Preparing Your Content For Submission

Before you upload your story, images or video to The Cruise Lifestyle, there are a number of simple guidelines and tips you can follow to help you make the most out of your content subject, as well as highlight a few simple ways you can improve the quality and value of your submission. Below we will outline some of our recommendations for uploading higher video quality content.

3 Tips For Effective Video Presentation

If you are planning on putting yourself in front of a camera and sending us a review, tip or cruise hack, there are 3 basic things you will need to take into account to achieve a quality result. Before we start on those, a recommended essential: get yourself a tripod! It’s a basic must for effective presentation – it keeps your camera steady and balanced, and when used effectively, helps you concentrate on the important stuff (your actual presentation!). Most these days have attachments for mounting everything from phones to digital SLR cameras and camcorders, and are generally quite inexpensive. A quick search online will track down some great options you can order online or you can head to the local electronics shop or discount department store.

Sound

In most cases, using your phone, camera or laptop’s inbuilt microphone simply won’t cut it. You will sound distant (even “echo-y” – particularly indoors), the level of volume will be low, and there is a good likelihood that you will have a good mix of background noise being picked up as well. All this will distract from the message you are trying to convey. For better quality sound in your presentation, we suggest:-

• • Phone earbuds – many phone earbuds will provide you with far better quality sound than using the phone itself – without the background noise. These can work either for recording on your phone or laptop. Not an absolutely perfect solution, but it definitely suits the purpose far better than not. There are a number of wired and wireless solutions that will more than adequately fit the bill. Don’t be afraid to try different options to see which works best!
• • USB microphone – particularly if using your laptop to record, see if you can get hold of a usb microphone or external microphone. There are a number of well priced options suitable for vlogging and they generally offer a far better quality sound solution when recording videos.
• • Lavalier microphone – often known as a “lapel” mike, these are small microphones which have clips attach to your shirt, blouse or jacket, and offer a high quality sound solution for recording video presentations – particularly when “on location” outdoors or at an external venue. These are the types of microphones used most often by TV presenters – they are good, discreet solutions perfect for a presentation situation. There are a number of wired and wireless solutions available which can be connected or paired to your phone or laptop for a quick and easy solution!

Lighting

Have you ever taken a pic of yourself or with a group of friends in front of an absolutely stunning sunset, only to find that your face looks like a dark oval blob with hair (or not – don’t want to discriminate against those that are follicly challenged!)? Most cameras will automatically adjust to the light that is coming into the lens – often at the expense of darker, unlit subject matter.

If you are standing in front of the camera making a presentation, you want to be sure that you can be seen! It’s amazing how many people make video presentations, but don’t think about the implications of poor lighting. They might have a good, well lit background (see below on background selection), but neglect to think of the impact of background lighting on the subject being filmed (themselves!). If you are filming a presentation make sure of the following when it comes to lighting:-

• • Be Lit: Firstly, no matter the background, make sure you (as the presenter) are well illuminated! If indoors, make sure you have adequate lighting to highlight yourself. Sometimes standard house or room lights aren’t quite enough, as the lighting is very generic throughout the room, and there is a tendency that the end result will look quite bland and “blended” between yourself and the background. This can often be fixed quite easily with specialises video presentation lighting such as blogger “ring lights” and inexpensive LED light options which are perfect for recording video presentations. Ring lights are a very good solution, and these days can be found everywhere from K-Mart or your local department store through to e-bay or other online providers.
• • Lighting Warmth: Pay attention to lighting “warmth”. Sunlight has a natural, slightly yellowish tinge which highlights the colour of our skin and is a more “natural” look than when you are indoors under artificial lighting. If filming indoors, be aware the “warmth” of your lighting when you’re on screen! Often excessive flourescent lighting or “cool” LED lights can make you appear pale and washed out on screen. If looking for lighting solutions for indoor presentations, try and go more for the “warm” options. It will make you look far healthier on screen!
• • Filming Outdoors: If filming outdoors, never have the sun shining directly into the camera. You will ruin any other subject you are trying to highlight. If you are outdoors with a bright background or with the sun behind you, a quick solution used by a lot of TV reporters can be to have a reflective surface in front of you (facing you from behind the camera or against the tripod legs) such as tin foil or a bright white surface which will reflect the light and highlight yourself on screen. Avoid using a mirror, as this can overdo the effect – particularly under bright sun. Maybe even try a slightly different camera angle so the camera can make a better adjustment between yourself and the background. Don’t be afraid to experiment to get the balance right!

Background

A good background can certainly enhance any video presentation, however the opposite is also true. A “bad” background can ruin a good presentation. At best, it can detract from the subject you are presenting, and at worst it can be a total distraction to the message the presenter is trying to convey.

The general rule of thumb is that a simple background will often work the best. Not all of us have “green screen” technology, so we have to make do with what we have around us. Here’s a few simple rules to abide by when choosing where you film your presentation:-

• • A “busy” background will detract: too much stuff in the background is going to detract from highlighting you as the presenter. Try to set up in a room such as a study or living room. Try and avoid kitchens, bedrooms (unless you can get a good angle away from beds or wardrobes), bathrooms or laundry rooms!
• • Avoid clutter: try and avoid dirty clothes, kids toys, piles of dishes or other clutter in your background. Keep it neat and clean.
• • Avoid presenting in directly front of a window. What’s on the other side can easily be an uncontrolled (and distracting) parameter you don’t need, it can be a lighting nightmare (see the “lighting” section), and you can get nasty reflections of things you really don’t want to be seeing in your video! And the same goes for mirrors..

A good set up can be as simple as a phone on a tripod or a ring light, you hooked up to a lapel mike, either standing in front of the camera or sitting on a bar stool or comfortable lounge in the lounge room, a plain wall with a couple of pictures, paintings or a bookcase as a background. Don’t be afraid to test and experiment with your location and settings until you are comfortable with what works – and looks – best. If you are happy with your setup, you will kill it in the presentation!

Lastly, a quick note about what to wear on screen. You want to be clean and presentable (smart casual clothing generally works, but it depends on your presentation and personality you want to bring to screen).

A couple of additional points to note… Firstly, be wary of thinly striped or checked clothing – sometimes these can create distracting effects on screen. Try and keep to plain colours, and be aware of your background – you don’t want to blend or clash with your surroundings!

Lastly – enjoy, and good luck! We love receiving your submitted content, and hope that we can showcase your content soon on The Cruise Lifestyle!

🙂

Head back to the content submit page.