Forgive me for admitting to being a video enthusiast with no professional aspirations at all. When you read anything from me it will be "grass roots". Feel free to ask questions and add other suggestions to the ones I offer. The best way of learning is through interaction. Many of you who are reading this little article will know a lot more than I do about equipment and computers (the tools of video making) but to be honest, it is not how new and "State of the Art" the tools are that gives me any personal satisfaction, it is what the owner does with them.

I will try to give you a few pointers to lift your videos from being home movies to very appealing productions - but not all at once!

Let's start off with how you take the video.

All of us have different likes and dislike so one person may be eager to take video of an outing with the family while another would find that the biggest video "turn off". So whatever your inspiration, take and use your camera but before you start - Think things through.

A story needs to be told with very video whether it is a story of a visit to a farm, how to bake bread or an in-depth documentary on climate change.

The day before the actual shoot, the grey cells trapped between the ears need to be exercised. Ask yourself what you would like to include and the sorts of shots you must try to take. Get some idea of how the edited video will start, how it will flow and how it will wind up.

Planning is important, it can be written down but I have not met anyone yet who has ever written down their ideas! So, while you are checking your equipment and putting batteries on the charger, daydream. Imagine the shots that might be taken.

With an outing that involves the family or several other people, you will be carried along by their needs and decisions, so inflexible planning cannot be adhered to; so think on your feet. Take plenty of shots from many different points of view of each activity. Take many more than you will keep.

A still photographer will throw out more shots than will be kept and yet the video maker seems to use every single shot. Unless you are following the instructions of a director with a script in hand, you must take many shots and be prepared to select shots from these when you come to do the editing.

Remind yourself often about "beginning, middle and end" and whatever your subject, have enough shots to have a beginning, middle and end of that activity or point of interest.

For example:

Beginning:          

• A car is seen to pull under a shady tree in the carpark.
• Four people clamber out reaching for cameras and binocular and locking the doors and chatting excitedly to each other.
• They walk away from the car still chatting.

Middle:

• Close up shots of each of the faces of the people in the group as they approach the lookout.
• Shots taken from one side showing the group leaning on the railing and pointing to things they can see from the lookout.
• Shots taken from behind the group, showing the members in the group and the view beyond them.
• Various shots of the view and of the group members as they take pictures or use binoculars

End:

• The group disperses and the camera shows them as they make their way back along the bush track.

Each episode (like this one) is a tiny part of the whole and yet it is a "story". So every video should be made up of many little "stories".

If the video is to be a documentary, the planning needs to be far more detailed and the video would be a much better production if the planning were written down and adhered to. There will be people who need to be contacted if an interview is to be included. A time and place for the interview will also need to be decided on (and written down). If there is to be an interview the questions also need to be thought out and written down.

The time of day for shooting needs to be planned as well and a trial run (rehearsal) is a good idea. Supporting video for the Interview may need to be taken after the interview - again, plan and write down what you need to include.

So what are you going to do next? Start planning!

AJ

http://joanren.blogspot.com

By Joan Rennie

Joan Rennie is an amateur video enthusiast and guest writer for AusCam Online. She can be more widely read at http://joanren.blogspot.com
 

Comments(1):

1. Great Article

   I know I don't do enough planning (if any at all) when I pick up my video camera. Maybe that is why I don't use it as much as when I first got it. My video's always had a middle that never ended and then were never shared with family or friends. This article gives me much to think about. Thanks

   Thursday, January 21, 2010 Chris