Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Bought Canon Vixia HV30 HD Camcorder. What accessories/gear should I get?

shakran · 03-10-2008, 01:34 AM

save your money on the monopod and get a Steadybag ( http://www.visualdepartures.com/prod...steadybag.html ) instead. It's more useful in more places. If you don't feel like spending the coin, get some rice, a ziploc bag, and some fabric and sew your own.

Then get yourself a wireless lavaliere microphone, and clip it to whoever you're shooting. Audio is 70% of good video.

Finally practice, practice, practice and remember that video is all about storytelling. One long continuous shaky shot with lots of swish pans and zooms is typical home movie crap and will bore the hell out of whoever sees it. Keep your shots steady, sequence them with wide, medium, and tight shots, and remember that whatever you're shooting is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Know what the story is before you roll tape, and shoot what you need to get in order to tell it. A good tip is to come up with a 3-5 word focus statement. Who did what to whom. If I'm shooting a story about you learning to shoot, my focus statement is "Undercover Man Learns to Shoot Video." Then I know I don't have to get shots of your dog, or your car, or your hot neighbor. I can focus on you, the camera, and what you do with it.

So if I'm shooting this hypothetical story, I start with a tight shot of the box, you opening it with a knife. Cut to wideshot of you taking the camera out of the box, followed by a mediumshot of your face reacting to your new toy (reaction is more important than action. Shoot the home run, but make sure we see the cheering crowd). Tight shot of you clipping the battery on, another tight of you opening the viewfinder, a third of you hitting the record button, followed by a wide shot from in front of you shooting. Then a medium from behind you, still shooting, then a tight shot of the viewfinder so we see what you're shooting.

Ok that's a really long example of how to shoot for a story. We'd wrap it up with more sequenced shots of you ejecting the tape, loading it into the computer, editing, etc etc.

Steady sequenced video is the key to shooting something that others will want to watch.

If you want more tips or have questions, let me know.

03-10-2008, 01:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	save your money on the monopod and get a Steadybag ( http://www.visualdepartures.com/prod...steadybag.html ) instead. It's more useful in more places. If you don't feel like spending the coin, get some rice, a ziploc bag, and some fabric and sew your own. Then get yourself a wireless lavaliere microphone, and clip it to whoever you're shooting. Audio is 70% of good video. Finally practice, practice, practice and remember that video is all about storytelling. One long continuous shaky shot with lots of swish pans and zooms is typical home movie crap and will bore the hell out of whoever sees it. Keep your shots steady, sequence them with wide, medium, and tight shots, and remember that whatever you're shooting is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Know what the story is before you roll tape, and shoot what you need to get in order to tell it. A good tip is to come up with a 3-5 word focus statement. Who did what to whom. If I'm shooting a story about you learning to shoot, my focus statement is "Undercover Man Learns to Shoot Video." Then I know I don't have to get shots of your dog, or your car, or your hot neighbor. I can focus on you, the camera, and what you do with it. So if I'm shooting this hypothetical story, I start with a tight shot of the box, you opening it with a knife. Cut to wideshot of you taking the camera out of the box, followed by a mediumshot of your face reacting to your new toy (reaction is more important than action. Shoot the home run, but make sure we see the cheering crowd). Tight shot of you clipping the battery on, another tight of you opening the viewfinder, a third of you hitting the record button, followed by a wide shot from in front of you shooting. Then a medium from behind you, still shooting, then a tight shot of the viewfinder so we see what you're shooting. Ok that's a really long example of how to shoot for a story. We'd wrap it up with more sequenced shots of you ejecting the tape, loading it into the computer, editing, etc etc. Steady sequenced video is the key to shooting something that others will want to watch. If you want more tips or have questions, let me know.