Top 10 Tips for Shooting Great Looking Videos

Here is an article I've written previously about shooting good digital
videos. I hope it'll be useful to some of you in this forum.

Guidelines for Shooting Quality Videos
by Gary Hendricks

The best way of avoiding these problems is to learn some basic video
shooting skills. You need not learn complex cinematography or
directorial skills, of course. But you should have some fundamental
knowledge of what goes into a good video shoot and doesn't. Let's take
a look at these shooting tips in turn:

1. Avoid Zooming In and Out Too Much
Many digital camcorders come with a super duper 1000X zoom in and zoom
out feature. This is a good thing, but the problem is, many people get
carried away. I've seen countless videos which keep zooming in and out
during the shoot - they generally succeed in giving me a bad headache.
Use the zoom in and out feature sparingly. Even if you must use it, do
it slowly. A slow, well-controlled zoom is much more professional
looking than a quick zoom. Another tip is to restrict the usage of the
zoom in between scenes.

2. Steady Does It
The professionals always say "Keep It Steady". There is no doubt that
when we're shooting videos, our hands tend to vibrate a little. If the
vibration is too much, it will badly affect the quality of the video
footage. There are two ways to overcome this. One way is to do it like
the professionals - get a good tripod stand. These can be obtained
rather cheaply. Another way is to brace yourself against something like
a wall, or perhaps stoop down on your knee while filming.

3. Where Are You?
One tip that I've picked up while shooting family vacations is to
always, always look for a landmark, a sign or natural monument that
tells the audience where you are. Do you notice the professionals do
this as well? For example, in the movies, you may see the camera
zooming in on the Statue of Liberty first, before cutting to a scene
that happens within. Or there is a shot of the White House before the
director cuts into a scene within the Oval Room. Another tip is to make
the people you're filming talk or smile. This makes the whole video
much more lively and interesting.

4. The End or The Beginning?
Another good video shooting trick is to use the end of the story at the
start of the video. Again, experts do this all the time. If you're
filming a wedding video, you can start off with an interview of the
happily married couple on the wedding day before you cut off into
scenes of how they met, how they grew up, etc.

5. Keep Them Short and Simple
Never, ever, shoot long, drawn out video clips of more than two
minutes. It bores the audience to death! Using many short clips of 5 to
10 seconds duration is much more effective. It also brings variety to
the audience. Imagine if a television commercial lasted two minutes
focusing on the same video scene - wouldn't that be boring?

6. Lighting, Lighting, Lighting
Of all the factors listed here, nothing spoils a video shoot as much as
poor lighting. I've seen many innovative videos marred by poor
lighting. One important tip is to shoot video with the light source
behind you, shining on the subject. An example is an outdoor shot where
the sun is shining. Make sure the sun shines on your subject and not on
your camera lens! Another tip is to use the camera's backlight feature
if there is one. It allows you to compensate for overly bright light.

7. Change Your Perspective
Don't limit your shots to one angle only. Approach your subject from
all angles. Come from behind, come from the top, whatever. Perhaps you
can even film yourself walking up the steps and opening a bedroom door
before reaching your subject.

8. Learn from The Movies
You'd be surprised how much you can learn about shooting video from the
movies. Very often, we just sit down and let the movie scenes come at
us without considering what went through the director's mind. Try it -
for once, when you watch your next movie, consider how the director
framed that shot or scene. You will learn a lot and maybe even get
interested in directing films!

9. Conserve the Battery
I've seen or heard so many people forgetting about the battery that I
must emphasize it here. Please buy extra batteries! Preferably two
extra batteries. Nothing is worse than shooting a video outdoors and
having the battery die on you. Also, always bring the AC adapter too -
so that you can charge your current battery whenever time permits. You
can get camcorder batteries at great prices by following this link.

10. Check The Sound
This tip may not be important for the average home user. But if you're
a serious videographer, you'll have a microphone attached to your
camcorder. Microphones are an essential tool for sound focusing and
result in better audio quality during video shoots. You can find very
good prices on microphones at this website.

Conclusion
It's not tough picking up better shooting skills. Once you've learnt
the basics, I assure you it will come to you very naturally, almost
like riding a bicycle or swimming. If you're truly interested in
enhancing your shooting skills, I'd recommend you take a look at one of
the following books. They were a great resource for me when I was
started out in digital videography.


Best Regards,
Gary Hendricks
http://www.desktop-video-guide.com

 

Thanks Gary for the useful tips.

In Tip number 5 you suggusted keep them short and simple but I'd
suggest that the photographer record a scene longer than he wants and
then in the editing make it shorter as you can't add extra recording
that you don't have should you need to. A few times I've been caught
out and wished I had recorded something longer.

My tip is to get to know your camera better. Video camera's come with
many useful features but often people tend to forget about them or
can't remember how to activate a special feature when needed.

Another tip is don't use the video camera like a still camera. A
friend of mine who had taken photos with a 35mm camera a lot used a
video camera for the first time and ended up with a lot of still video
shots. There was no zooming, panning or objects that moved.

Regards Brian

 

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the advice, lots of great tips there. But about no. 5, hmmm
I guess it depends on the type of video and the intended audience. I mean if
it's a family video
meant to be viewed only by the familym then shooting what appears to be long
boring scenes to others
can become treasured moments that someday, you wished were much longer.

Imagine watching a home video of your parents which have long passed away,
only to see 10 or 15 seconds of them at a time?
It would get fustrating after awhile. I watch video's of family reunions
from 22 years ago, and wonder to myself why I didn't spend even more time
taping each individual person. It was usually a fast pace video, I kept it
short and sweet not to be boring but looking back now, i wish
I had my dad walking slowly down the block, the way I remember. At least a
minute of it which would have captured his essense. Showing a person walking
in and out might seem boring now but later on it's fascinating observing how
people have changed, how they've slowed down, simple everyday stuff like
walking is a good example.
So I would add a disclaimer, if it's a family video meant for posterity,
long thorough shots of every person is preferred to the quick scan style you
see on tv shows.
It's all about who will watch the video in the end.
If it's not a family video, wedding, or other event, then short and sweet is
best.
Hey, we can't all be perfect directors but I felt my opinion on this might
help some.

Thanks again,
AnthonyR.

 

How funny is this, I didn't read Brians post till after I replied, lol.
And also good advice about shooting long scenes and editing them to more
shorter scenes later on,
this allows for wipes and fades better and generally easier to edit if their
is more material to choose from.
Also good advice.

AnthonyR

 

The trick, though, is to cut the scenes so that there's continuity and flow.
Short, discontinuous scenes would get annoying. However, imagine a wide,
establishing shot showing your long-dead parents at a family gathering, cut
to a two shot of your father talking with your uncle Louie, cut to a close
up of Louie's face, then a close up of your father, then perhaps a medium
shot showing your mother looking on at the two talking. That says something
about the relationship between your father and your uncle and your mother --
a lot more than just having the camera running and recording all every
single second for 15 minutes, punctuated by a lot of zooming in and out and
shaky walking around.

My hobby is travel video (my wife and I travel internationally a lot). My
"standard" scene is 4 seconds, with 3 seconds for a static shot. Of course,
as Gary suggested, I always book-end each shot when I'm taping so that I'm
sure to have enough material.

It's a matter of taste, I suppose. One thing I did do was tape a
1-hour+interview with my mother, who passed away a few years later. I put
the camera on a tripod, used a good mike and made sure the lighting was
good. I then just had her talk about the family, my father, her memories,
etc. THAT tape is, of course, priceless, and I wouldn't edit a second out
of it.

However, I also edited my wedding video a few years ago. Except for the
ceremony itself (which we usually skip over), I found the 4-second rule
worked very well.

 

Thanks guys. I trotted out my new XL2 this weekend for the community picnic
and after dumping everything into the laptop, I realized that that I had
overdone it with the zooming. No problem, though as I could pick a spot
during editing.

40 minutes of shooting ended up about 6 minutes finished; about a 7:1 ratio.
How's that?

Regards,

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

 

see comment in middle

Hi PTravel,
Excellent! You got to do it, I always thought i would do that in my head and
even though I have
plenty of gathering shots, never did an actual interniew with my dad or mom.
My brothers and sister and I sure would love a dvd of something like that
now.
He was a terrific story teller and I could have filled hours of tape just
asking him question
on his past life experiences. However i do always recommend that to friends
now.

Glad to hear you captured that.
And i appreciate the advice also.
AnthonyR.

 

I often wonder if it would make more sense to not edit
very much and just put it on DVDs with chapter points
to mark all of the important bits. Rather than sitting
down to watch a "movie" of that family reunion, you
could just jump to the parts that might be of particular
interest at the time.

I came up with this idea in an industrial context. Often a
company will get a new piece of complex equipment
and the manufacturer will send a guy out to train your
people on the use of that unit. Sometime this guy was
on the team that built and/or designed the equipment or
the instalation. He will pass on information that isn't in
the manual. It would be valuable if that visit is taped in
it's entirity while trying to get as much visual as you can
in real time. It isn't going to make a very interesting or
pretty movie, even if you do edit it, but you could just
break it into chapters, so that people in the future can
just view the parts that may have the clues they need.

David

 

#3 could always be referred to as the establishing shot. My personal
favorite is where you hear the voice of the interview, or the action of
something going on over this establishing shot, then it shows the visual
of what ever you heard.

They've done this in Foxes COPS show for 18 years and it works well.

-Richard

 

Good idea David.
On most DVD Recorders there a Playlist feature.
It useful as you can put the entire video on a DVD and create
different playlists. You could have a playlist that plays only the
highlights of your video, another playlist could play only the
interviews on your video, etc.
The playlist is like a list of instructions telling the player to play
selected chapters in a certain order. Parts of the chapter can also be
erased without effecting the orginial video.

It also a useful feature if you want to create a 10 min and 30 min
version of your 2 hour holiday video to show people.

Regards Brian

 

Brian,
That is something I do often, make a longer (family version) and a shorter
(more entertaining to everyone else) version of
trips and stuff.
Also you can choose which version to play right from dvd menu.
AnthonyR.

 

I shoot "stuff" during vacations, and do use the (electronic)
stabilization in my Sony DCR-HC 85 mini DV, but still would like to hold
the camera with younger, less shakey hands than mine (Right, take a
grandchild along!). A tripod's a bit more than I'd like to carry, but
wonder whether a monopod might do the trick. Any of you use a monopod
and have any positive or negative comments?

 

Also, unless absolutely necessary, use the viewfinder rather than the
viewscreen, which depletes the battery faster.

What kind of microphone should I look to that might pickup less of the
wind noise the buit-in mike picksup?

Thanks for all of the above "tips"!

 

Why the %@#&^*!! didn't you let me have that "tip" years ago - long
before video tape arrived on the amateur scene, I shot 8 mm movies, and
have a lousy maybe 1 minute of my grandfather, who died in 1957. It
saddens me to think about that, esp. now I'm having all of my ~14,000
feet of 8 mm film "videoized" :-(

 

I use a monopod for a variety of things, including providing a more stable
base for shooting video. The monopod provides for less shake than
hand-holding, but is not a substitute for a tripod. Note, too, that a good
shooting technique can add significantly to the stability of hand-held
shots.

Take a look at Adorama's monopod (around $89) -- light, strong and fast.

 

The viewfinder uses less power than the LCD, but also constrains the kinds
of shots you can make, i.e. everything will be shot at eye-level.
Interesting video demands different perspectives.

Ameliorate wind noise with a wind screen. There are a variety of
professional-grade screens around that will work very well.

 

Yes, I have frequently found a monopod to be quite useful.
I always take one with me when I go into the cleanroom fab
(where we make Pentium(R) chips, etc.) because a full tripod
is often too big to fit where I need to be to get the shot.

I have also found it useful for getting some of those "cutaway"
or "establishing" shots from high angles where you can zoom
all the way out, tilt down, and hold the camera over your head
at the end of the monopod.

 

More advantages of the monopod:

- It can take the weight of the camera.

- It can be more discrete. You can point it at what you are shooting,
then look away or just stand casually. It's less obvious you are
shooting the subject, so you get more natural shots.

- Great in a crowd where a tripod is impossible.

- If you find a wall or another support to lean it on, it can become a
temporary tripod.

 

11. A top-notch camcorder.
You can have #1-10 all day long, but if you're filming on a cheap
DV camcorder that gets half the D1 resolution due to poor optics and
sensor, you still get a terrible looking VHS quality video out the back end.
Here, start out with a top-notch camcorder like the Canon XL
series, and you'll be surprised how big of a jump in quality you'll get
with a simple change like this.

 

Hi Brian

Glad you guys like the tips. Yes, there are really many more ways to
get good videos. One of them is to simply read the camera's manual. I
totally agree with that. When I first started, I simply went out to
shoot and film, but forgot to read up on the intricate functions that
my camera offered - sad mistake!

There are so many functions you can find on a typical camcorder. Learn
them and use them well, I say.

Gary Hendricks
http://www.desktop-video-guide.com