Today I´m going to talk about what are the best background and backdrop ideas for your next video interview.

Whether you want to succeed as a video interviewer or you simply want to look great on your next video call this article is going to address both.

So, without much else to say, let´s dive in!

1. Apply Minimalism

One of the most successful content creators and filmmaker I´ve seen in the last few years (also top YouTuber) is Matt D´avella.

He conducts a podcast where he interviews great entrepreneurs and really successful individuals, from best-selling authors to digital hustlers who reached millions of people with their work and creativity.

If you happen to see some of his videos, especially his podcast and interviews, you´ll see how his philosophy of life (regarding minimalism and how less is actually more) gets in the way and shows on his videos.

And that is what I would suggest you do, apply minimalism to your background, keep it simple, light, get rid of the clutter and messiness.

If you are unsure of what type of background you want to use for your videos then clearing things out and keeping things simple should be an effective way to make viewers focus on you and your interviewee.

The message you want to get across and the value you want to provide to your audience through your videos should be your primary focus, always.

2. Customize Your Space

Although it may seem similar to the previous point it is not.

Customizing your space refers to creating a video shooting space where everything is optimize to the fullest and it´s primarly focused on making the content look great.

It can mean that you may have to rearrange your furniture, replace something on your wall, change something in your background, place the camera on a different spot, etc.

Now, here are a few different ideas I took from other content creators:

• Paint your wall. Yes, as simple as it might sound it is quite an effective approach you can take in order to create your own background just by painting a wall of your house. Now, the only thing you should consider is to get enough light on that wall, whether that is because it´s near a window or you can set up a few lights to point at it. In fact, that´s what Aaron Marino from Alpha M´s channel did:

He also uses foams to get better audio from his videos and has an entire personalized set up in a really small room.

• Design your space. Another great example that you can get some inspiration from is Marie Forleo. She does lots of interviews and works with other people in her videos and has designed a great space that elicits the type of channel she owns. Here´s a quick pick at how everything looks:

you can easily see how everything has been set up to make it look the way it is, things like using a carpet, specific furniture, plants, and the way you dress, everything compounds into one a specific style.

• Start small. Although it is great that you want to personalize a space of your house or design a super cool wall to shoot your video interviews, but, what happens if you don´t have that possibility. Here´s where most people get discouraged. The truth is that you can start really small and work your way up, step by step. You can simply choose to focus on the content itself and make it awesome, make your background as simple as it can be in order to not worry about it, follow some of the next few tips I´m going to give you to do just that.

3. Outdoor Shoot Mastery

There´s nothing better than taking advantage of a good location and a sunny day to shoot a video!

You can benefit from an interesting background and good light by simply setting up your camera tripod in place, clip on the mics, and start recording.

Now, if you are serious about this and you´re going to shoot your video interview outdoors then here are a few things you want to consider first.

1. Select the proper location. If there´s anything that can make or break the way your video interview looks is your background. Select a proper location for the type of content you want to create. For example, if it´s a light funny topic you want to talk about on your interview then you could head over to the nearest park but if the “feel” of your video is a bit more serious then you might want to think twice.
2. Choose the right time. Another important factor you HAVE TO consider is the lighting. Choosing the right time is all about getting the most flattering light possible. You shouldn´t go too bright (as it would be at 12:00 a.m.) or too dark. The best time to shoot outside is when the sun is low, assuming it´s a sunny day and there are almost no clouds on the sky, whether that is early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
3. Be prepared. Finally, have everything you need beforehand, write a set of questions you want to make, anticipate to some of the answers you might get, and take every piece of gear you´ll need to shoot. That´s it. Nobody wants to waste time and it is an effective way to be taken seriously. If you want to be a professional then act like one!

One final piece of advice, don´t ever shoot on windy days, it´s almost impossible to get good audio and it´ll mess up your final shot. Take a rain check instead.

4. Blurring The Background

Another thing that works great when you make a video interview is to blurr your background to put the focus on the subject as well as you.

Whenever you shoot a video you want to keep yourself in focus in order to get your viewers attention and get your message across.

That´s why blurring the background works so well!

Also, it makes your video look way more professional and allows you to use (almost) any background you want, which is super convenient if you don´t have a specific spot to shoot.

For example, you can see how Tim from Video Creators YouTube channel does this well, anywhere he can, with a simple set up.

If you pay attention he´s not even using a super professional audio set up, he is just holding a simple lavalier mic to record the audio from this video, and it works great!

Now, here´s how to make your background blurry:

1. Increase the aperture of your camera, the more light gets into the lens the more blurry your background looks, you can set it up if you use the manual mode of your DSLR, you can invest in a prime lens with a lower f stop, or you can simply invest in a cool app (in case you´re using your phone to film) like FiLMiC Pro.
2. Put some distance between you and your background/backdrop. The more distance you put behind you the better how blurry your background looks.

Of course, there are a few more things you could do to make your background blurried but those are the most effective ones and don´t require any sort of specialized knowledge.

5. The Paper Backdrop

Last but not least, you´ve probably heard about this before but investing in a paper backdrop must one of the easiest and most professional looking ways to make your first appearance on video.

You will find there are three main advantages when using a paper backdrop to fill your video background:

1. It makes you look way more professional.
2. It puts the focus on YOU, minimizing all sort of distractions.
3. It´s easy to set up, you don´t even need a proper hanger, you could use the same one that you´ve put your curtains on.

Plus! they are super cheap.

For example, you can find tons of options at Savage Universal, which is a big brand that specializes in making great paper backdrops.

Now, there are a few things you should consider when choosing a paper backdrop for your interviews, well, there are actually two things.

First, you want to stick with muted colors as they help to put the focus on you and the person you are interviewing.

Also, using colors like gray, blue, and white will make flattering backdrops as they don´t make your skin look too bright or provide a high contrast image, which is way too distracting.

Second, you should keep in mind that the paper backdrop is wide enough.

Think of it, if you are interviewing someone else then you will need to have enough space to sit or stand in front of each other.

Here´s a good reference:

If you want a neutral but yet professional look to your videos then you could with the 70 storm gray, it´s a great option and comes in many sizes.

One last thing, if you are going to interview people often then keep in mind that you can set up your backdrop anywhere you want, as long as you have the proper equipment to do it, aka a stand.

So, if that´s your case, you might want to check out a better option on Amazon that may include both.

What Is The Best Tech For a Video Interview?

There are a few things you might want to improve if you want to look and sound good and create a more professional “feel” with your video interviews.

Although the camera from your laptop can work it doesn´t have the quality that it´s really needed to stand out.

That being said, you don´t need to buy expensive gear to improve the quality of your video interview, there are really good quality and affordable options, like the Logitech Webcam c920, that can film at 1080p, which a really good standard quality.

On the other hand, you have to worry about your audio setting.

If there´s something that your viewers won´t forget (or forgive) is bad audio and not being able to easily hear what you are saying.

Again, you don´t need to spend a lot of money, in fact, with less than $100 you can get high-quality gear that will make your audio quality much better.

For example, the BOYA M1, which is a lavalier mic, costs around $20 and captures audio really well.

Last but not least, you also have to think of your lighting set up, as it is something that has quite an impact on the way you look on camera.

The amount and intensity of the light that´s being captured by the lens of the camera can make or break the way your shots look.

So, pay close attention to it!

Here´s what to do:

• If you are going to be using your laptop to participate in an interview then you can simply use a small ring light to attach to your monitor, they are ridiculously cheap yet they are very effective at making your face look awesome.
• Now, if you are going to interview someone else you should choose an outdoor setting to take advantage of sunlight, keep in mind that the time of day you choose affects the look of your shot, or simply stand near a big window.

Related Questions

What is the best background color for a video conferencing? Although there are a few good options you could work with here are some of the most effective ones so that your viewers focus on YOU and what you have to say, if that´s your goal. The most popular colors for (almost) any type of video are: gray, white, and blue. If you use those type of colors in a video conference by trying different tonalities then you´ll increase the chances of your message getting through as a speaker. If you want more information on this here´s an article I´ve published a while ago: Best Background Color For Video.

What is a good home office video conference background? If you want to set up your video conference background in your home office then here´s what you should do: clear things up and organize, avoid strong colors behind you so that your viewers don´t get distracted, and make sure to blurry your background as much as possible, just follow the steps I provided you in this post.