iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Speeches

What to worry about when filming talks, presentations, and speeches: the sound. Exactly as when filming live stage performances, your camcorder’s built-in microphone does a lousy job of picking up a speaker more than 10 feet away. To remedy the problem, use a tie-clip microphone on extension cords, get a wireless mike, or run an external microphone to the loudspeakers (if the talk is amplified) or even directly to the sound system’s mixing board.

Otherwise, the only other problem you’ll encounter is the question-and-answer session, if there is one. In an auditorium situation, not only will you have a terrible time (because there isn’t enough time) trying to train the camera on the person asking the question, but you won’t pick up the sound at all. You can only pray that the guest speaker will be smart enough to repeat the question before providing the answer.

Tip

Capturing audience reaction shots for use as cutaways is a great idea when you’re recording a talk. Splicing these shots into the finished iMovie film can make any speech footage more interesting, and gives you the freedom to edit the speech if necessary.

If your goal is to capture the entire talk, and you’ve got only a single camcorder, you’ll have to get the reaction shots before or after the talk. Don’t just pan around to the audience while the speaker is speaking.