Taking Better Holiday Videos

Camcorders are getting smaller, mostly as a result of the trend toward solid state memory recording systems that use SD cards to store footage rather than tape, dvd or hard drive. As they become ever more pocket-fitting and as broadband bandwidth increases, posting videos onto social media sites like Facebook is likely to become just as popular as sharing pictures. Videos are an enriching way to share experiences whether you’re a social media junkie or just wanting to document your experience for private viewings with family and friends.

The problem has always been the same:

  1. After your trip, you realize that you’ve shot too much boring, longwinded footage and you dump the footage away, telling yourself you’ll get to it LATER
  2. You actually try to assemble the footage you’ve shot, but you realize that what you’ve shot doesn’t really flow smoothly together, that your shots are jagged and it’s just about impossible to put together into a sensible edit.
  3. You’re shooting on digital, not tape, so you’ve skipped the trauma of having to digitize your footage onto your computer, but you don’t really have any good editing software to use to turn it into something good.

Not to worry, the video camera manufacturers are coming to your aid. Basic edits are now possible on all new digital video cameras. You can select clips, move them around into a sequence, add sound and even transitions. There are even technologies that re-condition the way you take video by only allowing you to record 4 second clips.

Knowing the basic principles of shooting films will make your videos more fun, creative and slicker looking.

Telling a Story

No matter what you’re shooting, you’re really just telling a story. So think of everything as having a narrative. Getting into this mindset is the single most important thing will give your videos more structure, meaning and entertainment value. The classic narrative structure is that there is a beginning, a middle and an end. Everytime you move to the next part of the story, you need to set it up. You could try playing the role of interviewer and actually getting your subjects to tell you what’s going on. But to tell a story you really just need to play with establishing shots, commentary that puts what you’re doing or about to do in context, and of course action shots of what you’re actually doing. A video is made up of many scenes and each scene needs to be set up.

Using establishing shots

Everytime you change scene you should have some form of establishing shot for your film to make any sense. Someone describing where you are, a wide shot or pan around the scene, or a signpost of the name of the place all help establish where the action is taking place.

Shot length

Most movies are made up of very short clips, normally just a few seconds. Get the essence out of the shot and then end it rather than dragging it on. Generally speaking, a series of short shots adds pace to your film, whereas long shots tend to slow the pace down. If the shot is long it should be because someone is saying something very interesting and absorbing. Otherwise it’s just boring and unnecessary. Less is definitely more when it comes to video.

Shot movement (tracking)

Most movies, even fast action ones are mostly made up of static shots where the camera doesn’t move, only the people inside the frame move. The fast pace is created by changing shots quickly. Obviously, shooting home video is different. You’re not rehearsing actors and telling them where to move..To some extent you need to follow your subjects around, usually by panning the camera left and right or up and down. Move around with the camera to follow your subjects when necessary, but be aware that it will make your shot shaky, so it’s best to avoid it if possible.

To zoom or not to zoom

Next time you watch a movie, count how many times the camera actually zooms, It may even be zero. Zooms don’t look great. They’re sometimes used for effect when you move in closer with the camera while zooming out, but the general rule should be to avoid zooming while shooting. Your compact camcorder doesn’t have a big ring to turn the zoom with and chances are you’ll zoom too much and then have to correct it by zooming back out. It doesn’t look good.

Shoot cutaways

Cutaways are shots that are used in between another shot, often with the audio of the previous shot continuing while the cutaway runs. For example if someone is talking about cheetahs, you could jump to a cutaway of a cheetah while they are talking about it and then return back to person speaking. They are used to add interest, usually by demonstrating the concept being spoken about. They are also a great way to get out of jail with your editing if your shots don’t cut together well. It’s common to shoot a few cutaways for every scene to use for editing if needed. If you’re in a restaurant, for example, a shot of a menu can be inserted at any point.

Editing

Less is more when it comes to video. Once you’ve edited your first video together and it makes sense and is fun, there’s a 99% chance that you can edit it shorter and produce a more interesting, more fun and more engaging video.

When editing avoid shots that are too similar. Chose the best one, or the one that will work best with the next/previous shot. Shots either need to differ in size or in angle for them to work together in the same scene. If you take a shot of someone (say mid-length in size), and you wanted to combine that with another shot from the same angle, you would need to either go in for a close-up of them (head and shoulders) or a wide shot (with room above and below the person). Alternatively you can change the angle you are shooting at (provided you don’t cross the line, see below) or use a cutaway in between the shots (see above)

Crossing the Line

When two people face each other in conversation, a line exists between them. The person on the left facing right should always be on the left side of the frame facing right. The person on the right facing left should always be on the right side of the frame facing left. If this changes the shots won’t cut together.

Crossing the Line
tick
When people interact a line is formed between them To produce a video with smooth cuts between shots, one has to choose one side of the line and stick to it This sequence does not cross the line and mixes angles and shot sizes for interesting and smooth video
The line is formed This shot flows well from the previous with the girl in green still on the left facing right The line has been crossed and this shot will appear to jump and the girl in green moves from facing left-to-right to right-to-left

Wildlife Photography

Composition

Shooting wildlife is largely about luck and timing since your main subjects are not interested in co-operating with you and for obvious reasons it is necessary to maintain some distance and stay close to your vehicle. When shooting wildlife, don’t get too carried away with zooming into the animal, consider the landscape to some extent and how this might add interest to your shot of the animal. Also watch out for photo opportunities with groups of animals. When isolating an animal or going close-up on its face, it’s often a good idea to create separation with the background by limiting the depth of field so that it stands out more in the picture.

Exposure

The sun is probably the biggest factor that comes into play when shooting animals. You need to wait for the animal’s face to turn to be lit by the sun to avoid it being cast in shadow. What applies to people, applies to animals. Also remember that long lenses need fast shutter speeds, so be prepared to do most of your shooting on 1/500th sec and faster.

Focus on the faces

Animals are like people. Most of the time when looking at pictures we want to be able to recognize a face. If we can’t, the picture doesn’t quite feel right, so make sure that you focus on the animals face if you’re close enough for the focus to vary from body to face.