3 Tips for Filming Great Home Videos!

This short article will highlight the 3 most important tips for making a good quality yet affordable video. Use them together with the tools detailed on the free video editing website and you could be the next Spielberg, Scorsese or (if you’re really ambitious) James Cameron…

Tip 1: Plan Your Shots Ahead So They’re Edited Together

Garbage in garbage out. If you shoot hours of footage without some sort of plan, you’ll end up with hours of useless footage. Shoot with a plan in mind.

Knowing what shots you need (or want) beforehand will make it easier to edit to create something your audience wants to see. After all, you want the audience to see your video effort, don’t you?

This is very difficult to do unless you have a script to follow. But it will pay dividends when editing. Suppose you have been to SeaWorld for the day. Make sure that in addition to following what the people in your group are doing, you also try to get some of the little shots that will make it all fall into place. For example, when entering Sea World, make sure you get a static shot of the big sign outside that says “Sea World.” It will be useful later to help tell your story. As everyone watches Shamu perform in the large whale tank, be sure to turn the camera toward the audience and get some good reaction shots. These help sell the scene and also act as good cover-ups when you need to cut between shots that don’t quite fit.

Tip 2 – Use a good solid tripod

Shakeycam is bad (unless you mean it). Get a good solid base for your camera with a tripod

Nothing screams ‘amateur’ more than a shaky video. Take a random look at any YouTube video and you’ll likely see one or more of the following happening: shakiness, excessive zooming, lots of panning (side-to-side movement), and poor focus. In the heat of the moment, it’s often easy to forget that what looks good when you’re there often looks awful when you see it back on screen.

Get yourself a good tripod and use it. This will give you a firm foundation for your footage. It will allow you to frame your shot well and keep it in frame. Avoid using the zoom unless absolutely necessary. Video camera tripods are different than still camera tripods. But if a still camera tripod is all you have, then you’ll have to make do.

If you can’t get a good tripod use the following alternatives:

1. Stand with your back against something firm and hold the camera against your body. regulate your breathing

2. Use a wall or other stationary device to balance the camera.

3. Place the camera on a soft bag or flattened sweater to provide a firm base

4. Hold the camera at waist level or against your body rather than at arm’s length or head level.

Remember that the goal is to reduce movement, as much as possible.

Tip 3: Frame your shot well

It’s easy to tell the amateur from the professional videographer: the amateur uses a lot of zooms and pans. Stay away from this!

Well-framed shots draw the viewer into the action. A poorly framed shot will take the viewer out of the moment and ruin the movie. How many times have you seen a movie and seen, for example, a microphone boom that appears in flat? Didn’t it mess things up for you?

Well-framed shots use what’s known as “The Rule of Thirds.” The theory is that if you split your frame into three, both horizontally and vertically, the main action should happen where the lines meet. If you’re shooting a sunset, for example, make sure the horizon lines up in the lower third of the shot and not in the middle. The difference is very subtle, but noticeable.

The other secret with framing is to make sure you only show the absolute minimum you have to show to tell the story. Frame things as tight as you can. Don’t have weird camera shake. This includes those nasty pan and zoom shots we mentioned earlier. Shots like that will only make your audience sick.

With the 3 tips in this article, you’re on your way to making better videos!

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