Plan of Action
Before you begin to shoot, plan ahead. Decide what you’re trying to achieve. Are you outlining a routine for students to follow at home? Making a few points about alignment? Guiding a meditation? Consider how your audience will use your content. Will they follow step by step? Watch and learn?
Once you’re clear on your intention for the media and how students will use it, continue planning. Where will you film? How will you set up? Will someone work the camera for you? Will other people appear alongside you? What will you wear? What will you say—do you need a script? If you find answers hard to come by, return to your intention for the project to clear your vision, and take your time planning a quality product. “You want it to look as good as it makes you feel,” Wvinner says.
At the planning stage, consider where you will be hosting your media online, because various platforms have different requirements and capabilities for length and quality.
Point and Shoot
Yoga teachers can experiment with a large range of equipment options. “You can use your iPhone to shoot video and then load right to YouTube—that’s what I do when I shoot my YOGAmazing in a Minute video. That’s as easy as it gets,” says Chaz Rough, creator of the YOGAmazing podcast. “I use a $3,500 camera and Final Cut to produce my weekly podcast.”
Good video cameras—or even still cameras that shoot high-definition video—are not very expensive these days. Look at Flip HD cameras as well as higher-end “prosumer” cameras, and be sure it’s easy to transfer data from the camera to your computer. Shooting in high definition will give you a nicer look, but you can certainly use a standard-definition camera, or even the camera in your computer or your phone. An inexpensive tripod will hold the camera steady and allow you to film without a helper.
As you set up, consider your lighting. Wvinner suggests getting to know and use natural light. “No one does it better than God!” he says. Take a few still photos and a test video to be sure that things are set up before you begin the formal shooting.
Edit with Ease
Load your video clips onto your computer, where you will edit them. If you use a Mac, you’ll find the iMovie software easy and intuitive. On a PC, Movie Maker is an option, or download another video editor. In your editing application, you can trim the start and end of your clips, add transitions, and lay down voice-over if you didn’t record with sound.
If you’d like to add music to your video, it happens at this stage in the process. But beware: Music must be open-source, or you’ll need to get permission for its use. Look for “podcast-safe” music, and if you’re charging for your content, be aware that charging might affect the terms of use of free music.