Prepare all materials for the shoot before coming to the studio. 1. Text for prompter. Recommendations for the design of the prompter text 2. Presentation. Recommendations for creating a presentation If you are unsure about the presentation, send us the initial information to info@videostudio.pt before the shoot and we will prepare the presentation in the right format. Rehearse your performance along with your presentation - For a speaker with little shooting experience, the whole process can seem daunting, even if they are an expert in their subject. A good rehearsal will help to reduce the shooting time and make the recording process faster and more productive. - If you plan to record your video in parts, it's worth paying attention to how you divide them up before you film. - Don't divide by the number of slides, let alone by sentence or paragraph. - Stick to dividing by the semantic parts of your presentation: welcome, introduction, module 1, etc. - Gluing between takes is noticeable, but if the takes are divided by meaning, it looks organic. - To make the gluing of takes look more natural, use interludes - The interruption can be a slide without a speaker with the title of the next lesson. - A video fragment that fits into the story is also suitable. - Interruptions are good in moderation, 2-3 for a 10 minute video will be enough. - If you plan to record an interactive video using a pencil, marker and moving objects, make sure you remember at what point in the video you are going to realise this. Choose comfortable clothing The right clothes for the shoot will give you confidence and eliminate discomfort. It is important that you feel comfortable looking at yourself in the studio screens. Choose your clothes so they don't blend in with the background of the studio. Do not wear: - Dark coloured clothes - for filming on a black background, white coloured clothes - for filming on a white background; - Clothes with inscriptions or drawings (they will be mirrored in the video); - Clothes with very fine checks, very narrow stripes or clothes with coarse knitting - they create distortion of the picture in the video; - Clothes made of fabric that creates extraneous noise; - Clothes with reflective elements. Do a run-through of the presentation along with the text of the talk Bring materials to the studio on a flash drive or send them to info@videostudia.pt in advance. If you send your presentations with a link to Disc, make sure we will have access to view and download them. If your presentation was made in Power Point format, it is better to send the original file rather than the pdf immediately. If there are errors on the slide, we will not be able to make corrections to the pdf file.

Make the recording in takes - We believe that every speaker can record material in one take. But if it doesn't work out that way, we recommend recording in takes. Especially if you planned it from the very beginning before the shooting:) - If you don't manage to record the intended take, just press "stop" and go back to the beginning of the meaningful phrase. In the editing, you can easily glue the necessary takes together. - Some people find it easier to record a video in one continuous take, including all reservations and unfortunate moments. This option also exists, but from our experience we can say that the option of gluing successful takes together is easier to realise on the editing stage. Allow for pauses at the beginning and end of the take - After pressing the "record" button, pause for 1-2 seconds and then start speaking. The intonation should go up. These couple of seconds can be cut out, but you will not be able to return the accidentally cut off beginning of speech. - There is a similar pause rule before the end of the recording. Finish the text and look at the camera, and then you can look for the "stop" button. Accordingly, the intonation should go downwards towards the end. Changing positions during takes - Try not to change your location and pose between takes. - Choose a comfortable pose in which you will end the take and begin the next one. - It is important to pay attention to the part of the frame where you stood in the last take, your hair and hands. Take control mode - In the studio, you can switch on "take control mode". It allows you to sort takes into "good" and "bad" during recording. - After pressing the "stop" button, the system will offer you to decide what to do with this video file: save, delete or watch it. - When you delete a file, a failed folder is created, which is automatically transferred to the video. - When deleting a file, a failed folder is created to which the video is automatically transferred. To activate this feature, please contact your studio administrator.

Video file transfer - We transfer all recorded files on the day of the shoot as a link to an external Disc. We create a folder with access only for you in advance. - You can keep the link for yourself, as all future files will also be downloaded via this link. We only create a new folder with the new date of shooting. Please note that all files are kept on the Drive for 3 months, then we delete them. Make sure you have time to download them. Video editing - After proper shooting, the easiest thing to do in editing is to cut the beginning and the end of the takes and glue them together. Any free editor will do, for example, DaVinci Resolve. - Back-to-back stitching, i.e. stitching takes together without additional effects is preferred, but not the only one. In Adobe Premiere this can be found under the name of video transitions. For example, dissolving, dipping into black / white. - In the montage you can tweak the slide, add titles, trim interjections or cut out redundant information if necessary.

Speech exercise - Do a speech exercise before you start filming. Sayings, songs, stories with movements. - All of these help you to de-stress and relax. Test your voice - To overcome anxiety during a shoot, many professionals recommend shouting. - At this moment endorphins are released, which help to cope with stress. Audience assistance - Invite a friend or colleague to stand next to or behind the camera. This way you can pretend you are giving a lecture for them, it will make you feel more natural.

- Prepare your presentation so that there is room for you in the frame - If your presentation is saved in PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, export it to PDF format. Remember that when you export to PDF, all interactive elements will become static. - The speaker is part of the slide, so the slide elements should surround, not overlap it. On the slide, leave a blank space where the speaker should be, and when recording, take the prepared space. - Avoid text and picture colours that are similar to the background used. Instead, use contrasting colours. - To make text visible, use a font size: a minimum of 48 pt for headings and a minimum of 36 pt for content. - If you are more comfortable using a third-party editor, when working with it, use a template that already provides space for a speaker.

- You can create the text in any text editor (word, notepad, google docs). - The text should only contain what you are going to say on the video. Additionally, we recommend deciphering abbreviations, spelling out numbers in words, and replacing words you stutter on. - Add code words to the text if you will be using the presentation and interacting with its elements. For example, "SLIDE" to switch to the next slide or "ANIMATION" to turn on an animation. - Text formatting is not considered (boldness, font, italics, text colour). Use blank lines to separate text.

- Write the text the day before the speech or earlier. - Write the first draft of the text. Do not think about its quality and length. While it is important to decide on the informative component. It should be a clean text, without tables and figures. - Look through the text, divide it into semantic parts. Decide whether the parts correspond to each other in terms of volume. Correct it. - Decide what is the style of your speech? Accordingly, make stylistic changes to each part of the text. - You are preparing for a public speech. Your text should be conversational, not written. Make adjustments: get rid of long turns of phrase, move the main meaning of the word to the beginning of the sentence. Long extended enumerations are not suitable. Make more full stops and fewer commas. Get rid of hyphenated turns. - Decide how you would like to write numbers. Will you use abbreviations? It is important here that you understand abbreviations, and don't overthink it while speaking. - Decide how you will write down foreign words, if any. It may be worth writing the transcription straight away. - Write an opening paragraph and a closing paragraph. They should be more emotional and less informative than the main text. - Format the text. Start on a new line for each sentence or piece of meaning. Make a blank line between parts of the text. Do not make any highlighting with colour, thickness of letters, italics - the prompter program most likely will not be able to convey this. Use only numbers if you need to mark parts of the text. Get rid of all other icons. - Read the text aloud. Correct if something is not comfortable to read. Work on diction in difficult places. - Read the text after some time. - Read the text on the morning of the day of the video recording.

Our studio is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

We are located at R. 2 da Matinha, 5D, 1950-326 Lisboa, Portugal.

Yes, we offer flexible rental rates to suit your needs. Please contact us for more details.

Our studio is equipped with modern lighting setups, various backdrops, and professional photography equipment. For specific equipment inquiries, please email us at info@videostudio.pt.

You can book the studio online through our website or contact us at +351 910 252 165 or via email at info@videostudio.pt.