Consumer Video Tips

1. We live in a 3D world. We shoot video in 2D.

In video space, there’s height and width but no depth.

2. It isn’t real if it’s not in the frame.

From the camera’s point of view, it isn’t real if it’s not in the frame. From the audience’s point of view, if the story is strong enough, a mere suggestion is enough to imply something exists.

3. Scale

In the real world, a ten-story building is about 110′ tall. In the video space, scale doesn’t matter. The building is whatever size you make it.

4. Where is Where

There’s no fixed geography in the video space. Telephoto lenses compress distance and wide angle lenses stretch space. You decide where everything is relative to the camera. It’s actual position is of no importance.

Thinking about these things as you decide to create your next video might help you improve your storytelling skills.

No matter what video camera you use or what subject you capture, knowing your audience is key to making a successful video.

Knowing who’s watching is an important step in the planning process. Determining who you will target with the project will also have an impact on the content you gather and the way in which you present the information.

For instance, if you’re shooting a soccer match for training purposes, you’ll record more technique than if you’re shooting it for posterity.

Think about who will see your video before you even set up your camera. Then you’ll know what you should be shooting.

Photo by Scott Bourne

I spend a great deal of time in nature making photographs. About 10 years ago I also started bringing a video camera with me so I could capture moving pictures of the places I spent photographing. Here are some tips I came up with to improve your outdoor nature videos.

a. Plan and Scout

It’s always best to know a bit about the location in advance. What time of day is the light most pleasing? What angle will the Sun be at relative to your subject? What’s the weather supposed to be like?

If you are prepared in advance, you increase your chances of success.

b. Gear up

Make sure you bring a tripod. MTV-style bob and weave, handheld camera work is not appropriate in outdoor or nature videography. Also, be sure to bring a wide angle and/or telephoto extension for your video camera lens. Sometimes, these will greatly enhance your shots. Bring lots of tape or flash cards. Extra batteries are also a good idea on any shoot. Don’t forget audio. If you don’t have a way to bring external audio into your camera with a good microphone, then invest in a high quality handheld digital audio recorder to capture sound. Bring a windscreen for your mic to handle wind noise. Lastly, protect your gear and yourself. Dress in layers and bring rain gear for yourself. Also, get good cases and weather protection. Since you can’t always predict the weather, rain covers are always a good thing to bring along.

c. Composition & Framing

Make sure to learn and use the rule of thirds, i.e., don’t put your subject dead center of every shot. Instead, use the intersecting lines that resemble a tic-tac-toe grid to position your subject. Also allow room for moving subjects to get out of the frame. This is called framing for movement. If you’re photographing a horse running left-to-right across a field, be sure to leave plenty of room on the right side of the view finder for the horse to run that way, otherwise they’ll look like they’re moving out of camera range.

d. Technique

Capture your footage in short bursts. Get lots of different angles so you have more to work with during edit.

Watch for strongly backlit subjects and constantly check your footage to make sure you got what you wanted to shoot. It’s a lot more work to go back a second time than it is to get it on the first trip.

Shutterstock.com is a royalty-free stock video/photo site that lets you acquire or sell stock video footage. Shutterstock Footage offers a wide variety of royalty-free material, categorized by subject and searchable by keyword. Video clips are up to one minute in length, and will range in price from to per clip, depending on resolution and quality. Once a video clip has been purchased, the customer can use the footage royalty-free, forever.

I found several great clips available in low-web resolution for as little as $10.

If you want to jazz up your own video productions, stock footage can be a very easy way to achieve this goal. But wait – there’s more.

You can use Shutterstock to make money too. They’re accepting submissions for their stock footage library. They offer a 30% commission on sales. The Shutterstock submission guidelines are available on their website.

The holidays are fast approaching and that means it’s time to get the camcorder out. But instead of investing hour after hour in something nobody will see, spend a few minutes this year planning your video, and watch the friends and relatives line up to get their own copy.

Start With a Plan

What do you want to shoot? What’s really important. Don’t try to capture every single moment of the season. Instead, have a theme. Maybe your theme will be “relationships” or “gifts” or “funny moments.” Once you have a theme, you know what to think about in terms of deciding which scenes need to be recorded and which don’t.

Get Geared Up

Make sure to check your gear before you go out to shoot. Finding out in the field that your batteries are dead is a surefire way to bring everyone’s spirits down.

Make sure your camera is fully operational. Charge the battery. Get your tripod out and make sure it opens and closes smoothly. Check your video light (you do have a light don’t you?) make sure it works well.

Also be sure to re-read your manual. You might just want to stick it in your camera bag. You never know when you’ll need that special function that is described in the manual.

Don’t Forget Audio

If you have any way to introduce a mic input into your camera, this is the best way to capture the audio that goes along with all that great video. If your camera doesn’t support external audio, try to work closely to your subject(s) so you can reduce the ambient noise. Try to work in quieter rooms and to isolate your subject(s) when possible.

Remember the “B” Roll

Don’t just focus in on the main players. Shoot the house exterior and interior. Make sure to videotape the small details that make your own family’s holiday traditions special.

Use an establishing shot to give viewers a sense of place. Then focus on details.

Time For Your Close-up

Be sure to get some up-close, one-on-one footage of the stars of your production. You can edit this in later, mixed with some B-roll for good variety.

Time Matters

Keep track of all things related to time. What time should you shoot? How much time is left on your battery or tape? Be sure to roll at least five seconds before and after the killer action.

Be sure no single static shot is more than four or five minutes long.

Try to mix and match these tips to get the best results. Happy holidays.

This Week’s Profile – Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0

Description: A powerful, but easy-to-use cross-platform video editing tool.

Product Highlights:

* Get started quickly with easy moviemaking options
* Amazing video and audio effects
* Excellent sharing capabilities
* Create your first movie in minutes

This program offers several benefits, including its link back to the powerful Adobe family of visual and audio editing tools. It comes with a large number of effects and templates and offers up to 99 tracks.

Titles and transitions are well implemented, and you can even add animation.

The themes option helps movies to appear very polished in a matter of minutes.

Retail $99.99 – should be available for around $105 at many online retailers. Download a free trial at Adobe.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This review is based on the copy of the software I tested, not the most recent edition. I assume the newer version is only better. I only write reviews on software I actually own and I don’t have version 7.0. For most consumers, there’s no need to upgrade.