Al’s 10 Video Commandments February 2009 Poynter Institute

1st Commandment Thou Shalt Not Zoom

2nd Commandment Thou Shalt not Pan

3rd Commandment Thou Shalt Keep Thy Shot Steady for 10 Seconds

4th Commandment Thou Shalt Seek out Subjective Soundbites

Subjective Soundbites Make it Memorable What quotes will be the most powerful? Don’t use a soundbite to tell me something that can be done through graphics or a voice over?

5th Commandment Thou Shalt Shoot Cutaways and Sequences

6th Commandment Thou Shalt Shoot More than Thou Thinkest Thou Needs

7th Commandment Thou Shalt Honor Great Lighting. Thou Shalt Put the Camera on the Shadow Side of the Subject

8th Commandment Thou Shalt Always Wear Thy Headphones

9th Commandment Thou Will Seek Great Natural Sound and Will Shut Up While Shooting

Natural Sound Takes the Viewer Closer

10th Commandment Thou Shalt Look for Transitions and Not Just Create Them in the Editing Process

Al’s 10 Video Commandments May 18, 2008 Poynter Institute