1. Get Close
 Video
and television are all about close-ups. We love seeing faces, eyes, smiles
and laughter. This means getting close to the action.
Instead of standing at one end of a table shooting the birthday kid blowing
out the candles on a cake, lean over the table and record that action filling
the viewfinder.
Then take close-up shots of all of the other kids' faces - it doesn't matter
what's going on for each one, just that you get them - all of them - recorded.
At a party don't just hover at one end of the room, get in the crowd and
circulate, get into their faces and conversations. Some might think you're
a bit obnoxious and pushy, but when they see the video later, they'll be
so happy to see all the smiles and happy twinkling eyes. |
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4. Shoot Details
 Another way to add interest
to your videos is to focus in on the details of the event.
I find at a party that many of these shots are best taken before the guests
arrive and might include shots of the birthday cake, balloons and other
decorations. Often it's good to get in nice and close to these things - fill
the frame with them (to the point where they even become a little abstract).
You'll find that these types of shots look great scattered through the video
between shots of people.
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2. Shoot at Eye Level
Try to hold your camcorder at the same level as your subjects.
One of the most important tips I can give is to get down low when taking
shots of children. Get the shot from the child's perspective. Don't shoot
down at them (makes them seem small and insignificant); don't shoot up at
them (makes them look like monsters).
This is especially true when shooting kids and animals - get down on your
knees, sit on the floor, or lie down prone on the floor. They'll be more
at ease and you'll get some terrific footage.
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5. Shoot Interviews
 At
family events, don't just capture people milling around and having a good
time, or just the blowing out of birthday candles and opening of presents.
Get some interviews - use the audio capture capabilities of your camcorder
or use an inexpensive wire-attached lavaliere microphone pinned to their
shirt collar. Ask the guests questions that don't require a "yes" or "no"
answer, but require that they say a sentence or more about the birthday boy
or girl, or a funny experience they've had with him or her.
Good interviewers have some prepared questions to ask the guests, so plan
ahead and these interviews will make a good video very, very special. |
3. Shoot Wide Angle
Avoid using the zoom or telephoto lenses because you're probably not using
a tripod, but recording everything handheld.
It's always a struggle to keep faces and people in focus when they're moving
around in unpredictable ways. When you're on wide angle, almost everything
is in focus and the inevitable bumps and wiggles you get from shooting next
to people will not be noticeable.
The most interesting video shots are those where you are physically moving
the camcorder closer to your subject or farther from your subject (not zooming),
maybe while panning the camcorder slightly sideways.
Use the foldout LCD monitor to see what you're recording during this move.
Now that I've said this, do mix-up your shooting angles and focal lengths
too to inject a lot of life and variety into the video. |
6. Hand-over Your Camera to the Kids
 This might sound a
little risky, but if you really want to get some interesting footage and
angles, not to mention the impromptu audio that will be recorded, it's worth
the chance.
Most kids these days have no problem safely operating a camcorder. Show them
how to hold the camcorder, where the start/stop button is located and let
them go.
If you see them panning too fast, or trying to use the zoom control, politely
make some suggestions to just shoot holding the camcorder as steady as they
can. Of course, you may have to do some editing-out of a bunch of silly,
jerky or otherwise unusable footage, but that's the joy of getting all that
other priceless footage.
And, this will most likely ensure that you're in the movie as well. How many
times have you watched a movie to hear from the crowd that they didn't see
you having fun, see you in the action? Too often we forget to include "the
videographer" in our movies. |
So, there you have it, six tips on how to get some great usable family footage
that will allow you to make a priceless home movie of your family for those
occasions that pop-up once in a while. All of your family and some of your
friends know that you're a videographer, so why not show them what you can
do with some simple shooting techniques to make your editing task that much
easier?
This article is one of a series Frank writes for Viewfinders -
the newsletter of The Viewfinders Digital Video Club of Cupertino. See
www.viewfindersclub.org.
We are very grateful to the author and to Brian Lucas the Newsletter editor
and publisher for permission to reproduce it here.
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