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Television Studio

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Also, be sure to watchHow To Make Your Movie!

Camera Techniques

  1. Keep the camera steady! Use a tripod whenever possible. This is rule #1 for a reason. 
  2. Put the camera on a shoulder or cradle in both arms. 
  3. Keep your body still. Hold your breath for the duration of the shot. 
  4. Keep it wide. Instead of zooming in just move closer. 
  5. When moving walk backward. Steadier than walking forward. 
  6. Shoot cutaways. Cutaways are closeups (wringing hands, furrowed eyebrows, hands on a keyboard) that allow you to make edits between shots of the same scene without a jumpcut (when you see someone's head jerk unnaturally or something just appears in the scene). 
  7. Keep it in perspective. Try interesting angles. Look up at things. 
  8. Take extra batteries and tapes. 
  9. White balance in the same light as the subject. 
  10. Know when to go full auto or manual. 
  11. Calibrate the zoom. Zoom in tight, focus, then zoom back out. 
  12. Leave several seconds before and after each shot. Push record, count to 5, cue the talent, shoot the scene, say cut, count to 5, then quit recording. The tape often rolls back whenever the camera is switched off. 
  13. Edit in the camera. Try to shoot as much as possible in the order of the final product and don’t just leave the camera running. 
  14. Label your tapes. You don’t want to copy over something by accident. 
  15. Pack up the camera. 
  16. Recharge the batteries.

Editing Advice

  1. Write it out. Even if you are doing an interview, write out what you think someone will say and try to plan your video around it. 
  2. Make a storyboard. A storyboard is like a comic strip that illustrates what each scene of your finished video will look like. Best done before shooting. 
  3. Plan for at least one hour of editing per 5 minutes of finished video. It can take much longer, but this is a bare minimum. 
  4. Bring your camcorder with you. We have VHS and MiniDV in the Edit Suite already but can accept video from any type of camcorder if you bring it in and play directly from it. 
  5. Bring tapes for as many copies as you need.

Panning the Camera

  1. Get a fluid head tripod.
  2. Before starting a pan, first establish the start and end points of the pan. Think of a pan as having a beginning, a middle and an end.
  3. If you do not have a tripod, support the camcorder firmly in your hands, spread your legs slightly to distribute your body weight, then swivel from your hips to create a smooth pan.

Shooting Outdoors

  1. Sometimes shooting outdoors on a bright day produces harsh shadows on your subject's face.
  2. A good tip is to move your subject out of the direct sunlight and use a reflector or "bounce card" to illuminate their face with a softer, more pleasing light.
  3. We recommend an inexpensive reflector to bounce light into your subjects face. White art board or foam core purchased at your local art supply store works nicely

Filters

A great filter for reducing the glare from the surfaces of water and glass is a polarizing filter. Also, the Tiffen Soft/FX or ProMist filters are great for giving your video a softer, less harsh look. This is an especially nice filter for interviews. Check out the Tiffen website for more information on filters.

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