Five Simple Hacks To Shoot Your Next Zoom Call Like A Professional Cinematographer

The hashtag #zoomfatigue started trending in early April when tens of millions of Americans began working full-time from home.

As a photographer and cinematographer who’s been behind the lens for over 20 years, I get it. Being on camera naturally makes people self-conscious. Knowing that you’re most likely being recorded also innately makes people anxious about their word choices, their body language, and the thoughts they share since it’s all being codified on to some hard drive somewhere where it will live for eternity.

The worst part about Zoom from a psychological standpoint, however, is that you can see yourself. Compared with a traditional television or documentary interview or photoshoot, where the cameraman and director are the only ones who can see what’s happening through the lens, Zoom boomerangs how you look, sound, and come across to everyone else on the call right back in your face. As a result, most people spend more time on Zoom self-analyzing themselves rather than actually paying attention to the work at hand.

The cinematographer side of me loves Zoom calls. I enjoy breaking apart how people attempt (usually ineffectively) to construct their lighting scheme, how they choose and manipulate their backdrops (ergo hiding the Peloton bike and laundry basket), and where they setup their computer to nail the best angle of themselves. For the record, I do all of this too. I just also happen to do it for a living. (If you haven’t seen this ‘Conference Call In Real Life’ spoof yet it will cheer you up that you’re not alone—and also make you laugh hysterically).

But like it or not, remote work and Zoom calls aren’t going away anytime soon. Nor is coronavirus. So it’s better to get used to them and make the new normal more productive and psychologically positive by incorporating a few cinematography fundamentals that filmmakers and photographers have been employing for decades to get people looking and performing their best on camera.     

Lighting. It’s a truism in filmmaking and photography that amazing light can make a pile of dog$#!* look extraordinary. Conversely, supermodels in terrible light all of a sudden aren’t that super anymore. So before you obsess over the wardrobe, makeup, and hair, take some time to set up your lighting in advance using what you already have available in your home.

The most basic, tried and true set up is the classic three-point light set up consisting of a primary, or key, light—typically set up in front of you at a 45-70 degree angle, angled down slightly—a secondary fill light on the opposite side in front of you to soften the shadows of the primary light, and a backlight to separate you from the background (this is often also called a “rim light”). Here’s a great video explaining how to set one up yourself at home.

You don’t need a fancy Hollywood lighting designer to do this. A couple of floor lamps and side table lights pushed around you out of screen view, elevated on stacks of books, can quickly mimic a professional photography studio. Try experimenting with taking the lamp shades off as well, which will create a harder, more directional light with bolder shadows. Move the lamps closer and farther away from you, which will increase and decrease their intensity respectively.

Use natural light through a window whenever possible since nature still creates the best light of all. Indirect window light on a bright overcast day produces some of the softest shadows and best highlights without the need for any supplement lamp lighting. Try setting up in a corner of a room where you have windows on either side just out of view and watch how they counterbalance each other to create virtually no shadows at all.

Experiment. Once you find a lighting scheme (or two or three) that works for you you’ll be able to replicate it in seconds before each Zoom call.

Note to self: Avoid direct overhead can lights and ceiling fan lights, which are the most common in every room in every house, since they cast a harsh downward glare that accentuates horizontal shadows like forehead wrinkles, bags under your eyes, and bad hair days. Never a good Zoom look.

Background. The background on any Zoom call is critical for two reasons: visual and personal. There’s been a spate of stories recently about the former, including adding plants, peel and stick wallpaper, and shoji screens to your home office, or even hanging a bedsheet on the wall to mimic a photographer’s studio.  

Most of these suggestions (I’m not sure about the bed sheet) make sense depending on the space and lighting but the most important thing to think like a cinematographer is keep it simple, clean, and compelling. Fig trees are architecturally beautiful, but can make it look like something’s sprouting out of your head or arm if it’s behind you. Wallpapers, depending on the pattern, can be as distracting as a plaid shirt. Artwork, especially if it’s framed in glass, can cause confusing and disturbing reflections like two mirrors facing each other on screen.

Secondly, Zoom backgrounds in the new age of remote work are like rummaging through someone’s garbage: they tell you a lot about a person—what they read, the art they like, how well they clean and stay up to date organizing their office, and if they Zoom in the kitchen, what they eat and how often they wash their dishes. Be careful about what you want people to know about yourself. Sometimes the right suggestive background can be hugely effective to the outcome of a call. But in general your clients and co-workers don’t need to see your diplomas and old wedding photos.

Bottom line: Before checking yourself out prior to your next Zoom call, check your background first. Scan the screen frame edge to edge for distractions you didn’t notice before like a door frame, crown molding, or the front of your stair climber. Whatever you choose to include, choose it carefully. Context is everything.

Wardrobe. In Hollywood there are thousands of professionals who do this for a living, sleuthing fashion labels and vintage shops every day for that perfect piece or accessory that not only nails the mood and era of a particular scene but also looks great on camera. Like most things cinematographic, stick to the tried and true rules for your Zoom calls as well, which might mean ditching the shirts, scarves, and jackets that you think you look amazing in at a dinner meeting but won’t convey the same feeling of competence and confidence virtually on a laptop.

Avoid heavily patterned clothing. Think florals, checkers, plaids, paisleys, and heavy stripes here. They’re confusing and distracting to look at and hard to fit into a background (unless it’s pure white or black). Bold, bright colors like red and yellow are distracting as well, even though you might want to make a statement. Stick to muted, solid shades of white, gray, suede, and light blue, and incorporate stripes and patterns subtly or as accents.

Be cognizant of your background when you choose your outfit to make sure that you stand out from it. White on white will make you look like a floating head on camera. Blacks in general also fade to negative space since they absorb all wavelengths of light so use them sparingly. Lastly, bright colored jewelry and flashy bling can be distracting since they reflect and refract light in multiple directions.

Perspective (Camera Angle). Most people I Zoom with these days (yes it’s now a verb) just turn on their FaceTime camera from their home office laptops, which ergonomically positions the camera roughly at shoulder or chest level looking up, which is arguably one of the worst perspectives for pretty much everyone no matter how good the lighting and background are. It shoots the underside of your chin and neckline disproportionately, distorts your head, and if you’re talking with your hands in the middle of the screen it makes them look three times the size of your face.

Most built-in computer webcams incorporate a wide-angle lens to capture a greater field of view at the expense of the view that makes most people look good. To counter this, start by moving your computer back away from you slightly so you’re not right there in everyone’s face. Prop it up on a stack of books 3’ – 4’ away, angled slightly down at you rather than looking up. This will capture more flattering light and facial profiles.  

Acoustics. You’ll have to work with your computer’s built-in mic for this unless you have some additional sound equipment. But there are some simple things that you can do to ensure you don’t sound like you’re in a fishbowl on your next call.

Sound, including your voice, bounces off hard surfaces, creating more echoes and distortion—that’s the echo chamber sound you often hear on many Zoom calls. So avoid setting in a big open room, or your kitchen with ceramic tiles and granite countertops. Wood flooring, rugs, and carpet are great sound absorbers, as is soft textured furniture like sofas and loveseats. We use translucent white blinds in our home office since they diffuse soft natural background light while also minimizing sound echoes off of the windows. Also the smaller your Zoom studio the better. Sound doesn’t travel and bounce as far, reducing echoes even further.

Unless you have some basic lighting, photography, and sound gear already, you’ll have to improvise. But if you follow these simple hacks the results will be immediately noticeable. I’ve done a dozen Zoom calls recently sitting on a sofa in a hotel room with my iMac propped up on a UPS box on the coffee table pushed halfway across the living room, with reading lights from the bedroom up on bar stools stage left and right for key and fill lights and the floor lamp backfilling from behind. They looked great.

If you’re planning on working from home for a while, take the time and invest in a set up that’s more permanent so when the next Zoom call comes if you can just flip a few switches, sit in front of your computer, and rule the world in your sweat pants from the waist up.

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