Video Production Tips

Plan Your Video Before shooting any video, try mapping out the shots you wish to shoot using a storyboard. You don’t need to be a great illustrator. Stick figures in a series of rectangular boxes work fine.

Stabilize the Camera A shaky image is very distracting to the audience. Ideally, you should use some kind of stabilizing device, such as a tripod, to avoid camera shake. Handheld shots will contain a little bit of shake, but there are ways to minimize it. Try holding the camera with both hands and tucking your elbows into your chest. Another technique involves balancing the camera on a table, railing, or other stationary object. See the following article for more stabilizing techniques:

Stabilizing Techniques Stabilizers Tripod Joby GripTight Mount for Smartphones GorillaPod

Stabilizing Techniques Handheld

Vary Your Shots Filmmakers use a variety of shots to show and emphasize different things happening in a scene. For example, a close-up shot might stress an emotion on someone's face, while a wide-shot would establish the setting. Rather than one static shot, try varying your shots to highlight items in a scene that will help to tell your story. Types of shots can include: close-up, wide shot, medium shot, over-the-shoulder, two- shot, cut-away, and point-of-view. See the following YouTube video called Basic Camera Shots for Filmmaking for examples of various types of shots: See the following YouTube video called Filmmaking: Composition and Framing Tutorial for further explanation of common types of shots:

Wide Shot Screen shot from Basic Camera Shots for Filmmaking

Medium Shot Screen shot from Basic Camera Shots for Filmmaking

Close Up Shot Screen shot from Basic Camera Shots for Filmmaking

Shot Composition Where you put things in your shot matters. Some areas in the frame are more appealing to the eye. Similarly, adding depth and background materials will make a shot more interesting to the viewer. Think of each shot as a carefully constructed painting. NYVS: Shot Composition Tutorial covers some common composition tips: Vimeo Mastering Mobile Video Shot Composition II provides a quick overview of shot types and their uses: 6-shot-composition-part-2https://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/492/ep- 6-shot-composition-part-2 See the following YouTube video entitled 2 Reel Guys - Episode 13 - Camera Angles for more information about camera angles and composition: E91D0CD77D E91D0CD77D

Rule of Thirds Divide the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Place the subject in areas of the frame where these lines intersect, as the human eye tends to focus on these areas rather than the center of the frame. See Vimeo Mastering Mobile Video Shot Composition I for an example of the Rule of Thirds:

Head Room Make sure not to leave a lot of “dead” space above or below your subject. In addition, pay attention to your background to ensure that items don’t appear to be growing out of someone’s head.

Lead Room While centering a subject isn’t wrong, providing space to the left or right of a subject can give a sense of where the action is headed.

Provide Adequate Light Video is a visual medium and viewers need to see what is happening in a shot. Unfortunately, even high-end video cameras are not nearly as sensitive to light as the human eye. Thus, it is important to look at a shot in the camera's LCD and make sure that there is enough light to see the action. A scene that may appear perfectly clear when standing in the room, may appear dark when recorded. If it looks dark on the LCD, you need to add light for an external source or bounce light from an existing source to fill in the shadows.

Minus Added Light Sources Screen shot from Easy light setup to improve your films:

Plus Added Light Sources Screen shot from Easy light setup to improve your films:

3 Point Lighting This is the standard lighting technique used in interview settings. It involves illuminating the subject with a main “key” light and then filling in shadows with a softer fill light. A backlight is added to separate the subject from the background.

More Lighting Resources Vimeo Mastering Mobile Video: Working With Light provides quick tips for shooting outdoors with natural light: light light See Easy light setup to improve your films to learn more about using common lighting elements in your home to brighten a video shot: Filmmaking Tutorial: 180 Degree Rule and Other Shot Sequence Tips demonstrates how various lighting sources can change the image: Down and Dirty Lighting Kit provides tips for putting together an inexpensive lighting kit with items from Home Depot:

Record Clear Audio While you might not appreciate the clear, noise-free audio often found in professional TV interviews, you will definitely notice distorted, barely audible sound. The viewer has to be able to hear what is being said. Usually, this means moving the camera and its onboard microphone closer to the subject, recording voice-over narration in an editing program, or using an external microphone. Example of Poorly Recorded Audio

Onboard Camera Microphone The onboard camera microphone will pickup a wide spread of sounds surrounding a subject. Avoid noisy locations, such as loud HVAC systems, crowds, or a fountain. Move the onboard camera microphone as close to the subject as possible to ensure that the subject’s voice is louder than other sound sources further from the camera microphone. Onboard Microphone

Voice-over Narration You can use an external recording device, such as your computer or your cell phone to record a voice over that you will add to your video in an editing program. Tip: If you are using a smart phone to record audio, try putting it in Airplane mode to avoid unnecessary interruptions.

External Microphone External microphones often have more directional pickup patterns, thereby preventing them from recording unwanted sounds from a recording.

More Audio Resources How To Get A Wireless Lavalier Microphone For Under $20 - DIY Lapel Mic Use your Smartphone as a wireless mic

Editing Video on a PC Windows Movie Maker is a free video editor offered via Microsoft as part of their Windows Essential package. The Essentials package includes other programs, including Photo Gallery, One Drive, and Windows Live Mail. The installer will give you the option to install the entire package or just the Movie Maker application. It is not necessary to install the other applications to use Movie Maker.

Editing Video on a Mac iMovie comes installed on new Mac computers or can be downloaded from the Apps Store for $5.

Editing Software Tutorials Vimeo Video School: Windows Movie Maker introducing-windows-movie-maker introducing-windows-movie-maker Vimeo Video School: iMovie introducing-imovie introducing-imovie

Video Production Tutorials for Beginners Shooting Video With an iPhone: Vimeo Video School Larry Jordan’s 2 Reel Guys CD77D CD77D StoryGuide 9SPMfA_5Q 9SPMfA_5Q