Online Video is challenging to plan, produce and publish. It's worth all the effort, pain and suffering. User engagement with video is 4 times as effective as another content. In a world filled with bright shiny objects, the right kind of view can tell your story, engage with a new audience and reconnect with former followers.
Why Work with Video?
It's all about tiny screen syndrome. Compared to text or even text and photo, video is easy to watch and engaging. The proliferation of mobile devices gives your audience a greater opportunity to watch whenever or wherever they happen to be. Back when the Internet was delivered to users via desktops, getting caught watching a video at work would immediately land you in hot water. Easy and culturally acceptable to watch greenlights your epic production.
Live Broadcasting to the Planet
The pros break down video projects into three phases. Pre-production sets the stage for identifying the challenges, eliminating problems and making everything run smoothly. Everything from scouting locations (backgrounds), scripting, talent, research and location logistics. In my experiences here's some of the typical problems. Low light - seek natural light and face it. Better yet, set your scene with the light source to one side. You can always fill in with a lamp on the opposite side.
Raise the camera above your nose. If your camera is a notebook, elevate it to place the camera at eye height. If your shooting from more than 2 feet from the camera, mic up. Check your background. Photobombers are everywhere. Dogs are the worst kind. Place your talent (you?) away from the background. Avoid the police lineup effect.
Production
Shoot, shoot, shoot. Digital storage is cheap. Returning to the location to capture something you missed is expensive. Do you have WIFI? Do you have clamps? How about Gaffers Tape? I travel with a detachable webcam, an iPhone and an iPad. I have various tripods, selfie sticks and camera mounts. All of it fits in a messenger bag.
Post-production
If you planned the pre-production and worked with a script during production, congratulations. You just saved a bunch of time, trouble and heartache. Whenever possible, "Edit in the camera". If your talent required a bunch of takes, you now have to watch each one. If you flubbed the opening or closing, You'll need to trim. If you didn't capture the audio properly , you have to boost the gain and filter out the background noise.
Summary
Go have fun. Delete the stuff that doesn't work until you have something you like. By fun I mean make people laugh. We need more of that.