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The Basics of
Making Great Video with Your Camcorder
By Mark
Shapiro
Are you
planning on getting a new camcorder this holiday season? Or
maybe you already got a new camcorder earlier this year and are wondering "what
now"?
Or maybe you have had a camcorder for a while but have
been too cautious to take it out and use it? Or maybe, you
have been using it a while but the video you shoot looks
embarrassing?
Here are a few tips on how anyone can make
their video movies look and sound a lot better.
The first is
make your camcorder your friend. It sounds
silly, but in order to master the often bewildering array of
buttons, menus and options on a typical camcorder, you need
to practice with it and understand how it works.
The obvious
place to start is with the instruction manual. Have you ever
opened it up? Do you know where it is? Find the manual and
crack it open. I recommend going through it – slowly – with
a marker or high lighter at your side and carefully note the
important stuff. How do you get the tape in and out; how do
you charge up and exchange the batteries? How do you set and
engage the various automatic exposure modes?
Believe or
not, I have had people in some of my “How To Use a
Camcorder” classes that never were able to use their
camcorder once the initial battery charge wore off. They
didn’t know how to charge up the batteries and nobody ever
showed them.
Once you have
figured out the basics like getting the tape in and out,
recording and playing back, it is then time to move on to
the more advanced techniques like special effects, zooming,
focus, and all of the special exposure settings.
By the way,
you can’t hurt your camcorder by pushing buttons. It’s not
like a Windows computer where you can crash the operating
system or get nasty bugs and viruses by not using it
correctly. At the worst your videos will look funny. So, go
through the manual, page by page, and play with all the
various controls. Push buttons, move knobs and adjust the
various settings to see what it does to your camcorder and
recorded audio and video.
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video gear for them for over 15 years. No problems, no
hassles and always a good deal.
What is video
all about?
Here is the
essence. If you don’t remember anything but this – I will be
happy. Home video is all about people and their faces.
Close-ups of happy smiling faces, twinkling eyes and dancing
smiles. Yes, you can shoot soccer games, your kids playing
the cello, a trip to Hawaii, but what most families, grand
parents and friends really want to see, is faces and
close-ups.
Plus when you
play it back on a typical TV, most wide shots are a bit
fuzzy and indistinct. Yes, you do need the occasional wide
shot and shots of scenery to set the scene, but the essence
of home video is faces.
The Basic
Controls – Zoom
Let’s start
with the basic and the most overused and abused control –
zoom. Zoom is what enables you to use your camcorder like a
telescope – zooming in from a wide shot to a small close-up
of the action or a face. Zoom is good for when you want to
accent something; when you are need to make a point, when
you are stuck in the back of hall and need to make the shot
of your kids on stage look a lot bigger.
ZoomWars
- My Zoom is Bigger than Yours
There are two
types of zoom found on camcorders- optical and digital.
Optical zoom is the important one. Some camcorders offer
optical zoom ratios of up to 20 times and more. Most are in
the ten to 16 times range. Optical zoom uses the camcorder’s
lens to bring things closer. Digital zoom on the other hand
electronically magnifies the center of the image. Digital
zoom also magnifies the noise, distortion and fuzziness.
Despite the marketing hype, digital focus is something never
to be used – unless you really have to. I always turn off
digital focus on my camcorders so that I won’t accidentally
engage it.
The secret of
zoom is to not use it while recording. Zooming out from a
close up to a wide shot is much more aesthetically pleasing
than zooming in to a close-up on something. Try to never
zoom in on something while the camcorder is rolling tape and
recording. Instead, starting with a wide shot of the whole
scene, pause the recorder, zoom in maybe halfway and then
shot some more. Pause the recorder once again, and then zoom
in to a tight shot to get the close-up and details. Zooming
in all at once, live, is called a crash zoom because you are
crashing in on your subject.
Even better
than zooming in, is to physically get closer to your
subject. The closer you get, the more detail you will be
able to capture. Also, by getting closer and using a
wide-angle lens, you can reduce jiggling images, improve the
focus and audio quality, as well as get a better exposure.
Getting close is a secret to resolving an entire cornucopia
of camcorder challenges.
 Ten Great
New Years Video Resolutions
Rocker levers
Most
camcorders have a rocker lever that controls the zoom. If
you push on it lightly, it zooms slowly, if you push hard,
it zooms quickly. This can be a great tool for making
professional looking camera moves – especially zoom outs. A
nice, slow zoom out from a close-up can work wonders, as it
reveals more and more of the shot.
Focusing In
on Focus
Focus means
getting your images to look as sharp as possible. This is
nowhere as difficult as it used to be. Most camcorders have
very sophisticated electronics that can quickly and
effectively automatically focus your camcorder for you. Just
aim it at what you want the shot to focus on and the
electronics do it all for you automatically. Some camcorders
allow you to select what part of the shot to focus on and
then focus on that section automatically.
However,
every once in awhile you may need to manually focus.
Camcorders can have a hard time manually focusing when the
light is dim, with extreme zoom ratios, through a dirty
window or screen, or even on a busy scene with cars zipping
by in the foreground. For example, if you are in a bus with
wire screens in the windows, the camcorder may automatically
decide to focus on the screen pattern instead of on the
volcano in the distance. Or, while you are trying to shoot
the medieval church across the street, the camcorder will
search for focus, going in and out of focus, as it tries to
focus in on each car that passes by or the tourists walking
in front of you. These are some of the typical situations
where it is very important to know how to manually focus.
Step one is
to locate the manual focus button. It might be the auto
focus off button. The next step is to aim your camcorder at
what you want to be in focus and then turn the focus knob to
get the image sharp. Adjusting the focus can be simple or
complex depending on what kind of focus controls you have on
your camcorder. Using a ring around the lens makes it easy –
using the zoom rocker knob is a bit more challenging – using
a set of in and out focus buttons can be maddening.
If you want
to get great focus – and are not planning on moving the
camcorder during the shot, try this technique. With manual
focus engaged, zoom in as tight as you can on your subject.
Now focus as sharply as possible. Once you have the focus
set, as long as you don’t change the distance between the
camcorder and your subject, you can zoom in and out as much
as you want – and your camcorder will stay focused.
No shaking
allowed
Look at the
video you shoot and then compare it to that shot by
professionals. One of the biggest differences is probably
the lack of shaking and jiggles in the footage shot by the
pros. So how can you make your footage rock steady? Here are
a few basic tips.
The most
obvious is to use a tripod or a monopod. You don’t need an
expensive one. A forty-dollar Target or Wal-Mart special
will work just fine. Most camcorders have a tripod screw
socket on the bottom that enable you to connect it to almost
any tripod on the market. If your tripod has a removable
shoe that attaches to your camcorder, don’t lose it. It
sounds goofy, but I lose these little thingies all of the
time and unfortunately, they are usually unique to
individual makes and models of cheap tripods.
Another
option is to use the image stabilization feature found on
most camcorders. There are two flavors of image
stabilization – optical and digital. Optical is the best but
digital is pretty good as well. Years ago, you would see a
big degradation in image quality when you used digital image
stabilization but the technology has gotten a lot better. In
addition, some camcorders offer digital stabilization when
you first record the video, as well as when you play it
back. You get two chances to stabilize the video and make it
look good. Regardless of what type of image stabilization
you use, neither compares to using a tripod or a monopod.
Here are two
more tricks to use to make your footage “seem” less shaky.
First, shoot wide angle. The closer you are to your subject
and the less zoom you use, the less anyone will notice that
your camcorder is jerking around. Shakiness is most
noticeable on extreme telephoto shots where you are using
maximum zoom. In fact, I think it is impossible to get a
stable shot while hand holding a camcorder when you are
using a zoom of 16 times or more. Another trick to hide
shakiness is to deliberately move the camcorder while
shooting. On a still shot, jerkiness is easy to see.
However, if you are slowly moving your camcorder following
your subject, or slowing zooming out from a close-up, the
shakiness is nowhere as noticeable.
The Best
Video Shooting Tips and Tricks
Here are some
of my favorite tips and tricks that will help make your
videos look a lot better.
Use the
LCD screen and get unique angles. Most camcorders now
have a fold out LCD screen to help you compose and monitor
your shots. You no longer have to stick the viewfinder to
your eye and peer through it. By using the LCD monitor, you
can comfortably shoot at a variety of angles. With the LCD
titled upwards, try shooting with the camcorder held down at
your knees or at tummy level. People look a lot better when
you are shooting up at them.
You don’t
have to hold the camcorder in front of you. With the LCD
opened up in the right direction, you can hold the camcorder
off to your side, at different heights and get all kinds of
fun and unique angles on the action. In a crowd or in a
situation with tall people in front of you, hold the
camcorder up overhead with the LCD screen aimed down at you.
No more bobbing heads obscuring your view when you are
shooting your kid’s concert recital. (Unless of course, they
all read Camcorder & CV Magazine and now you’ll get a bunch
of bouncing camcorders obscuring your view).
Try
shooting at your subject’s eye level. If you are
shooting children, use the camcorder at your belly level
with the LCD screen facing up. Even better, get down on your
knees or sit on the floor and shoot the kids circling around
you. Shooting on the ground works exceptionally well when
trying to get good video of your pets and other animals. Who
wants to see shots of the top of Spot’s furry head?
Avoid the
Daddy Syndrome - This might be the most important
recommendation; especially when you are looking back at your
footage many years from now. Let someone else operate the
camcorder from time to time and let you get into the shot.
I call this the Daddy syndrome. Too many times, the dad in
the family becomes the official videographer and gets all
these wonderful shots of the family having fun and going on
trips. However, when the family watches back the movies
later, where’s dad? He wasn’t having fun at all. Was he even
there? You got to get out from behind the camera.
From the
earliest, give your camcorder to your significant other or
let your kids shoot. When my daughters first started walking
I let them hold and operate the camcorder. Of course, I made
sure they knew how to hold it correctly and that the floor
underneath was carpeted and padded. And you know what, they
never dropped the camcorder. Yes, the shots often cock-eyed,
out of focus and bouncing video, but when I look back at it,
and remember the day, it is all right. And I am in the
picture! So dads, let go of the camcorder and let your
family shoot.
How to get
good audio
Getting good
audio is often harder than getting good video. There are two
basic tricks. One, if audio is really important to your
video, buy an external mike and plug it into your
camcorder’s external mike input jack. You can buy a basic
shotgun or telephoto mike that attaches to the top of your
camcorder for under $100. Until you add this one peripheral
to your camcorder, you will not know truly how good your
camcorder’s audio can sound. The other trick, if you don’t
have a mike, or if your camcorder doesn’t offer a mike input
connector, is to get close. The closer you are to your
subjects, the better the camcorder’s mike will sound. It may
seem obvious but I have seen many people shooting
performances standing too far away. All they had to do is
take a few steps closer and their video would not only sound
better, bit it would look better.
Here are
my top three recommendations –
Video is
all about faces
Read the
manual and practice playing with your camcorder’s controls.
Get close –
it will make your videos look and sound a lot better.
OK, four.
Let
everyone in the family operate the camcorder. Avoid the
Daddy Movie Maker Syndrome.
copyright 2007
Mark Shapiro
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