Module 3: Shooting

Framing that looks intentional

Frame yourself using the rule of thirds: imagine the screen divided into a 3×3 grid, and put your eyes on the upper third line, slightly off-center. Headroom — space above your head — should be small; a vast empty ceiling above you looks accidental. The background should be simple and relevant: a bookshelf, your workspace, your storefront — never a messy room, a bathroom door, or a window behind you (silhouette).

The 5-second rule: before every take, hold the framed shot for 5 seconds silently. It settles you, it gives clean background plate for editing, and it becomes a habit that eliminates the "wait, were we recording?" chaos.

Mark your framing with tape. Once you find the right tripod position and height, put a small piece of tape on the floor where the tripod legs go and a mark on the tripod for the height. Next time you shoot, setup takes 60 seconds and the framing matches your last video exactly. Consistency across videos — same framing, same background, same light — reads as professionalism even when each individual video is simple.

Coverage: shoot more than you need

For testimonials and interviews, shoot the listener too: nodding, reacting, the handshake. These reaction shots are editing gold — they let you cut between speakers invisibly and they make the final video feel like a real moment rather than an interrogation.

Label your B-roll as you shoot it. After capturing a clip, say out loud what it is ("close-up of the finished deck, take one") — the audio label makes it findable in editing without scrubbing through mystery clips. Future-you, staring at forty unnamed files at midnight, will be enormously grateful. This 5-second habit saves 30 minutes per project, every single time.

Being natural on camera

Energy on camera needs to be about 20% higher than in person — the lens eats energy. Stand if you can, gesture naturally, smile with your eyes. If you freeze, look away from the lens, take a breath, and start the sentence over — you'll cut the freeze in editing. Nobody's first take is the keeper; that's why you shoot two.

Watch your first videos back with a notebook, not dread. Write down three specific things you'd change — not "be better," but "slow down the intro," "stop touching my face," "look at the lens, not the screen." Specific notes become specific improvements; vague self-criticism becomes avoidance. Every creator you admire has a private archive of terrible early videos. The difference is they kept the notebook and kept shooting.