So hello,
and welcome to the live stream,
whether you are watching me live now,
thanks for being here.
Or if you are joining me on the replay,
really excited that you could join me today.
So in today's live stream,
we are looking at different backdrop ideas for your livestreams.
And this really is covering what are some of the best DIY backdrops or
backgrounds that you can have,
whether you're looking to do Facebook live videos,
YouTube videos,
I'll focus on live videos because live streaming is my jam,
but you really can apply these to whether it's your live streams or it's your
YouTube uploaded videos,
or even your Facebook uploaded videos.
I'm going to talk about just different options that you can have some tips about
them.
And then we're also going to look at some background rules.
'Cause there are some background rules as far as I'm concerned.
So for those of you who don't know me,
my name is Sara Nguyen,
and I help coaches consultants and creative professionals build
and grow their businesses,
leveraging video on social media.
Make sure you check out the links in the description because I'll go back and
I'll add timestamps.
So you can reference those.
And I'll also add links after the broadcast to any of the resources that I
mentioned in this video.
So let's talk about backdrops and backdrop rules.
When I was putting together the content for this video,
I wanted to bring you the best
information possible.
And what I discovered and what you may have discovered is that you may have
noticed that there's a lot of conflicting information on what "the
best" I'm trying to air quote,
but I hit my microphone.
What "the best" backdrop is.
And it's conflicting because I saw videos where someone said,
you need white,
you need minimalist backdrop because that's more professional.
And then I saw in another video,
someone said,
no,
you need a dark backdrop,
because dark is more professional.
Dark creates this,
this type of,
you know,
professional look.
And it's like,
well,
one person saying that,
you know,
minimalist and white is the best way to go.
Another person's saying is dark as the way to go.
So what's the answer?
And the answer for you,
and the answer for me is the back,
the best backdrop is the one that you love and the one that you
have and the one that you use,
because I see a lot of people also use the backdrop as an excuse to
not create videos.
It's like,
"Oh,
well,
I can't create a video unless I have the most beautifully,
perfectly designed backdrop." and that's just not true.
We know that's not true.
You can use any space in the house and it's not even about the perfect backdrop,
the perfect room.
It's,
it's more about the content,
but the backdrop is just one part of the equation.
So I think the other thing was when I was watching a makeup tutorial,
'cause this is very,
very,
very relevant by Bobby Brown,
the makeup artist,
not the musician and Bobby Brown was talking about lipstick.
Lots of stuff about lipstick,
lots of rules about skin tones and colour rules.
And she said,
how do you know if a lipstick is right for you?
And her answer was,
if you put it on and you like the look of it,
then that's the right one for you.
And exactly the same thing applies when it comes to your backdrop,
your backdrop,
in terms of the colours you choose,
the props that you choose to have at the end of the day,
if you are most comfortable with what you've got,
that is the best backdrop for you,
don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
So what I'm going to share with you today is this tips on creating the
backdrops in different backdrop options for you.
So I wanted to talk first about breaking down the idea of having a backdrop as a
featured wall.
Like the one that you see behind me now.
And I'm going to break it down and draw,
and should I show you exactly what I did to get this look?
Just so you can have some ideas and you can see the thought process behind
creating the featured wall.
And I understand that not everyone is able to paint a wall and to add things
onto a wall you may be renting,
or you may just not want to actually paint a wall and have such a permanent
permanent option,
but I'm going to show you a couple of alternatives later on in the video.
So let's go over to my iPad now and let's break down the
wall.
So this is the backdrop that you see currently in
all of my live streams and all of my YouTube videos at the moment.
So one idea,
so this is a room in my house and I painted the wall.
I chose the colour that I liked.
Going back to Bobby Brown and her analogy,
the best colour is the colour that you enjoy.
And this was just a colour that I really like the look of,
you know,
it resonated with me.
So I went to the hardware store.
I gave the paint guy in the paint section,
the dimensions of the wall,
and then he gave me the appropriate amount of paint,
got some paint brushes and painted the wall.
So that was how I came up with the colour.
And that's how we got the solid coloured background.
I think it was two coats.
Don't look too closely because I always notice like splotches where I'm like,
I should probably paint over that again,
but I can't.
So that's how we came up with the colour for the painted wall.
The other thing to notice is,
as I mentioned,
it's not about having a whole perfect room.
It's about having a space for your backdrop and focusing on the space that the
camera can see.
So the picture that you see on the iPad now,
this is like not the whole scene.
So when it comes to what the camera actually sees,
I'm zooming out.
This is probably about what the camera sees.
So I zoom in so that people can't see,
you know,
everything,
every single other thing in the actual frame.
So just focus on the section of the room or the wall that the camera will
see.
And you'll notice that it becomes a little bit less daunting because you don't
have to figure out how to design an entire house or an entire room.
It's just this space that the camera will see.
In terms of the pictures that I decided to add to the wall,
you know,
I get comments about,
Oh,
that's a really cool picture of Star Wars.
That's a really cool picture of Wonder Woman.
And I'm like,
yeah,
these are the things that I like.
Is it directly related to my tech tutorials?
My social media training?
No,
but it's stuff that I like.
I like the look of them,
and it's a reflection of my personality.
So I like having it in the frame and in the shot.
And that's why I chose to have them there.
In terms of how I chose to decorate the shelving,
I
love this shelving.
I saw the idea of it from Philip DeFranco.
So really being YouTuber,
if you don't know who Philip DeFranco is my husband watches his videos pretty
much every single day.
And I really liked what Philip DeFranco had,
where he had,
like these industrial type looking shelves with pipes.
And then I went and found something that I liked.
And then I ordered this off eBay,
but I've seen them on Amazon as well,
and they're essentially flat packed shelves with these pipes.
And they arrive,
you know,
you can order them,
they arrive in the mail and then you just bribe someone to put it on the wall
for you,
ideally someone who lives in your house.
In terms of the props that we,
that I put on the shelving,
you know,
once again,
like these Funko pops,
I like these characters because they resonate with me and they're strong female
characters in movies that I enjoyed.
And that's why I added them there.
There's no science,
there's no psychology behind it other than I really liked it.
So that's the way I chose to add them to the actual wall.
There's some tech pieces here.
So here's an old camera.
Why is that there?
Well,
I actually just put it there 'cause I need to put it somewhere and I didn't want
to put it on the shelf and like in a cupboard,
so I wanted to put it there.
And that just has sat there for a little while.
All these other bits of pieces of tech,
it really is just stuff that I like.
And I think that is at the end of the day,
the rule of thumb,
if you like it,
add it to the wall and the right type of people resonate with it.
And if,
you know,
they don't,
then that's okay as well.
I am not too upset if you don't like Wonder Woman or Star Wars.
I think I like my backdrop and I like how it looks.
So that's pretty much the breakdown,
breaking down the wall of my backdrop and how it all came together.
So let's go through now a couple of backdrop ideas and options from
previous videos.
And I'll also show you how it really,
sometimes doesn't even matter.
Okay.
So this is a video.
And in this backdrop here,
the backdrop is actually,
this was actually filmed in a coworking space in Thailand when my
husband and I were overseas.
And this wasn't even a room in the coworking space,
this was the,
the,
the coworking space.
There was only one space there wasn't separate office rooms.
And I would just happen to be the only one in at that time.
And I just,
you know,
turn the camera to the side so that it framed me and the wall,
like they've got blue,
they've got green,
they've got an owl on the wall,
but it didn't matter what mattered was the content.
So this is my message to you.
Don't get so caught up,
use the space that you've got and create the content.
It's more important that you create the content than you spend all your time
trying to get the best backdrop.
Okay.
Let's have a look at another example.
So this is another video,
guess where this was taken?
This was taken in the hotel room.
So I just use the wall in the hotel room and I created
the video of an afternoon and nothing fancy,
just a wall,
and that's okay too.
I really,
I saw someone in his media say that a white wall is a sign of an
amateur,
and I wanted to punch him in the face.
It was like,
excuse me,
no,
a white wall is completely fine.
A sign of an amateur is not creating content because you don't have a wall
because you don't have a space or you think you don't have a space.
That is the sign of an amateur.
Thank you.
Okay.
I'll get off my soap box now.
So another example of how,
you know,
having the perfect design set and backdrop doesn't really matter.
It's about the content because it's what the camera sees.
And in this case,
all they needed to see was a clean white wall.
So this one is one of my favourite
removable non-permanent options for having a backdrop.
So you can see that there are these white type of panel-y things.
I'm going to switch back to me.
And then I need to remember to come back to the camera.
But what you saw there was these,
what you see here,
right?
So this is blowing out a little bit,
these panels,
they're textured so they're 3D and they come in all sorts of patterns.
So this one just happens to be this brick one,
but I've also seen them come in like waves and a whole range of
patterns.
And there are squares,
as you can see,
and they come
in this box in a box like this,
and you get about 12 of them in a box.
And then all you do is you attached them to the wall,
using command strips which is a non-permanent,
you know,
way of attaching things to the wall.
And it won't destroy the wall.
And then you get,
let's go back to the computer here,
the look of what you see here.
So you see these panel-y things that you can remove from the wall.
And it's a nice texture and there's lots of,
lots of different designs and options that you can use as well.
So it's,
I'll put a link to them.
I got them on eBay.
I've seen them on Amazon and they're like 50 bucks a pack.
I've seen them for a bit more expensive,
but they've got such a variety and it creates a nice little look,
you know,
and I think it's a great way of adding some personality to your backdrops.
Yeah.
So the next one I want to talk about is this
wallpaper.
Now you may be saying,
Sara wallpaper is a little bit permanent and my landlord or my landlady,
not going to be happy if I wallpaper the wall.
I here you.
So what you see here is this wall paper,
but it's not wallpapered to the wall.
What I did was I created this set and all this was,
was pieces that I got from the hardware store.
What you see here is a large piece of wood and then
two wood panels that I attached together.
Well,
I've got someone else to attach for me because,
you know,
and then with this wall,
you can then wallpaper it with whatever pattern,
whatever style you like,
whatever wallpaper style you like.
And it's a solid background and it's not permanent.
This is like a behind the scenes.
I originally planned to add pictures to the wall itself,
but I never got around to it,
and they just ended up in the corner.
And once again,
it's all about what the camera sees.
So although this is like this messy in my view behind the scenes,
all that people saw was the wall itself,
the wallpaper,
and then what I framed.
So you really don't need to focus on decorating an entire room because
you don't have to have the entire room in a shot.
And once again,
it's all that content.
So that is,
you know,
one of the things that I was doing for quite a while,
I had quite a few wallpaper,
quite a few,
I think I had two or three different wall papers.
I don't use this at the moment because I've got the permanent feature wall that
you see now.
But when I was renting,
this is what I did.
You know,
kind of ghetto kind of fabulous McGyver style at a wall,
and used it as,
you know,
my backdrop in my scenes.
And,
you know,
in terms of not needing something that is permanent,
not needing something that is fully decked out.
This is a video that I shot when I was on holidays.
And this is inside the hotel room at the Intercontinental Da Nang.
I think the best hotel in the world,
just stunning hotel,
everything from the beautiful architecture to the location,
to the food,
to the people,
the best hotel.
If you ever get a chance to go to Vietnam and get to be in Da Nang check out the
Intercontinental hotel there.
Stunning.
Anyway,
I digress.
So you don't need the perfect backdrop.
You can use whatever space inspires you.
I love this because I loved the colours.
I loved how,
you know,
it was just this gorgeous black and the lines and the gold.
And I was like,
Oh my goodness,
what a chance to create a video using this backdrop that really,
that I really liked the look of.
And,
you know,
once again,
using the space that you have,
wherever that is,
whether it's just in,
you know,
a plain white wall or whether it is a beautiful space that you can,
you know,
that you've rented or that you are on holidays,
and this happens to work for you.
It really doesn't need to be an excuse for you not to create videos.
So that really is my message.
Use the spaces that you've got.
Don't feel that you have to have the perfect space before you livestream.
And look,
there are lots of other options in terms of doing it yourself.
And,
you know,
I see people have lights,
you know,
they light up a wall with different coloured lights.
I see people use like dividers.
I see people drape fabric.
And like,
you can do that.
Like,
don't feel that you need permission from someone to say,
in order to have the best backdrop,
it needs to be this,
no,
you choose and you evolve it over time.
And if you like the look of it,
then that's the one that's right for you.
So we talked about quite a few things in the live stream today.
We talked about the best backdrop,
which really is the one that you've got.
We talked about backdrop rules,
which is all about having a backdrop.
That is the one that you enjoy and letting,
don't let,
don't let design rules,
colour rules,
people tell you what to do with your backdrop.
Choose what reflects you.
Choose what makes you happy and choose the one that you're most comfortable
with.
And then I take,
I took you through examples of backdrops of my past videos to show you that it
doesn't need to be this perfect interiorly designed backdrop.
It really just needs to be something that you're comfortable with so that you
can focus on the important part of the video,
which is delivering your content.
And I'll get off my soap box now.
So if you found this video useful,
give me a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to my channel.
And if you are looking to get online,
if you're looking to start live streaming,
make sure you grab a copy of my Facebook Live Cheat Sheets.
It's a super simple guide to get you up in streaming on Facebook live,
even if you've never hit record before.
So I'm going to drop a link in the description to that,
and hopefully put it on screen somewhere so that you can grab that.
I hope that you found this video useful,
and I'll see you on the next broadcast bye for now.