Almost everyone filming for the first time feels awkward in front of a camera, and that is not a problem you have to solve before you arrive. Two things take away most of the awkwardness: knowing that the recording will be edited, so mistakes are allowed, and knowing that the technology is someone else's job. In this guide we have written down what to do before a shoot and what not to do during it.
Why being on camera feels awkward
Talking to a person is an everyday thing. Talking while somebody records it is not: a feeling appears that every sentence has to be fit to publish. That is why the first few minutes usually come out in a different voice from the rest of the conversation.
The second reason is simpler: you do not know what is going on around you. Whether the camera is already rolling. Whether the microphone is picking you up. Whether you are sitting well. As long as those questions have no answers, they take up room in your head, and there is that much less room for the conversation itself.
The third reason is an expectation you put on yourself for no reason: that you have to say everything from start to finish without a mistake. Nobody ever demands that in an ordinary conversation, and filming does not demand it either, because that is exactly what editing is for.
What to prepare before the shoot
- Know your first three sentences. Not the whole text, just the opening. The opening is where people get stuck most often, and once it is said, the rest follows by itself.
- Do not learn your text by heart. A memorised text is audible straight away on camera and sounds worse than a thought said in your own words. Write down topics, not phrasings.
- If some part does have to be said word for word (an intro, a sponsor read, a closing line), there is a teleprompter in the studio. Then you do not have to memorise that part or improvise it.
- Arrive a little early. The studio has a separate make-up and changing area and a kitchenette for getting ready and taking a break. Twenty quiet minutes before the recording do more than reading your text one more time.
- Clothing and the technical side are covered separately in our guide on how to prepare for your first shoot. The fewer questions you have about yourself, the fewer nerves at the table.
What to do during the recording
- Talk to the person, not to the camera. If there is a host or a guest in the studio, look at them. The camera finds a person talking to another person by itself, and that shot looks better than staring into the lens.
- Treat the first ten minutes as a warm-up. They probably will not be in the final episode, and that is fine. That is exactly why the full package includes 2.5 hours in the studio rather than only as long as the conversation lasts.
- If you make a mistake, do not start over. Just repeat the sentence from the beginning and carry on. We cut the unnecessary part out in the edit, and there is no need to re-record a whole episode because of one phrase.
- A pause costs nothing. If you need to think, stay quiet. Silence is cut out in a second in the edit, while "um" and "how do I put this" are not always that easy.
- Do not apologise to the camera. There is no need to say "sorry, once more": just say the sentence a second time. The fewer comments about the process itself, the less work for the edit.
- Flag your own mistakes out loud. If you want to be sure a particular bit never makes it into the episode, say so on the spot. The operator works next to you throughout the shoot and notes those places down, so nobody has to hunt for them three days later.
- Drink water and do not talk with a dry throat. It is a banal thing, but your voice changes more because of it than because of any preparation.
What the studio takes off you and what you have to handle yourself
A large part of the discomfort comes not from the camera but from not knowing. That is why everything in the studio is set up before you arrive: the cameras, the light and the microphones are already in place, we check the sound together, and the operator works next to you throughout the shoot and is included in the price. You do not have to watch whether it is recording, whether the sound dropped out or whether you are framed well.
The second part is taken off by agreeing on the edit. We agree on the style before the shoot rather than after it, and note the places that need to be adjusted or cut. One round of revisions is free and you get the edited episode in 3-7 working days. When you know in advance that mistakes will be cut out, you make fewer of them at the table.
One of our Google reviews put it better than we can. In Lithuanian the reviewer wrote: "Komanda padeda jaustis užtikrintai prieš kamerą" - the team helps you feel confident in front of the camera. That is the part about having someone next to you, and no equipment list conveys it.
There is also a part we will not do for you. We are not speech or presentation coaches and we do not teach public speaking. If you need to prepare for a television appearance or a difficult interview, that is a separate service and we do not provide it. What we can do is make sure there is nothing at the table worth being nervous about on top of that.
If the camera is still too much
Not everybody needs video. If your topic lives without a picture, you can start with audio: we write about what each format gives you and what it takes away in our guide on video or audio podcast. Starting with sound and adding video six months later is a perfectly normal path.
The second option is not to film alone. Talking to someone at a table is easier than talking into a camera: there is a real other person, and part of your attention moves away from yourself by itself. For a first episode you can invite a colleague or someone you know rather than the strongest guest you can get.
The third option is not to leave your own surroundings at all. Some people find their office or home easier than a studio, even though there is less equipment there. In that case we come to you: we describe that on our on-location filming page.
How much time it takes and what it costs
The time to get ready and warm up is already included. It is not a separate service and not an extra charge.
| Service | Price | How much time is left for the conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Full podcast | €400 + VAT | 2.5 hours in the studio: getting ready, warming up, the conversation, plus the intro and outro recorded separately |
| Studio with operator, 2 hours | €200 + VAT | Enough for one shorter recording if you arrive with your text and topics ready |
| Studio with operator, 8 hours | €600 + VAT | A full day, for when you want to record several episodes or calmly re-shoot |
| Podcast video editing | €100 + VAT per episode | Includes cutting out the unnecessary parts and one free round of revisions |
The minimum booking is two hours. The full price list is on the prices page, and the space itself and the equipment in it are on the studio page.
When we are the right fit and when we are not
We do not rent out the studio without an operator. That means there will always be at least one other person in the studio during your recording. If it is easier for you to film completely alone, in a closed room with nobody around, we are not the right fit.
We are also the wrong fit when what you really need is not a studio but speaking lessons. We do not work on speech technique, public speaking or preparing for journalists' questions.
We are the right fit when the discomfort is technical: you do not know how it works, what to expect or what happens if you get something wrong. We take that part off at every recording, and how the filming itself looks from the inside is in our guide on how a video podcast is filmed. The editing process is on the editing page.