LIGHTING:
Your eyes do a lot of adjustment for
you that the camera can’t duplicate.
Common problems:
·
Backlighting.
If there is a source of light behind your display, your camera may adjust
itself to the brighter light source and your display will be underexposed. Most cameras have a backlight adjustment to
correct this.
·
Shadows.
If you have only one source of light (overhead lighting or floor lamps,
for example), much of your display will be in the shadows. You don’t need expensive equipment to correct
this. I swiped a couple of work lights
from the garage, and moved them around the room at different angles until I had
the ‘look’ I wanted for my village.
·
Direct lighting. Sometimes aiming a light source right at your
subject just looks wrong. Try bouncing
your light off a white sheet.
·
Color.
Different types of bulbs can really affect the color of the video - some
appear yellowish, some create harsh light.
Test your lighting before you make your
‘REAL’ video. Tape a minute or so of
your village on a used tape and see how it looks on your TV.
While I like looking at my village
without extraneous lighting, the camera really doesn’t. DO include some footage of your village using
just its own lighting, but make the lion’s share of your video well-lit.
SOUND:
Your ears tune out noise that the video
camera will capture faithfully. Listen
for ambient noise on your test tape before your make the ‘real’ one. If there are other people in the house, send
them away or enlist them to help you so you don’t get unwanted conversations in
your film. Our family has some LOUD kids and I’ve been converting tapes from
their early teens to DVD --
you know the years when they think they can shock you with
certain words? Likewise, barking dogs,
sirens, and other ‘ambient’ noises can kill the mood of your film.
If you decide to play music in the
background, try not to start and stop filming too much, and stick to
instrumentals. Otherwise, your sound
will distract viewers from your village.
And try to choose music that matches the ‘mood’ of your village.
If you will be narrating, you might
want to write down your words and rehearse a bit BEFORE you film. Whoever does the talking should be in front
of the camera if possible to take advantage of the directional microphone.
HANDLING
THE CAMERA:
If possible, use a tripod. Even cameras with the best steady-cam
technology won’t help if your camera moves much. A tripod will make any panning shots very
smooth. If you don’t have access to a
tripod, rest the arm holding the camera against something stationary, or rest
the camera itself on a table.
Keep zooming to a minimum – at best
it’s distracting, and at worst, the movement can be nauseating. I LOVE to use the zoom button on my camcorder
while filming, but always regret it when I see the video later. If you want to show a close up of something,
stop filming, zoom or move closer to the item, and start filming again.
One website I looked at referred to ‘firehosing.’ This is
when you keep the camera constantly moving like you’re spraying water on a fire
– another no-no. It’s fine to pan the
camera occasionally to provide a context for your video, but you need to stop and
focus on individual elements occasionally.
Likewise, ‘snapshotting’
is a no-no. This is when you take a few
seconds of video, stop, aim elsewhere, take a few more
seconds, and so on. On your test video,
do some sample ‘shots’ of varying lengths, and choose a length that allows you
to really SEE the shot without getting bored before the next view begins.
When you pan, go in one direction per
shot. Panning back and forth in the same
shot is distracting.