When you’re recording, do you ever say “It’s so hot under these lights!” It’s not or shouldn’t be when you use LED lights.

So what are LED lights? LED stands for ‘light-emitting diode’ and it’s a two-lead semiconductor light source. So instead of one white light, it transmits all the colors of light, and in terms of video production, makes the bulbs a lot cooler. When you’re choosing lighting to use, you’ll see we recommend LED lights. LED lights release much less heat compared to an incandescent or fluorescent light. If you’re hot, it’s probably just nerves and the fact you have to turn off the AC unit during recording for better sound quality.

All LEDs Are Not Made Equal

Now, not every LED light is made the same. You still want to look at the watts to see how much light is really being pushed out and determine how much you need for the space you’re going to be recording in.  If you’re going to be recording in a large area you need to have a higher wattage than if you were recording in a smaller area.

A lot of people getting started like to get the ring light. A ring light is exactly what it sounds. It’s a wide ring of light of LED lights that you can put your cell phone in the middle to light your face. Our only issue with only having the ring light is you’re not going to have a fill or backlight.

Having three point lighting with LED lights, won’t get hot around you, however it will allow you to eliminate shadows and have great separation from the background. A typical Paramount three point lighting setup will have a key light right to the right of the video camera, a fill light 45 degrees left of the camera, and then the backlight over the right back shoulder of the subject.

Tips to Be Cool Under the Spotlights

If you’re still hot under LED lights, here are three ways to help keep you cooler during your production:

  1. Keep a fan close to you when you’re recording so you can quickly pop it on between takes.
  2. Have a cold bottle of water close to you to be refreshed between takes.
  3. Practice. You’re probably heating up because you’re nervous. The more you practice your scripts and practice your production, the more comfortable you’ll be with the content and less likely for you to get hot so fast.

Practicing will also help you remember your scripts more, but you don’t need to memorize them if you use a teleprompter. See our post, “Have Memory Problems? Why a Teleprompter Can Be Your Best Friend”.