# Stop Making Videos That Look Amateur 🎬 | DevReel Weekly #4

**January's almost gone**. Four newsletters in. Time flies when you're obsessing over video for Developer Relations.

### 📺 Video of the Week

*Shameless self-promotion alert*

**Most talking head videos look amateur.**

Flat. Lifeless.

**It KILLS me** because is really simple and cheap to achieve a great light scheme for your videos that doesn't look bad. So I decided to share the **simplest, easiest, cheapest light scheme for your talking videos.**

![](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQH5VERWq4H5Ow/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1735928606951?e=1743033600&v=beta&t=uLBVJWW2erYT-NXg5GUNLylDyGaWxrGfx20w3oEDE1o align="left")

**Three lights, Under $200, 15-minute setup. Pro-level results.**

%[https://youtu.be/Q_Ui3nCVxbM?si=gFJS2cNd33Nj2-pE] 

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## 🎯 Tip of the Week: Where I get ideas for my videos

I get this question very often. Truth is?

**I steal**. **Professionally.**

Every creator hits creative blocks. Staring at the screen. Hoping for inspiration. It never comes.

**Stop waiting for creativity. Start collecting it.**

Here are my go-to places:

1. [Shotdeck.com](http://shotdeck.com/) Not just another "inspiration" site. This is Hollywood's visual playbook. Every frame. Every mood. Every lighting setup. All categorized. All searchable.
    
2. [Eyecandy.com](http://eyecandy.com/) My daily visual caffeine. Fresh production stills. Real setups. Achievable looks. I have my collection of references ready when I need to get inspired
    

But here's the real trick: **Don't just browse. Build your vault.** Screenshot everything that makes you stop scrolling, and then go out and try to make it yourself. Here's a sample of one of last year's videos I did and the references I collected during my creative scouting.

![](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQGrKLAs5Y566g/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1735668769288?e=1743033600&v=beta&t=_bE1Yso0c8m_nCvTG0VLNBjq79ZiyK1QNVVnJNhhacE align="left")

When inspiration doesn't strike? **Open your vault. Pick a reference. Execute.**

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## 🛠️ Resource of the Week: My Lights for under $200 budget

When you were watching the Video of The Week, you probably wondered which lights I used, here they are (*not sponsored as usual, I wish as usual haha*)

![](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQEcVeLQNlKv0A/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1735669098357?e=1743033600&v=beta&t=_Js2Ea22iy0mRPGPEuBUge2gc7Mjj4nq5p72deyB-oA align="left")

When I shoot bigger films, I use bigger lights like Nanlite or Aputure, but this one—the [Newer CB60](https://amzn.to/41XKUBW) and then the [Newer LED bars](https://amzn.to/4gB4ZT0) — has proven to me that it can achieve amazing results on a budget.

![](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQG-_Q3Zc1uA1w/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1735669566115?e=1743033600&v=beta&t=cUwAlEER00oumYLkO8o84A5wbjFfRZ2C44c5OVp5v3c align="left")

Best part? **App control. Color temperature adjustment. No getting up from your chair**, **and great color rendering index (CRI**).

👉 [GET THE NEWER CB60 HERE](https://amzn.to/41XKUBW)

👉 [GET THE NEWER LED BARS HERE](https://amzn.to/4fEgU16)

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**And that's a wrap!** See you in February with more curated Video for DevRel resources.

**Have a creative week, and keep producing!**