theblog

It’s interesting how many people I meet feel that that they can “do it themselves” – on a whole host of issues.

However the end product is rarely what they wanted – why? Well most people have learnt their craft and trade over many years and dedicated themselves to it. The DIYer will pick up the same tools and with no knowledge of the best way to get things to work “have a go”.

Often, when the produced article looks like it should be sent strait to the scrap heap, they console themselves with how good it looks “considering” or how much they saved compared to the immaculate product they were trying to achieve.

The problem with this is you are “considered” in line with the experts – after all that’s what you were aiming for…and no one cares how cheap you were if the product isn’t fit for the job.

All this said some people insist that they’re going to “try their hand”, and in an effort to maintain standards in video for everyone here are some basic tips.

Before we start… are the batteries charged, do you have the tape or SD card to record on to, do you have a tripod (if needed). Plus remember that most of us have TV’s that are landscape, so if you turn your video camera on its side you’ll need to turn your TV on it’s side to view it.

1) Light – choose somewhere where the light is reasonably even (no big blocks of brightness)
2) Keep it still – if you can’t afford a tripod try and support the camera in some way (2 hands close to the body, rest against or on something)
3) Choose and hold the shot – there is always something else happening, holding 1 good shot is much better than a lot of whipping around.
4) Get a range of shots – details, general shots and establishing shots
5) get the best audio you can – try not talking over the shots or getting the mic under your nose.
6) Know how your camera is started and stopped – most cameras have a history linked to VCRs so the red button is record (rather than a traffic light stop).

Now have a go, get that stills camera and switch it to movie, or try it with your phone. I’d love to see your videos.

Lewis

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 10:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.