General Tips

Videography isn't difficult. It's point and shoot. It's when you attempt to move beyond this basic premise that can turn good footage into bad video quickly.

Keep a shot list

Getting a clear idea of what footage you want to capture goes a long way in making sure you have all the ingredients you need for a good movie. A shot list can help. A shot list is just a list of items you want on video. For example, you have a vague idea that you want some video of your flight over and of the hotel. Part of your shot list would look like this:

Travelling

Airport, just us sitting and waiting
Airport, shot of destination on the monitors
Airplane, video monitor displaying hours to destination
Airplane, wife sleeping

Hotel

Exterior, shoot wide so you can see whole building
Exterior, tilt from ground up to the top
Exterior, door entrance. Maybe someone take video of me walking through the entrance.
Interior, lobby. Shots of people checking in.

Keep it simple

Short and sweet. That's the way good video is shot. There will be moments that need to be filmed continuously for several minutes. However, most of your footage will be less than 10 seconds in length.

Say your walking through a park. No one is going to want to see a hour of non-stop footage of you going through the park. Instead you shoot a couple of 10-20 seconds of feeding the fish, 10-20 seconds of the musicians in the park, etc. When those clips get edited together, the overall park expereince can be captured without having to wade through an hour of video.

Keep it steady

The added benefit of shooting short clips is that it's easier to keep the camera steady for short periods. You can hold a camera steady for ten seconds. It's much harder to do that for 10 minutes.

If you need to shoot anything that takes a long time then rest the camera onto whatever steady surface is most readily available.

Keep it in frame

Sometimes is better to shoot a wider shot in order to keep your subject in frame. Instead of zooming in close and having to move your camera to follow your child, it might be better to shoot wide so your child running back and forth is always in frame without moving the camera.

It's okay to move the camera when you need to. If you are shooting a video of your daughter's dance recital and someone on stage is blocking your view of her then turn off the camera, move somewhere else where you can get an unobstructed view and start shooting again.

Don't Zoom

Don't zoom in the middle of a shot. It never looks good when you see it on a television. Zoom in first then start recording.

	Our Services China Adoption Video Video Albums Custom Video Needs Newsletter Sign Up Case Studies Testimonials Frequently Asked Order Information What To Send Us Download Order Form Video For Editing General Tips Camera Technique What to Shoot Intro Video Cameras Capture Cards Editing Software The 4 Steps 1: Capturing 2: Editing 3: Rendering 4: Burning Conclusion Red Thread Stories News Blog Torrie Hansen General Tips Videography isn't difficult. It's point and shoot. It's when you attempt to move beyond this basic premise that can turn good footage into bad video quickly. Keep a shot list Getting a clear idea of what footage you want to capture goes a long way in making sure you have all the ingredients you need for a good movie. A shot list can help. A shot list is just a list of items you want on video. For example, you have a vague idea that you want some video of your flight over and of the hotel. Part of your shot list would look like this: Travelling Airport, just us sitting and waiting Airport, shot of destination on the monitors Airplane, video monitor displaying hours to destination Airplane, wife sleeping Hotel Exterior, shoot wide so you can see whole building Exterior, tilt from ground up to the top Exterior, door entrance. Maybe someone take video of me walking through the entrance. Interior, lobby. Shots of people checking in. Keep it simple Short and sweet. That's the way good video is shot. There will be moments that need to be filmed continuously for several minutes. However, most of your footage will be less than 10 seconds in length. Say your walking through a park. No one is going to want to see a hour of non-stop footage of you going through the park. Instead you shoot a couple of 10-20 seconds of feeding the fish, 10-20 seconds of the musicians in the park, etc. When those clips get edited together, the overall park expereince can be captured without having to wade through an hour of video. Keep it steady The added benefit of shooting short clips is that it's easier to keep the camera steady for short periods. You can hold a camera steady for ten seconds. It's much harder to do that for 10 minutes. If you need to shoot anything that takes a long time then rest the camera onto whatever steady surface is most readily available. Keep it in frame Sometimes is better to shoot a wider shot in order to keep your subject in frame. Instead of zooming in close and having to move your camera to follow your child, it might be better to shoot wide so your child running back and forth is always in frame without moving the camera. It's okay to move the camera when you need to. If you are shooting a video of your daughter's dance recital and someone on stage is blocking your view of her then turn off the camera, move somewhere else where you can get an unobstructed view and start shooting again. Don't Zoom Don't zoom in the middle of a shot. It never looks good when you see it on a television. Zoom in first then start recording.
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