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How to Maintain Proper Eye Contact On Camera

By Greg Ball, President of BMI

We all know that eye contact is extremely important for meaningful communication. When videotaping an on-camera spokesperson, the question of where the talent should be looking often comes up.

To answer the question, think about this. Do you trust someone who won't look you in the eye when they're talking to you? Imagine having a conversation with someone and when they speak to you, they're either looking down at your clothing, or looking off at something in the background behind you. How would you feel? Would you relate to this person?

Let’s take this a step further. Let’s say someone is trying to convince you that they’re telling you the truth, but they intermittently look you in the eyes and then their eyes wander away from you. Would you believe what they’re saying to you? Probably not.

Now what if that same person is looking you squarely in the eyes while they speak with you. Would you trust them more? Most likely!

With video, when the person speaking on-camera is looking directly into the lens, it gives the viewers that the sense that the spokesperson is speaking directly to them.

So if it’s a matter of relaying information directly to each member of the viewing audience, looking into the lens is the best choice.

While using cue cards can keep costs down, you'll potentially lose some of the effectiveness of your video.  

Here's a potential problem. How easy is it to look into a camera lens and speak? If you’re a professional it’s fairly easy, but if you’re not used to doing this it’s difficult because the natural human temptation is to look for approval or a reaction. So on-camera talent will often look off-camera to where the director is stationed to seek approval. When that happens eye contact with the camera is broken and it looks awful. At best they look shifty, at worst you need to stop and record another take.

For this reason, I always recommend a TelePrompter if eye contact with the audience is wanted.

A TelePrompter is a device mounted in front of the camera lens, and by using a one way mirror, it allows the spokesperson to read the text of their script while maintaining eye contact with the camera lens and viewers.

What about during on-camera interviews? Where the on-camera person is looking depends on your audience. If the interviewee is speaking directly to the audience again, maintaining eye contact with the lens is important.

However the off-camera gaze approach is more common. With this scenario, it’s as if the viewer is listening in on a conversation, and getting all of the relevant facts. How this works is the interviewer sits or stands right next to the camera so that the interviewee is looking just off camera. You get your best results if the interviewer is standing right next to the camera. That way you can see the full face of the person being interviewed, and not a profile, which can be distracting to the viewer because you can’t see their eyes and facial expressions very well.

Again the issue of trust and credibility comes into question. We find that this approach lends itself to increasing credibility, as the interviewee often is perceived as an expert, rather than someone reading lines.

Conclusion

So where you look can make a huge difference to the ultimate impact of your video. What you choose to do should be planned for, and should depend upon what you're trying to accomplish, and what image you're trying to project. 

©Copyright 2011 Ball Media Innovations, Inc. All rights reserved.

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