For the smallest file size, the ideal subject would probably a talking head against a plain and boring background in a noise free studio. This is not very practical so please consider the following guidelines.

• Try to shoot on a tripod when possible. If you shoot video with the camera in your hands, every slight move you make is translated into change between frames and generates more data to compress. The more similar each frame is to the next, and the one before it, the better the final product.  It’s all about keeping the data rate lean.

• A word about wardrobe. Stripes, dots and checks are not so good. When you can plan ahead, ask your talent to wear low contrast solid colours. You might be tempted to set your subject up in front of a tree swaying gently in the breeze, but you’ll need a lot of file size to capture the movement of the leaves online. Try finding a stationary background that can be easily compressed and still look good.

• High contrast busy backgrounds are also unhelpful. Plain walls will compress better than busy wallpaper

• If you don't have a choice of location then shallow depth of field will come in handy. Open the camera's aperture (f2.4 – f5.6) and place the camera further away and increase the focal length to reduce depth of field. A neutral density filter (ND filter) will help to prevent over exposure. Your subject can be kept in focus while the background is blurred, reducing the amount of detail that has to be compressed.

• High contrast lighting is also not useful. Use a soft-light indoors or put a diffuser in front of a hard light. Shooting at midday in bright sun will cast dark shadows under chins and into deep set eyes

• In a web browser’s small viewing window, close-ups give the viewer a better chance of working out what is going on than wide shots.

• In addition, make sure you use large enough titles, as the screen will most likely be reduced to a 360×240 (or smaller) size. You can size down your preview window in Premiere or Final Cut Pro to that size and that will help you preview your logos and titles

• To obtain the cleanest and clearest sound the microphone needs to be very close to the subject. An on-board microphone does not achieve this so an external microphone and a skilled sound recordist will produce the best results. Minimize background noises. Good clean audio produces better results in compression

Source: www.urbanfox.com

Finding a location where your subject has lots of space behind is the easiest way to get the look that you are after. This is because it's not always easy to set the camera a long distance from the subject.

The best way to achieve this look is to set a good distance from the subject. Here are some things to keep in mind.

If the best place is the lounge room, use a sofa or lounge chair; it’s a natural place to sit and tend to make it look a little less staged.

If the sofa is positioned against a wall, slide it out and ask them to sit at one end turned, with their back facing more towards the background rather than the back of the sofa.

A high back on a chair can also be unfortunate so in this case, position the camera so that you’re shooting along the length and looking into the background. A cushion placed into the corner will make them more comfortable and less likely to slump.

If it’s an office situation and there’s only office chairs in abundance, then preferably use one that has arm rests, doesn’t swivel and doesn’t have a high back – again, you need to see as much as you can into the background.

Place the chair about three meters from your camera position, turn it so that it’s orientated at around 30 degrees to the camera. When your subject is seated, this easily turns the shoulders so that they’re not square on in the frame, looking a bit like the coat hanger. There’s a few other reasons why this orientation works.

The subject is now able to look comfortably to the interviewer without having to turn their head; they’re already facing them. Your interviewer must be positioned in a similar chair around the same height and be close to the camera. It’s critical that you see both eyes of your subject, so an eye-line just off the camera-line is perfect. This makes an engaging interview.

Look for a place in a room where there’s space and depth behind. Sliding a sofa to a position where you can see deep into the rest of the room is the best idea. One reason for doing this is to take advantage of this distance behind by framing your subject on a longer lens. This will give you a beautifully defocused background. This approach will also give you the space to hide a kick-light and a background light.

As part of your background choice, look for an area of the room that reveals to your audience some clues about your subject. A bookcase full of books or sideboard displaying photographs is good value, and you’ll be able to use them as a way to balance the overall composition. An interview has to be well framed – you can spend a lot of time look at them.

Don’t ever be happy to settle for a position where your subject is seated with a wall immediately behind.
 

© 2013 Pieter de Vries ACS