Welcome to Videolifestyle’s Ten Tips To Shooting Great Video guide

Well what do you need before you proceed?
Basically, all u need is a camcorder and you can get started to shooting great looking videos!
Making your own videos isn’t extremely difficult. However, don’t underestimate the intricacies of

videomaking, all you have to do, is follow these ten simple steps and you will be on your way to

creating MUCH better looking videos!

Here are the tips for shooting great video :

Tripods come by the dime and dozen today. However, you have to choose carefully which tripod you should get. Most other schools and teachers will tell you “ The sturdier the tripod, the better.” That’s way too vague. Rather, get a tripod that’s of equal weight to your camcorder. How do you tell if a tripod matches the weight of your camcorder? Well, before you buy, try mounting your camcorder on a tripod and try handling it. If the tripod stays firmly on the ground as to twirl you camera left and right, up and down, then I’d say that you have a pretty good tripod for your camcorder. Another tip is to get a tripod that you can use frequently. You don’t want to rush around your holiday with a 10kg tripod, do you? Little things like a tripod bag, a strap for your tripod, or a bag to hold both your tripod and camcorder will do just fine. The truth is even a cheap $20/- tripod is better than not having one

Watching your neighbour’s holiday videos can be a real pain sometimes. The videos look shaky, like a rollercoaster and often goes in to a subject and suddenly zooms out. This is because they don’t know when to use the tools and skills available to them. Here’s a short rundown of the 2 main skills.

Panning: Shooting with your camcorder from left to right or vice versa . Great for scenery and landscapes.

Tilting  Shooting with a vertical movement either upwards or downwards. A very good technique to emphasize  e.g building, monument, statue.

Zooming : Bringing your subject in or out without having to move from you position. A great technique for composing your shots.

3. Shot Composition

There are totally no hard and fast rules when it comes to composition and many good compositions that can be achieved with plenty of experience and experimentation. A good tip for beginners to keep in mind is to stick to the basic fundamental using the rules of thirds as the general rule.

4. Know your camcorder

Knowing your camcorder is extremely important. You need to know where all your controls are and how they function. Like, “If I switch this button on, what does it do?” When you’re on a holiday and wanting to shoot videos of your family and friends, I’m sure you don’t want to refer to a manual halfway am I right? Experiment with your camcorder. Take it out on a bus ride, take it to work or use it to record a short documentary of your home, essentially, practice makes perfect.

5. Storytelling

A good movie must always have a great storyline. So remember, shoot your videos with a story in mind. It is always helpful to plan out your storyline before you set of on your shoot. More or less, create a kind of a shot list so you will not miss out any important shots.

6. Sound is the queen

A movie is incomplete with the absence of good sound. Most on camera microphones are ineffective when your subject is to far away from your on camera mic. If this the problem buy an external microphone which will assist you in better capturing sound. (if you intend to do this make sure in the first place you purchase a camcorder that has a mic input)

When recording in MiniDV camcorders, always use the mode that lets you record 60 minutes, which is the standard and provides best quality. NEVER record in LP mode, which allows an hour and a half of recording time. LP mode degrades your quality of video and your video may not be able to play on other decks other than your camcorder. So, to ensure best quality , use the standard SP mode.

8.Battery is life

Your camcorder’s lifespan while recording is determined by the length of your battery. Always get an extra battery when using your camcorder as you will never know when you’ll run out of battery! If you can, get an extra high capacity battery and you should be safe.
You should also carry around your charger if all your batteries have run out. I’ve ever asked a shopkeeper to lend me his power socket to charge my batteries while I was out on a day trip in a nearby island. So I guess bringing along my charger was a good idea after all!
Always charge your batteries after use; you don’t want to find your batteries all flat the day you want to use it!