera, no slides or anything as far as I know. Probably only going to be 5ish minutes in length. Internal to our department only.

Can sync and edit in Sony Vegas.
 
Get them to give you a Bung for the time and risk to yr equipment - or pay cash for an extra mic which you keep ( but don't necessarily use!). You might also suggest they buy you a decent meal for you+misses to compensate for the Agro
that's about to hove into view!

Companies can start wanting very little (for Free) and then expect a fully professional job (also for free). All whilst you are still working normally. If they Hire only a camcorder+Lights+Reflectors+ mic I can't see that being less that £500 for a minimum Hire - Ideally you will employ a professional and get (in all probability ) exactly what the company wants.
-So very often the Boss' "Ideas" are impractical and only a Professional can tell them how it is.... in addition Pros have the experience to settle the Speaker, so the whole appears Natural and informative.... not all Speakers can do this first-time.

+ Having a camera pointed at you can be daunting. Esp. if the kit is Untried!

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It might be interesting to check with Boss' Secretary if they've done this before and if a Professional's recording is available ( So you can gain an insight, etc.) - - - but that should lead you to what the Cost was.



Why can't the "Talk" be done "live" with employees present? ( i.e ditch the "Recording" ).
-OR- Is this to be sent to several employee groups, so your work is being "Broadcast" as it were. (Fee for each showing, methinks)
Won't the Boss insist on having some control over "Editing" - Yikes - the nightmare is appearing!
Professionals will tell him not to interfere! - \Unless he'd like to do the Editing on his PC at home, perhaps?

Sony Vegas is perfectly OK - but why not record direct to camera? Make life easy!
BTW Use manual Focus and switch-off room fans, etc. + Don't let them crumple their papers/Notes...
Very Good Luck
 
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