How many times have you been scrolling through Instagram and seen some budding young fashion model exhibiting her latest high-style offering, only to be grossed out by the dirty dishes left in the sink, hanging out in the background.
The indomitable Zoom teleconferencing service has caught on to this common short-coming by offering a feature that allows you to blur your background to create a bokeh effect.
The point is, the first thing you should be looking for as you set up your scene is your background. Once that’s established – usually by finding an area that’s well lit, and is clean and uniform to provide a pallet for messaging, or that has nice contrast that will create more impact for what’s in the foreground. Exposed brick walls, and solid colored walls are just awesome. But I digress.
The point to all this hand-wringing is that depending on the application, your background is that “canvas” your messaging is anchored to, so your background is actually a major part of your eventual foreground.
When it comes to video, background is just so very important! Your video audience is stuck with you for the length of your video, and you should care about this, and provide them something nice and organized and well lit to look at. Going back to the Instagram model with dirty dishes in her sink. If you’re trying to be taken seriously as a video storyteller, or even better, trying to make an impact on your audience, your background is your friend, it’s more than a friend, it’s the ace up your sleeve!
Developing your scene, or what’s behind you in the shot can be simple or drawn out and complex, depending on what you’re going for. The host of DSLR Video Shooter does a phenomenal job of creating a neat, organized and nicely lit scene with a few interesting props. And it didn’t require construction or custom wood work! With a good background like this you let your audience know you’re thinking about them. You’re also letting them know you have some skills, and know how to create a professional scene for your video.
