Find yourself obligated to shoot videos of your family again? Want a way to get out of it? Well, here are some things you can do that will make your videos so ugly, no one will want you to shoot video again.
At Patchin Pictures, the video production and duplication company I founded in 1997, we’ve seen thousands of family videos, and we see the mistakes that people commonly make. The biggest reason people shoot so badly isn’t to get out of shooting; it’s because they’re not thinking about doing a good job of shooting. People tend to “point and shoot.” Why not? Many cameras are even classified as point-and-shoot cameras. So, here’s my advice on how to ruin your home movies (or not):
10: Make sure to leave the camera’s text display on so you record the date over every piece of video you shoot. This is not much of an issue with new cameras as old ones. New cameras record the date separate from the image. With older cameras, it’s much more important to record the date than it is to get a clear shot of your kid’s face. We see this all the time. People seem to find the “date stamp” feature useful because it will always show them when they shot the video. More often than not, they haven’t set the correct date in the first place. Don’t use this feature. Write the date on the tape case. For newer cameras, the date information is recorded in addition to the video and does not have to be imprinted on the video image.
9: When you’re shooting an important event, make sure you get as far away as possible so you can’t see the people on stage. So many people fail to think about their shooting position and how this affects their video. Get close and get good shots.
8: When you’re driving, just point your camera at anything you see, especially scenery. And make sure your dirty window is rolled up so you get all the smudges in your shot. We see hours and hours of landscape footage that was shot decades ago. Guess what? It looks the same as if it were shot yesterday. Pine trees and mountains haven’t changed much through the years. That isn’t to say you should completely omit scenery shots, but keep them to a minimum unless you love using the “fast-forward” button on your remote.
7: Never use a tripod or try to stabilize your camera. Shaky shots are better, and you can always claim it’s your shooting style. Maybe you don’t own a tripod, but you can at least try to stabilize the camera by leaning against something. If you do have a tripod, use it, especially at stage events such as plays and graduations.
6: Always put the faces of your subjects directly in the center of your shot. It’s great to have lots of extra space above people’s heads, and you don’t want to see people’s legs and feet anyway. This is one of the most common mistakes people make when shooting. They put everything right in the middle of the screen, only concerned with recording something, and never thinking about how to make it look the best. Remember not to leave too much empty space above people’s heads. Compose your shots so your subjects are not always directly in the middle.
5: Never charge your batteries or carry extra recording media (tapes, cards, hard drive space). It’s best to end your video by saying, “Ohh! The battery’s dying. I better-.” Or, “I’m almost out of t-.” It’s easy to forget about charging your battery. To be safe, carry an extra battery and charge the one you’re not using. The same goes for not having enough recording space to get the shots you want. Cary extra media, and make sure you have enough recording space. Why have a camera if you’re not ready to use it?
4: Always use the recording mode that allows you to record the longest amount of video. It saves you a few bucks on tapes and cards. Those “LP” modes on your camera should be avoided at all times unless you have no choice. Yes, you can get more video in the same amount of space, but the quality suffers. It doesn’t make sense to degrade the quality of your video just to save a few bucks. Buy more tapes and cards—unless of course, your family videos aren’t worth another couple bucks.
3: Copy all your master videos to VHS tapes and re-use your original tapes or delete your digital media. This too will save you a few bucks. Again, it makes no sense to destroy your video quality just to save a few dollars. If you’re using tapes, always keep the originals and never re-use tapes. First of all, you should always keep the highest quality originals regardless of the copies you make, and second, re-used tapes are prone to more glitches which could doom your videos before you’ve even shot them. Buy more tapes or back-up digital media on another drive.
2: Make sure you leave your camera on and recording when you put it back in its bag or when you’re walking around. You’ll get lots of great shots of the inside of your lens cap or your feet, and you’ll waste battery power and recording space, too. This is just an error of not paying attention. Almost everyone has done this at least once. Take care to make sure your camera is off when you’re not using it.
1: Always let the camera set your exposure automatically. Your camera knows better than you what the shot should look like. Automatic settings work well when everything you’re shooting is in the same, even light. When your subject is not lit well and is in front of a bright window or light, your camera records everything too dark. Conversely, when your subject is well-lit in front of a dark background (such as at a play) the camera records everything too light. The camera doesn’t know what you’re shooting. It is up to you to make adjustments to get the exposure bright enough or dark enough. Learn to use manual exposure adjustments on your camera.
Now, you can use this advice until another family member takes the video camera away from you, or you can use these tips to do a better job of shooting video. We hope you choose the latter. Either way, Patchin Pictures® is here to produce your videos for you or help you make them yourself. Check our other blogs for more details on how to shoot better video. Also, please give us your comments and suggestions.
About the Author:
Steve Patchin is Founder and General Manager of Patchin Pictures®. Patchin Pictures® specializes in Making the Movies of Your Life®. Call us today for a free consultation. That’s why we’re here. Let’s make movies together.
