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10 Top Video Tips

1. Be aware of light conditions

Try not to shoot video into bright lights like windows or the sun. This will leave you with a silhouetted subject – it’s fine if you want to achieve that effect. Digital video will be grainy in poor lighting conditions so try and shoot with as much natural light as possible. Try and avoid strongly contrasting light on your subject as this will cause shadows. It’s fine to use this if you are after an atmospheric “Film Noir” effect.

2. Use the “Rule of Thirds” to compose your shots

To achieve better video use the Rule of Thirds. Divide up your viewfinder's image into 3 equal parts vertically and horizontally. Your subject should be near where the lines intersect - you have four choices - top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right.

3. Go easy on the zoom

An over eager finger on the zoom switch can ruin a good piece of video. Often the zoom works too quickly to capture the image accurately and the auto focus often can’t cope with this. If possible avoid using it at all whilst you are recording. A better option (illustrated below) is to film at one focal length and then pause before zooming in or out and then record again.

4. Give your video a beginning, middle and end

A good video has a clear beginning, something that happens in the middle and a definite ending. Very much like writing a story it is important to plan. Get an idea, do a reconnaissance, write a script and draw out a storyboard then go out and film.

5. Avoid camera shake

A shaky video is invariably a bad video even if there is a trend towards using this as an effect in docu-soaps to give an impression of reality. It is very hard to hold a camera steady by hand so a sturdy tripod is highly recommended. Another cause of shaky footage is a camera on extreme zoom – the further you zoom in the more difficult it is to control the camera.

6. Try different angles

To make your film more interesting try filming from unusual angles such as from above or just film parts of the body like feet walking or eyes looking. Different angles can also help tell the story shooting from below a person can give an impression of power.

7. Variety is the spice of life

To keep an audience’s attention use reaction shots and cut-away shots. So if, for example you are filming someone talking film the other character’s reaction to what they are saying. Use point of view shots to show the audience what the subject is seeing.

8. Set your scene

If you watch almost any piece of film you are given an enormous amount of information in the first few seconds following the usual pattern of when, where, what but leaving you to work out the why and how.

9. Keep things short and sharp

You can easily lose an audience by using over long shots. Individual shots are best kept to around 5 seconds. In adverts clips are often under 1 second. For school projects it is best to keep the whole video under 1 minute long.

10. Keep you audience on its toes

Try filming through a frame made by furniture or a part of a building. Look for interesting reflections of your subject. Try filming so that when a person starts speaking they are off camera and you see someone else’s reaction first. All this keeps your audience interested and guessing what is going to happen next.

Author: David Baugh. © David Baugh 2003. With kind permission of David Baugh