Creating a Video

Good question. I'm also wondering the same. Maybe Julia can help.

I do a two-camera shoot (with help from a videographer); other's like Hani and Marlyn of Montreal Confections do one-camera shoots all by themselves, so their setups are likely to be quite different and less expensive than mine.

I have one camera that is stationary and sits in front of me that captures the wide shots of me talking. Because that camera is pointed straight at me, I unfortunately can't have a camera right behind me looking over my shoulder to catch the close shots - or it would appear in the other camera's view. The latter (a camera right behind or next to me) - or a camera directly overhead - would probably be the ideal for the close range shots. If you've seen my videos, my close range shots are shot a little to the side, and that's because the only place the camera will fit in my kitchen without being seen is to the left of me. My video person elevates it on a super-tall tripod, but it is often still not raised enough to get the truly top-down views that I would like to have. The latter might require mounting a camera to my ceiling, which I'm not willing to do. 

Now, if I were doing one-camera shoots, I'd have a little more flexibility wrt the close-range camera arrangement. The tripod could even sit on my counter with the camera trained down on my work area. I think that's how some of the others do it. But because I opted for two cameras, and my kitchen has a weird layout, I need to keep the second camera out of the first camera's view. This is a constraint in some ways, but in other ways it's not - it gives me a variety of camera angles and views, which I think can sometimes make a video more interesting to watch.

Thanks, Julia. I need to get myself a tripod and see what will work in my tiny working space.

Best of luck!