Video Techniques
I certainly don’t claim to be a professional videographer. But I do watch a lot of movies - and NOT porn movies - and pay close attention to the techniques of the professionals and then try to integrate some of the styles into my video.
Since most of you shoot video for the purpose of creating video streams, it is a major misconception that you should only be shooting about 30 seconds of video per scene. That’s enough for a stream, right? No. When shooting video, shoot with the thought that you’re doing it to SELL it. Get as much quality footage as possible. If you’re hiring a model for 4-hours and photographing her in 6 different positions, then you should be shooting video of her in those 6 positions and getting at least 7-10 minutes of video per position. This way you have enough footage for streams AND (hopefully) scenes for a video to sell.
Here’s a few tips for creating better quality video.
CAMCORDER - Buy a good quality digital camcorder so that you don’t have to buy another for a few years. Also consider a wide angle lens, an extra general capacity battery, one extended battery, and a boom microphone for around. Blank miniDV tapes will run you around $4 - $5.
Just FYI… I’m a big fan of Canon camcorders. Excellent quality and very user friendly. If you’re not a Canon fan, the only other brand I would recommend is Sony.
EDUCATE - 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.
STABILITY - Get a good Tripod, and Use It. This is most drastic improvement you can make. Your camcorder may have built-in image stabilization, but it can only compensate for so much motion. 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 giveaway tripods tend not to provide a very good shooting base. $100-200 is the starting range for tripods that will be sturdy and offer smooth movements. Be sure to get a tripod with a head specifically designed for video - called a fluid head. If you are shooting a situation from a single position for longer than 2 minutes at a time, you should be using a tripod. Unless you are trying to achieve a certain effect, shots taken from a tripod are MUCH better than handheld shots.
Cheap tripods are just that… cheap! Personally, I’ve gone through more tripods than I can remember. Before buy my most recent tripod, I used to buy the $30 deals from Wal-Mart. Decent, but cheesy. Then I found a $100 tripod at Ritz Camera. That one lasted a bit over a year before the head literally fell apart. My current tripod is a Manfrotto (Bogen) with a Manfrotti 3130 video head. It has auto leveling and a bunch of other bells and whistles. The cost was a bit over $300. You can find a similar setup on eBay for less. Although the price was pretty high compared to cheap tripods, I will more than likely be buried with this setup!
ZOOM - Zooming in and out while shooting the same subject is also a MAJOR sin in videotaping. Not only does it place the video on the low end of the quality scale, but it gives everyone viewing the tape a headache. One of the few times when zooming in and out on the same shot is acceptable is when taping a wedding, speech or a play where continuous audio is necessary. If you must zoom both in and out in that instance, do it *very* infrequently.
CREATING MOTION - Another common shooting mistake is “creating”motion. Since we are using a video camera, it is easy to shoot with the thought that you have to move the camcorder in order to capture “everything”. On the contrary, the general rule in videotaping is to “record motion”, don’t “create it.”
Creating motion can be described as camera movement that is not germane to the subject. This includes excessive panning and zooming. An example of this would be walking while videotaping. This technique should be reserved for the pros as it is next to impossible for an amateur to make it smooth and keep the subject in proper composition. Pros usually use thousands of dollars of additional equipment to make this possible.
PANNING - Panning from one person to another without any reason other than to “include everyone in the video” is also a very bad idea. Before you pan have a starting and an ending point in mind. While you are panning, think of panning slow, then actually pan slower than what you thought would be correct. It is perfectly acceptable pan the camcorder to follow action such as a runner in a soccer or football game. This is an example of “recording motion” and not “creating” it.
Take a shot of something and leave it there for 20-30 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
ANGLES - Change angles frequently to give the viewer different viewpoints. Limit telephoto shots. In other words, make sure you’ve shot in wide angle before or after you telephoto shots to give the viewer an idea of what they are looking at. A wide shot of your entire kitchen or living room does nothing to display the content that your view is really trying to see… your model! Try and concentrate on what is happening in the scene.
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 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.
Using some of these techniques and ideas, you’ll not only create more useable video footage, but you’ll have a lot more fun doing it!
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