Podcast Terms Explained: Create Video With Confidence

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Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you by the people at Buzzsprout.
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I'm your host, Cara Pacetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you podcasting with confidence.
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Last week, we continued our podcasting terminology series by focusing specifically on audio terms.
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We talked about things like MP3, WAV files, and terms that you're likely to encounter when you're recording and editing an audio first podcast.
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But these days, podcasting isn't always just about what your audience hears.
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More and more podcasters are adding a video component to their shows, whether that means recording a full video podcast or creating clips to share on their social media platforms.
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Since we're seeing more videos appear in podcasting, we're breaking down some of the most common video podcasting terms you should be aware of as you're getting started.
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Your video component can vary depending on your content.
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You may have video that uses one camera and shows you and your guests sitting in chairs having a conversation.
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You might include multiple cameras focusing on each person recording the podcast, or you may include visual aids like photos and videos to help you tell the story.
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And just like your audio podcasts, your video podcast needs to be hosted with a podcast host.
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And not every podcast host will be able to send your video episodes to the listening directories that support them.
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So you'll want to make sure you check that out before deciding where to host your video podcast.
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Now that we've established what a video podcast is, let's talk about the file format it uses.
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The next term is MP4.
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An MP4 file is one of the most common video file formats you'll encounter when creating and uploading video.
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An MP4 file is a digital multimedia format.
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And to make this a little easier to understand, I want you to think of the file as a container file that's going to hold both video and audio.
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So if someone sends you an MP4 file, it contains the video footage you've recorded along with the audio that goes with it.
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You may see other video formats out there, but MP4 is the one you'll see most frequently when working with video podcasts.
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Our next term is resolution.
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Resolution describes the dimensions of your video and it's measured in pixels.
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The resolution not only affects the details in your image, but it also affects your overall file size.
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You may hear someone refer to a video as 1920 by 1080.
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What this means is that the video is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels tall.
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This is a typical resolution for a high definition video.
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You may also hear the term 4K.
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4K means the pixels are four times greater than that of a 1920 by 1080 pixel file.
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And 4Ks are considered ultra high definition.
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Generally speaking, the higher the resolution, the more pixels your video contains, which means a sharper image.
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The cost of having a sharper image is, of course, a larger video file.
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So when you're choosing your video settings, just expect to balance the image quality with things like file size, storage, and upload time.
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Now let's move on from file types in technical terms to some terminology you'll hear when you're actually recording your video episodes.
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First up is talking head.
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So a talking head is exactly what it sounds like.
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It's a video shot that primarily shows a person speaking directly to the camera.
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If you've ever watched a podcast where you see the host sitting at a desk or sitting across from a guest, you're probably looking at a talking head video.
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It should be no surprise that this is one of the most common setups for video podcasts because it keeps the focus on the person who's speaking.
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And to stay in step with this recording style, I want to talk about another term, which is headroom.
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Headroom is the amount of space between the top of a person's head and the top edge of the video frame.
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You generally don't want someone's head almost touching the top of the screen, but you also don't want too much space above them.
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Good headroom helps your shot feel balanced and intentional.
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This may seem obvious, but it's a detail that will set you apart from novice video podcasters and prevent you from having to re-record the episode.
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So before you hit record, take a quick look at where you're positioned in the frame.
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Are you centered appropriately?
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Is there a reasonable amount of space above your head?
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And are you comfortable with what's showing in the background?
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Those little adjustments can really make a big difference.
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Another term that relates to positioning while recording video episodes is a wide shot.
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A wide shot shows more of the scene.
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So instead of framing the camera tightly around someone's face and shoulders, a wide shot may show the person's entire upper body or even the room around them.
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Wide shots can help establish where the conversation is happening and give viewers a better sense of the environment.
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A wide shot is great if you're recording in a well-designed studio set, created specifically for your video interviews.
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They're also especially useful when you're using multiple cameras because you can use the wide shot as an additional angle during editing.
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So if you have some cameras that are recording more of a talking head position, and then you have other cameras that are positioned to record the wide shot of the overall scene, this gives you the ability to bounce back and forth between those angles as the episode progresses, which makes the episode a little more interesting and a little bit easier to watch.
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The last term I want to mention is a B-roll.
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B-roll is additional footage that you can layer over your primary video in post-production.
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So if your main footage is you and your guest sitting across from each other having a conversation, your B roll might be something that you're talking about, like a location, a product, a screenshot, or even some behind-the-scenes footage.
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So you can think of the original footage of you and your guest as the A role for your video and the supporting images as the B roll.
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Using B-roll content can make your video more visually interesting and can help illustrate what you're talking about without having to stay on the same camera shot for the entire episode.
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B-roll segments are also a great way to engage your audio only listeners.
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The way you're talking about the image you're displaying may generate curiosity for your audio-only listeners to check out the video version of the episode they're listening to.
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For example, if you're discussing the beautiful terrain of the Grand Canyon and you mentioned that you're going to show an image of that for your listeners, your audio listeners may hear that cue and decide to switch on the video in order to see the image that you guys were talking about.
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So there you have it.
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Some of the basic video podcasting terms you're likely to encounter as you start creating video.
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We've covered video podcast, MP4, resolution, talking head, headroom, wide shot, and B-roll.
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The goal here is not to be an expert right away, but instead simply understand the terminology well enough to make informed decisions about your show.
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I really hope that you guys have enjoyed this podcast terminology mini-series.
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I've actually learned so much while prepping for these episodes.
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And so I hope you've learned a lot too.
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With that said, I know I'm missing terms out there and even some as it relates to video podcasting.
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So if there are still terms that you're unsure of, and it would help for me to cover those on a future Podcasting Q&A episode, send them my way using the send us fan mail link in the show notes, or you can email us on the podcaster success team by emailing support at buzzsprout.com.
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Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your week.
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Thank you so much for listening.
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And as always, keep podcasting.