What to Wear on Camera

“What should I wear on camera?” is a common question videographers get from people, and it’s understandable. You want to look your best and have a video that you can be happy with for months and years to come. Here are a few dos and don’ts of the wardrobe you want to stay clear of or rock on camera.

When creating a video, the name of the game is to keep your audience engaged. Of course, you want to look your absolute best on camera and your clothes are a great way to start. Use your clothes to your advantage. Everyone knows what colors or what things look best on them, why change things now? You want to keep things simple and you want to stay with what you know. This is not the time to try that new style you have been thinking about or buying some clothes that don’t fit your personality.  You should feel comfortable when wearing your clothes.  People can tell if it is the first time you have ever dressed up or if you never wear ties.  Even with today’s technology there are still the ‘on-camera no nos’ you should also be aware of.

Stick to solid pastels.  Blues, purples anything that is a spring color really tends to look great on camera and with your skin tone.  No matter what your skin color is, on video your skin tone is referred to as red.  So compliment that red tone with cool spring tones, and you will always win.  This is outside the scope of this article, but this is one of the main reasons blockbusters have a blue tone to them, because blue look so good with our skin tone!

We mentioned solid colors for a specific reason.  Crazy patterns, polka dots, something with lines or plaid may look good in real life, but cameras have a hard time with them.  The patterns become all mixed up like a 3d puzzle in a phenomenon called moire.  Take a look at the picture to the right to see what moire looks like.  Stay with solid colors and you don’t have to worry about this potential problem.

You also want to remember when you are going to be on camera there will be lights and it gets super hot.  For this reason, you want to make sure you are wearing clothing that breaths.

This next one is mostly for women but bring simple jewelry.  Too much bling will be too much for the camera.  Think simple and bring backups. The trade-off for men with jewelry is ties. Make sure you bring a few different colored ties if you are going to be wearing a button up.  Let the producer and director have a few choices to make you look great.

You are also going to want to avoid shiny fabrics, shiny fabrics and bright lights do not mix well. Thick cotton and matte fabrics are going to be the best to create a better body profile.

With a long list of do not wear, we suggest keeping it simple. If you are planning to be on camera, stick to solid colors, if you have a blue or a purple you will look great on camera. Keep it simple.

Keep up with what we have been doing and check out some of our videos and see what you think about the wardrobe.

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