If you’re planning a slightly more format video shoot, you’ll probably want to bring the items on the basic checklist as well as these more advanced items:
• Lights
• Clothes/wardrobe for the cast
• Make-up and hair-care items
• Fans (to simulate wind and mess up that hair you just combed)
• Extension cords
• Reflectors
• Stool
• Backdrop
• Clamps
• AC adapter and/or battery charger for camcorder
• Microphone
• Audio recorder (don’t forget batteries and blank audio tapes or MiniDiscs)
• Slate
• Script
My guess is that most of your video “shoots” will actually be pretty informal affairs, where you basically record an event that was scheduled to happen whether you brought your camcorder or not. Thus, you may have a hard time convincing everyone who is attending that they should dress appropriately for video. But there definitely are some types of clothes that work better in video than others — and if you have any control at all over what the people in your video wear, try making these suggestions:
- Avoid clothes with lots of thin parallel lines or stripes: Thin parallel lines (like those you’d find on coarse corduroy or pinstripe suits) don’t get along well with TV screens; they create a crawling or wavy visual effect called a moiré pattern.
- Limit the use of very bright shades of red and blue. Red is especially problematic because it tends to bleed into neighboring portions of the video image. This doesn’t mean everyone in your movie should wear dark, drab colors, however. In the best of all possible shoots, your subjects’ clothing is bright enough to lend some interest, but contrasts with the background somewhat so they don’t get lost in the video image.
If you’re like me, most of your video shoots will actually be pretty informal, so assigning a director, sound engineer, and key grip probably seems a little silly. Besides, people who are formally assigned to such jobs will want special T-shirts and name tags and lattes and all kinds of other stuff that isn’t accounted for in your shoestring budget.
Still, you’re probably going to need some help —with setting up equipment, holding lighting props and microphones, standing guard to prevent passersby from walking in front of the camera, and (of course) hauling gear. I’ve found that my kids are extremely helpful when it comes to videography because they know that moviemaking is cool. (Why are children always smarter than everybody else?) You’ll want to take a few minutes to indoctrinate whomever you enlist for your video crew on the finer points of moviemaking and provide some dos and don’ts to follow while they’re on the set. Helpers should be trained on any equipment they’re going to use, and they should know where they can (and cannot) stand to avoid showing up in the picture. Anyone holding a microphone must be told that little hand movements may cause loud thumps and other noise; anyone holding a light reflector should be reminded to sit still lest strange shadows pan wildly back and forth on the scene.
Perhaps most importantly, remind all helpers that silence is golden. A camera lens may be limited to a specific field of vision, but a microphone isn’t. When little Johnny comes over to you behind the camera and whispers, “Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom,” his revelation will be recorded loud and clear on the tape.
Camcorders are so simple to use these days that they encourage seat-of-the pants videography, which isn’t always the best idea. Just grabbing your camcorder and hastily shooting may be fine if you’re shooting the UFO that happens to be flying overhead, but for most other situations, some careful planning will improve your movie.
The first thing you’re probably going to do in any video project is shoot some video. Even if you are shooting a simple school play or family gathering, you can and should plan many aspects of the shoot:
- Make a checklist of shots that you need for your project. While you’re at it, make an equipment checklist too. I’ve included a video-shoot checklist at the end of this chapter.
- Survey the shooting location. Make sure passersby won’t trip over your cables or bump the camera. (It makes you unpopular, and can ruin your footage to boot.)
- Talk to property owners or other responsible parties. Identify potential disruptions, and make sure you have permission to shoot. For example, your kids’ school probably doesn’t mind if you shoot video of Suzie’s band concert, but commercial concerts or sporting events usually have rules against recording performances.
- Plan the time of the shoot. This is especially important if you are shooting outside. What part of the sky will sunlight be coming from? Do you want to take advantage of the special light available at sunrise or sunset?
- Bring more blank tapes and charged batteries than you think you’ll need.
You never can tell what may go wrong, and preparing for the worst is always a good idea. When it comes to blank tapes and spare (charged) batteries, too many is always better than not quite enough. If you want to shoot high-quality video, you’ll be happy to learn that staging an elaborate video production with dozens of staff members, acres of expensive equipment, and professional catering is not necessary. But you can do some simple things to improve any shooting situation — whether you are casually recording a family gathering or producing your own low-budget sci-fi movie. The following sections help you shoot better video, no matter the situation.
