Camera, lighting and sound guide for recording a school concert in Teams or Zoom

The Plan

A high-quality concert video that truly shows your singing and dancing is not created in the edit alone. It requires forethought, creativity, and a little patience. Below are the recommendations I shared with students as they prepared to record and edit the school concert video.

Sound

• Paul McCartney (@10:20) famously sang in the bathroom when The Beatles were starting out. Small rooms with reflective surfaces often create excellent natural reverb.
• Mobile phones have surprisingly good built-in microphones. Place the phone on something stable or hold it carefully to avoid rustling noises.
• Turn off background noise such as air conditioning, TVs, fans, or nearby conversations.
• Laptops don’t always have the best microphones, but singing clearly and confidently helps a lot.

Lighting

• Avoid sitting with a window or bright light directly behind you.
• If possible, sit at right angles to a window or use light reflected from a plain wall.
• If sunlight is very strong, soften it using a plain sheet or curtain.
• Natural light usually looks better than artificial lighting.

Camera

• Set your camera to the highest quality available (for example: 1920×1080, 4K, or 1280×720).
• Record in landscape (horizontal), not portrait. This looks better on screens and is much easier to edit.
• Position the camera at eye level to avoid unflattering angles.
• Choose a plain, tidy background — the camera sees everything.

Action

• Sit or stand still, centred in the frame, facing the camera. This makes editing much easier when combining videos.

Software

• At school we use — and I highly recommend — the Adobe Suite.
• Students record footage on their phones using Adobe Premiere Rush. Clips are saved to Adobe Cloud and can be edited on a phone or computer.
• Whatever software you use, make sure you can export your final video to the shared storage location.

Exporting

• Before recording, check that you know how to transfer video files from your device to the shared drive.
• Do not compress or email video files.

Help

• Follow social-distancing guidance — do not meet other students in groups.
• You may ask parents or siblings to help as a camera operator, sound recorder, or lighting assistant.

Your Suggestions?

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