Podcasting

Framing Matters for Video Podcast Interviews

Disproportional framing in a video podcast interview can make host and guest look like David and Goliath.

Armando Roggio

• 2 min read
An AI-generated image of David and Goliath.
Disproportional framing in a video podcast interview can make host and guest look like David and Goliath.

Framing is vital in a video podcast interview. If the host and guests don't look similar in size, an otherwise interesting conversation becomes a meeting of David and Goliath.

I recently linked to an edition of Josh Spector's excellent "I Want to Know" podcast from the YMH Friday Creator Roundup newsletter. The Creator Roundup offers a curated list of five creator-related articles, videos, or podcasts each week, and I always include an image.

A Good Lesson

Circa June 2024, I have been paying close attention to video podcasts because I plan to launch a season-based podcast about content creation. It is for this reason that I noted how out of proportion Spector and his guest looked on screen.

A screen capture from YouTube showing a disproportional host and guest from a video podcast.
The screen capture from YouTube shows that Josh and his guest had very different framings. In truth, his is better, but together the disproportion is jarring.

This proportional challenge was an excellent lesson as I planned my own video podcast. If I find myself on screen with someone and out of proportion, I will adjust my camera so that we look roughly the same size in the frame.

Upscaled

For the newsletter, I did not feel right leaving Josh at roughly three-quarters the size of his guest.

A Photoshopped version of the same image.
An edited version of the screen capture to make everyone look proportional.

I adjusted the image. It was a second lesson, too. Since the Friday edition of the You, Money, Happiness newsletter is a curated roundup, I want to make every effort to put the folks I reference in the best possible light.

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