Marketing MANIA brought on some special guests and events, including this community meet-up on branded video backgrounds with special guest, streamer, and Legion Community Manager Ben Green.
In the video below, Ben walks us through the key elements of building a video background including strategic considerations, key equipment and much more.
Watch the on-demand version, jump to key sections with timestamps or scroll further below to catch the full write-up!
Building Your Virtual Video Background: Featuring Ben Green, previously live
Timestamps:
2:24 - Technical Equipment (audio and video)
7:36 - Background basics
8:14 - Depth of field
9:32 - Room angle & framing
9:58 - Personalizing
12:50 - Frontal lighting
16:46 - Camera positioning
18:47 - Tech & screens
19:44 - Mood lighting
21:56 - Motion in the background
23:20 - Branding & audience
26:38 - Lighting pictures
Technical Equipment
Getting your space optimized for video and audio equipment depends on what your goals are and what you are using it for. Lighting, cameras, headphones, speakers and more vary greatly in price, quality and use. Once you determine your goals, you can pick the equipment that works best for you. For example, Ben's set-up has been built and optimized for content creation over the course of multiple years: live events, streaming, podcasts, video creation and more. If your main priority is having clear audio and crisp video with clients and customers, you won't need an extensive arm and mic set up. You can find great quality headset microphones or even standing microphones for friendly, entry-level costs. Some recommendations are as follows:
Beginner: Jabra Evolve 20 MS Headset & Logitech C920e
Intermediate: Blue Snowball Microphone & 4K PRO WEBCAM. These options will give you increased control over the audio and video as well as higher quality than a standard headset mic and webcam.
High-end: Blue Yeti standing microphone & Mic arm, plus an XLR mic that plugs into an interface. Less plug and play, but much more control of your sound, especially over long periods of recording. So if you're dipping your toes into shows or podcasts, this might be worth looking into. This option would be a bit overkill for everyday meetings, but if you're interested in becoming a content creator, this is definitely worth considering.
Background Basics
Depth of Field
A common tactic to increase the professionalism of yourself or your presentation lies within the concept depth of field. This blurs out your background while keeping elements closer to the camera in-focus. This can be a great and simple addition to boosting the professionalism of your space with little effort. You can easily find pre-configured settings in video calling software such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom that have this background blur as an option. Another simple and low-cost idea when you have limited space or limited control over your settings is a simple green screen with a picture insert. Another common setting in video calling software, updating your background to a picture is a quick and easy way to display a professional backdrop and can be a great way to frame your conversations.
Room Angle & Framing
If you're fortunate enough to have a studio space or designated office space for your video activities, you can plan and build your background around specific equipment in mind. If you'll notice in the image above, Ben's shot is going corner to corner. That gives him the most space behind him to create more depth and space. If you can create more space behind you, that can only aid in bringing that 'depth of field' effect into play. On the other side of this, Ben built his 'frame' with his position in mind. While he is centrally located in the image, everything else behind him compliments his position in the frame. While there are many elements next to or above Ben, there isn't really much directly behind him. Make sure to build your background with you in it!
Personalizing
Applicable across all goals of video background building - whether gaming, webinars, or everyday video calls, is personalizing your space. It's important to have little touches of yourself in your space to humanize, personalize and accent yourself. In Ben's case, he has posters, guitars and other items that have cool stories behind them. These can be great conversations starters and help your audience get to know you more - whether you are trying to woo a new client or attract new followers to your content. This is especially handy when you might be early on in a call or new business relationship with someone.
Not only does personalization aid in the 'depth of field' effect, but it also helps create a more detailed and intriguing image. A well-balanced (read not over-cluttered) personalized background can create a striking, lasting impression on those you engage with digitally through video. Since there are an overwhelming amount of outlets clamoring for attention, leaving customers and followers with a strong impression helps build your brand presence. This is true whether your goals are personal or professional.
In Ben's case, you can see that the natural lines and angles of his room all point and flow to the central point in the frame. This helps naturally center the viewers eye on the image and helps the image feel more full.
Frontal Lighting
One of the quickest, easiest and low-cost ways to boost the quality and professionalism of your video activities is through the use of frontal lighting. Frontal lighting is one of the areas of business video activities that can slip by unnoticed outside of the video/filming world but can make some of the biggest differences. The most common way to do this is by simply positioning yourself relative to a window to allow your face to fill up with light so you are more visible.
One drawback to window light is that it can be very temperamental as the weather changes. Often, window light can be nicely diffused when it's cloudy but can be much harsher on a sunny day. If you have a window directly in front or above you, try to angle to the side of it. Direct light from above can create the effect of baggy eyes (often not desirable).
If your room layout or other circumstances prevent that alignment to a window or the unpredictability of natural light is too risky, moving around room lamps to help brighten some shadows can make a significant difference.
If you want to get a little more invested, you can look into standing artificial lights as Ben has in his set-up. Although he has a window, for his purposes, relying on constant and customizable light from multiple sources verses the harsher light from the overhead window works best for him. The large, rectangle light to the left is Ben's main light, or "key light." The ring light on the right is called a "fill light" and it is the most important light since it's used to soften the face shadows. The general rule of thumb to follow is to have your fill light off-set to either your left or right at an angle verses straight on to create more flattering shadows.
Camera Positioning
One interesting piece of Ben's AV set up is the position of his camera that we are viewing now. The camera is actually placed between his two monitors towards the middle. The reason for this revolves around creating an eye-level effect when engaging with the camera that helps the viewer feel at the same level as the subject.
Having the camera angle too high can over-accentuate your forehead. On the flip side, if the camera is too low, it can create a less flattering angle or double-chin effect with a lot more attention on your chin and neck. Even if you don't have a specialized camera mount and visual set-up as Ben does, you can still get creative on angles for better eye-level presentation. Propping your laptop up on some books, placing your laptop on top of cardboard boxes or using other out-of-the box ideas to make your set-up work for you are all great ways to work around this without an expensive set-up.
Tech & Screens
Though it is not necessary to have as many monitors as Ben has pictured here in his set-up, using a second monitor or screen of some kind can be a huge help when engaging in video activities. Especially if presenting information, running webinars or conducting important meetings, being able to see all the moving parts on an additional screen to your laptop is key. It also doesn't need to be a monitor at all. You could also use a tablet, portable monitor or whatever else you might have on-hand to support your video process.
Mood Lighting
One low-cost but effective way to add intrigue to your background is with some mood lighting. This is a fairly basic tactic but has some nice, splashy results. In Ben's case, to match the mood and visuals closely associated with gaming and the Legion brand, he has a more darkly lit space with pops and glows from various light sources. This gives a more dramatic and exciting effect that would be lost if the overhead lights were on. The light set-up you get will depend on what mood or feeling you want to portray. Ben recommends that the mood lighting effect works best on white or light-colored walls so the colors deflect stronger.
LED stripes along the baseboards can be found at a low-cost at box stores like Walmart of Target. They are simple, color-changing strips that plug-into a USB port or wall outlet. Salt lamps can be found online or in big-box stores as well.
Flood lights greatly enhance the coloring and mood-setting elements of Ben's background. Another low-cost, high-impact addition, the flood lights can be adjusted to the brightness and colors you're looking for. And although they sit off-frame, they make a wonderful and colorful impact on-frame. You can find low-cost packs of flood lights on Amazon.
Other background lights include light from the TV and the green light panel from a Lenovo Partner NanoLeaf.
Motion in Background
Another way to add interest and ambiance to your background is through the use of motion. Motion should be used sparingly so as not to overwhelm the frame or distract viewers from the main subject (you!). The goal is to accent the frame to make the entire image more engaging. For example, bright, flashing lights might be too overpowering in most cases (unless you work in the disco business??). Aim for soft motion. Candles, calming nature videos on another screen, slow-changing light wall panels (like the nanoleaf), table-top fountains or fish tanks are great examples of soft motions for a more interesting background.
Branding & Audience
A key question to always keep in mind during video activities "is who is my audience"? and "does my audience ever change"? Having swappable variations as part of your branded set-up will help keep things fresh, set the right tone per audience and secure intrigue no matter what your video activities are. Whether for personal or professional branding purposes, strategically consider your appearance as well. As you build your frame, keep yourself in mind. Pictured above, Ben's green shirt is actually a staple part of his presentation though you may not know this if you only met or engaged with him digitally once. With respects to branding colors, see above how a simple change in the color of the flood lighting changes the tone, mood and color of the entire background. Use these variations to your advantage and always keep your goals and branding in mind.
Final Thoughts
Allow for change! Constantly changing or updating backgrounds can be fun for keeping things interesting and seeing what resonates with your audience. Allow your space to change and evolve with you. Let your background and equipment grow as your skills, interests and business grow too. Good luck!
Check out the Legion Gaming Community to connect more with Ben and see him in action during his twice-weekly streaming events! Special thank you to Ben for sharing his expertise with us!
What about you? How have you built your virtual background when it comes to video calls and projects? What suggestions or recommendations do you have for others? Maybe you haven't given much thought to your background? Looking for some advice on your space? Comment below or post a picture of your set-up to share with the community and get some recommendations!