VIDEO PRODUCTION TIPS & CONCEPTS Visit for helpful videos on basic video production

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1 VIDEO PRODUCTION TIPS & CONCEPTS Visit for helpful videos on basic video production (The following information was compiled from camcorderinfo.com and crutchfield.com) EQUIPMENT Learn Your Camcorder Like the Back of Your Hand - The best videographers know every function of their camcorder and could operate it with their eyes shut. Having good knowledge of your camcorder's features and functions is a necessary element of making better videos. The most obvious need for this knowledge is to allow you to always have your eye in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen, not looking away at the controls to zoom, focus, or make other corrections. More than just knowing where each control is, you should learn all the how image settings like white balance, exposure, and backlight affect the image. Get a good Tripod, and Use It - The first step in improving your videos is stabilizing them. Your camcorder may have built-in image stabilization, but it can only compensate for so much motion. Shooting from a flat surface or, better still, a tripod, is a good way to remedy this problem. One of the best ways to improve the appearance of your videos is to get a quality tripod. While some camcorders come with tripods, very cheap or give-away tripods tend not to provide a very good shooting base. You may be surprised by how affordable and portable small video tripods can be. Be sure to get a tripod with a head specifically designed for video. Audio - Lavaliere Microphone - The best audio purchase that you can make if you're mostly doing home videos is a lavaliere (lav) microphone. It's designed to clip onto the clothing of the subject (e.g., lapel, tie, or collar), near their mouth, and plug into the camcorder to pick up the best possible speech audio. Lavs are also small enough that you can hide one somewhere in a scene to pick up better sound than a camera mounted mic. If you really don't think you would put a lav to any use, then consider some other external mic, such as a shotgun or handheld. The reason for doing this is simple; your on-camera microphone cannot be placed any closer to the audio source than where the camera is. Even the best on-camera microphones will not do an adequate job of picking up soft sounds at a distance. Additionally, the unwanted sounds between you and your subject will be picked up, and with many on-camera mics, this can include sounds to the side and behind the camera as well. External mics start at around $30. It's great to have one in your bag if a situation that calls for a mic comes up. Pack Well - Every videographer has their favorite video goodies that they keep in their bag, but there are some basic things that every camcorder owner should carry with them. One thing is a special lens cleaning cloth that does not scratch the lens, commonly used for glasses these cloths are great for wiping down the camera lens or LCD screen. Another is an extra battery (put the money into buying an extra long life battery so you 'never' run out). A pen, pad of paper, and extra labels are also essentials. Bring as much extra videotape as you can comfortably carry. It's also good to carry a set of RCA cables (video cables) because you never know when you'll need them. A roll of tape to secure cords and other things is a good bring-along, as well as anything else that you think will make shooting videos easier. Keep plenty of memory cards, tapes, or discs on hand. Running out of recording space in the middle of filming is no fun, so you'll want to make sure you have more media available. Be sure to pick up extra discs, tapes or memory cards, even if your camcorder also comes with built-in memory. And if you're traveling, don't count on buying extra media at your destination many tourist spots sell a limited variety of memory cards, tapes, and discs with heavy mark-up. If you do start to run out of space, and don't have spare media on hand, you can switch to LP (longplay) mode. This isn't something you'll want to do often, since it saves you space on your media at

2 the expense of image quality. But if your child's football game goes into overtime, for example, you may want to switch to LP mode so you can record more of the final moments. Keep a spare battery around. Backup battery power is just as important as keeping extra tapes or discs on hand. Some spare batteries offer longer recording times than the battery that came in the manufacturer's box, so be sure to check out your options before you buy. SHOOTING FORMAT If you have a widescreen TV, record in widescreen. Many of today's digital camcorders offer a 16:9 widescreen recording mode. This lets you record footage that matches a widescreen TV, without stretching or distorting the picture. You may want to take advantage of this option if you have an HDTV at home. (However, if you're recording footage to send to fond grandparents who still have their trusty RCA from the 70's, you may want to switch back to the standard screen shape.) CAMERA MOVES Learn When to Pan, Zoom and Use Other Moves - One of the most common video mistakes is making constant movements and adjustments. Be deliberate when making adjustments, don't make changes without a reason. Take a shot of something and leave it there for seconds, stop the recording and take another shot. Don't quickly pan the camera from one subject to another. When panning and zooming, use slow, smooth, and deliberate motions. This will make your videos much more watchable. Go light on the zoom. Overuse of zoom is a common problem, and can result in video that looks amateurish, or even worse, can make people dizzy. If you need to zoom in and out, take it slow and steady, and don't zoom out again too soon. And you may want to avoid the use of digital zoom it's pretty much only good for giving you a closeup of some dancing pixels. While optical zoom won't get you as close to your subject, you'll appreciate the higher video quality when you review your recordings. COMPOSITION Do a Little Shot Composition - The purpose of taping something is so you will be able to remember and enjoy it later. Before you hit the red button, look at your shot and see if you have everything in it that you want and that it is framed nicely. Do this as you would if you were taking a still picture; prior to pressing 'record,' not after. Good shot composition uses the 'Rule of Thirds.' This is where you treat the screen as being divided into a tic-tac-toe pattern (see figure 1). When framing a person, you want their eyes on the top line and the center of their head on the left or the right line (i.e., facing inward). Although this may cut off the top of the subject's head, it will provide the proper balance and really make your shot look professional. Frame your shots well. Fill the frame with your subject, and don't be afraid to place him or her slightly off-center. For

3 example, when filming kids at the pool, it tends to be more visually interesting to capture the children talking, laughing, or diving a bit to the left or right of center. Framing your subject off to one side lets you capture more of the environment and atmosphere in your shot. SHOOTING TIPS Tell a Story - If you don't have the time to formally edit your videos, use in camera editing (i.e., the fancy name for pressing record and pause at just the right times) to neatly follow some chronological path and tell a story. People will more likely feel compelled to watch your videos if they tell a story. It matters less what the story is about than how well it's told. You don't have to narrate your videos to tell a story; the pictures can do that. Take a wedding for example. First, we get a shot of the outside of the church. Then, we get some good interior shots of the church to show what it looks like. During the ceremony, get shots of the bride and groom as well as family members' reactions. You've now told a story about the wedding that will be interesting to watch. (see figure 2.) Use wide shots sparingly. You may want to rely on a wide sweeping shot of the setting to establish location, but after that, get a little more specific. Focusing on small details, like red lanterns hung on a Chinatown street or a single sun-bleached boat on a tropical beach, can do more to convey atmosphere than wide, general shots of a busy street or a long stretch of beach. Shoot from several different vantage points. Recording an entire Little League game from the bleachers could be a bit dull to watch later. Footage captured from beside first base, the top of the bleachers, and the dugout can result in a much more interesting mix of shots, and can heighten the drama of important moments. Also, use the most effective shooting angle: kneel down to get on the same level as your subject, when appropriate, or climb up high to survey a scene.

4 Being on the same level as your subject, especially children, creates a much different effect than towering above them while recording. Unless you plan on editing, record only the important moments. If you're going to edit your footage, go ahead and record every single second of your cousin's wedding. If not, then remember that footage of the DJ testing the mike or of waiters going in and out of the kitchen may have historical merit, but offer little viewing enjoyment. Don't overuse special effects. It's cool that you can "solarize" your footage or make it sepiatoned, or try any number of other fun recording settings. But steer clear of the fun features when you're filming important scenes. After all, if you decide later that part of the video really should have been shot in black-and-white, there's easy-to-use movie editing software (sometimes free with a computer) that'll let you make that change. Record the wedding in full color and then test out effects later on. This way, you'll be able to preserve your original footage while you experiment with artistic effects and edits. Interviews - A great way to improve your videos is to interview subjects. Interviews can provide good insights through the actual words of the people involved. No matter what the event is, a baseball game, picnic, wedding, or party, interviews can add a nice touch. When doing an interview, frame the shot with the head and upper chest showing and with the subject off-center to one side or the other. As the interviewer, you do not need to be in the shot, but rather stand next to the camera. Stand on the side of the camera that will be the open side of the shot, and have the interviewee face you. Tell the interviewee NOT to look at the camera, but just carry on a normal conversation with you and keep eye contact. This may seem awkward but it works really well and it is how almost all professional interviews are done (see figure 4).Remember to leave plenty of space in the shot to allow for the interviewee to move naturally and nod. This way they won't slip out of the shot. LIGHTING Look Into Lighting - A lot of image quality problems can be solved by employing some simple lighting techniques. You may not want to invest in or have the desire to carry an entire lighting kit with

5 you where ever you go, but you can make the best of the natural or available lighting situations that you face. Whenever possible, shoot in a well-lit area. Make sure there is not bright light like the sun behind a subject. If your subject is standing in a bad lighting situation, have them move into better light if possible and the video will look much better. Avoid backlighting. Just because we can see people's faces when they're backlit doesn't mean the camera can. Too often, backlit shots result in uncomfortably bright light haloing a dark figure with no visible features so you miss out on the great facial expressions of loved ones. You can improve a backlit situation by moving to one side or another. Some camcorders even have a feature that lets you reduce the effects of backlighting. Backlighting makes a big difference in the appearance and tone of your recording. AND FINALLY Back up your video. Tapes and discs can store your footage for years, but if something happens to them, you're out of luck there go Junior's first steps or that fabulous vacation in the Rockies. So please remember to back up your video either to additional discs or to an external hard drive. We recommend against using your computer's hard drive to store everything long-term, because uncompressed digital video takes up a lot of space approximately 1 gigabyte for every 5 minutes of footage and because computer hard drives are susceptible to eventual failure.