Recording a video message on your phone in 5 minutes
Where to sit, where to put the phone, and what to do with your hands. A five-minute setup that makes any phone video look and sound warm.
Writes the iyawt prompt library.
You don’t need a camera, a microphone or a ring light. You need a window, a chair and five minutes.
1. Find a window (one minute)
Sit facing a window, with the daylight on your face. Not behind you, or you’ll be a silhouette. Late afternoon is the warmest; any daylight beats a ceiling light.
2. Put the phone at eye level (one minute)
Prop it against a stack of books or a mug on the table so the lens is level with your eyes. Looking slightly down at a phone on the table makes everyone look tired. Hold it in landscape if you like; portrait is fine too.
3. Quiet the room (thirty seconds)
Turn off the TV and the dishwasher. Close the door. Phone microphones are better than you think, but they pick up everything.
4. Pick one prompt (one minute)
Don’t wing it and don’t script it. Pick one question from the prompts and know roughly how you’ll start. “I want to tell you about the day you were born.” Then let it go where it goes.
5. Press record and say their name (the rest)
Look at the lens, not at yourself on the screen. Say their name. Talk for a minute. If you fumble, keep going; the fumble is part of you.
A few things that help
- Hands: hold a mug. It gives them something to do.
- Clothes: anything you’d wear to a friend’s kitchen. Avoid tiny patterns, which shimmer on camera.
- Eyes: a small sticker next to the lens reminds you where to look.
- Length: one to three minutes. Record another message rather than a longer one.
If the camera makes you nervous
Almost everyone feels it. Here’s how to get past it.