Think about Every Piece of the Picture
When watching a video, we can only watch the direction of the camera. If the camera looks at the same thing for too long or is not looking at something the viewer wants to see, the viewer will get bored.
Sporting events on TV are usually captured with a dozen to dozens of different cameras-every few seconds moving to a different image. And each image focuses on new information. Each image has meaning, and the cuts between them provide a lot of information without boring the audience.
Every time you shoot a camera, think, who are we going to shoot? What are they doing? Is it interesting? If not, cut it out and find something else to shoot.
Don’t keep the camera on non-stop. Even if you are going to edit it, this is a bad habit that will only waste your time because you will have to watch dozens of useless and unusable pieces of video.
Shoot When the Whites of the Subject’s Eyes Are Visible
People communicate half of what they say with their mouths and the other half with their eyes. If we miss the eyes, we will miss half of the message.
Subtle patterns on the face make up half the communication between people.
Our videos instantly become 200 percent better if we stay close to the subject to clearly capture the whites of their eyes.
Always Take Pictures Under 10 Seconds in Length
Short cuts are part of the modern movie language.
A mix of different short videos has more information and feeling than if the video was shot continuously.
Zooming with Feet
10x zoom = 10x more shake.
Use recording tools that help us overcome camera shake due to our hands. To prevent camera shake, we can attach a tripod or stabilizer-or make use of a flat plane around the location.
To get a good close-up, set the camera lens to a wide angle (aka no zoom at all). Physically walk up to the subject and take a picture.
Things to remember about digital zoom:
Don’t. Don’t ever use it.
Don’t Move! Don’t Shake! And Don’t zoom During Shooting!
Treat the video camera like a photographic camera.
Aim the lens. Keep your finger away from the zoom button. Look at the LCD screen to make sure the picture is good. And, press start.
Stop after getting the image, and repeat. The rhythm we follow is Move, Shoot, Record, Stop.
Arrange for Light to Come from Behind the Camera
The camera gets confused when it has to deal with several different exposure levels in the same shot.
Most video cameras will expose for the largest and brightest object in the frame.
If the light is in front of the camera, then the background of the subject will always be brighter. The subject we are filming will be dark.
If the light source stays behind the camera, the light will fall on the subjects. They will become the bright part of the frame. And we will be able to see them.
Disable Camera Digital Effects
If we take a nice, clean video, we can always add the effects we want later, using one of the many computer editing programs designed for that purpose.
But if we shoot a video directly with the camera’s built-in effects app, we can never get rid of them. Our video is stuck with that effect forever.
Focus on What’s Really Interesting
Every video gets better when we apply an organized principle, and it almost doesn’t matter what that principle is.
Shoot a concentration of the subject’s face, what they’re doing, the reaction of the audience, what the audience is seeing, and the mood of the location.
Find something to focus on-a person or an interesting angle-and your video will instantly become more interesting.
Don’t Use Amateurish Captions
Don’t use captions unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Here are some important tips to apply when using captions:
Keep the text short and the words simple. Use a simple, easy-to-read font (sans-serif font category).
Don’t let the text interfere with the important parts of the image and make sure it remains easy to read.
Place it at the top or bottom third of the screen.
Use white letters on a black background or black on a light color-don’t add shadow, outline, underline, motion, or glow.
Do not use vertical writing.
Use white letters on a black background or black on a light color-do not add shadow, outline, underline, motion, or glow.
Do not use vertical writing.
If the background of your image is half-bright so that the text is hard to read with black or white text colors, put a simple rectangular box behind the text.
Display the text on the screen about one-tap longer than the time it takes you to read it out loud.
Like everything else in the video, keep the text simple but elegant.
Keep the Video Short
Whatever is appropriate to say in a video should be said in a short way.
TV commercials tell a complete story, entertain us, and sell us-all in 30 seconds.
The best way to make your video shorter is to intend for it to be short in the first place.
When in doubt, cut it.
Use an external microphone
Most video cameras set their own sound levels. That means they take whatever they hear and amplify it to a constant, audible level.
Unfortunately, if the camera hears noise around it, it will also turn it up. Traffic noise, sirens, and crowd noise-all are amplified.
If we get as close to the subject as possible, there will be fewer problems.
To make it no problem at all use a good clip on mic. Clip the clip on to the subject’s shirt, and this sound problem will be over.
Source:
Stockman, S. (2011). How to Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro. Workman Publishing.