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Hi, my name is Aimy Kersey. I want to talk to you today about some general screen tips.
What to do when you find yourself in front of the camera? Nervous and Irritating Habits.
Don't chew gum or play with your pocket change or keys while on television. This is really
irritating. Everyone has nervous habits such as picking ears, noses, dead skin, touching
noses, hair, and ears. You know what you do. Don't do it on TV. Seriously, it may seem
funny. But when you do something continuously in front of the camera, it's accentuated ten
times. I once saw a person that just blinked continuously all the way through a scene.
And it got to the point that I was looking at their eyes rather than listening to what
they were saying. If a person taps their foot a lot, fidgets with their hands, raises their
shoulders, turns away from you, or brings their hands to their face. In other words,
if they act nervous or uncomfortable, it could mean their telling a lie. Or at least, it
could be interpreted that way. You know it sounds really obvious but the most important
thing that you can do on camera is to sit as still as possible. Particularly since everything
on camera is magnified. And many people have nervous habits that they repeat continuously.
Maybe they play with their hair or they you know have their hands in their pockets jingling
their coins. They got a shaky leg or whatever their particular habit may be. Sometimes people
blink their eyes a lot and don't realize they're doing that. If you can sit really still on
camera as much as possible without being awkward, just make very naturalistic movements and
if you're not sure what to do with your hands, place them in your lap.