Whole Document Navigator (Click Here)    ---------------------------------- Top of Document Video Equipment Shooting Considerations Shooting Tips Editing In-the-Camera Editing What's Left Checklist for Producing Your Own Video Program Footnotes Disclaimer Copyright Infomation

Producing Your Own Video Program¹

Ricky Telg²

If you're producing a video program on your own - shooting a video with your own video camera - without the help of a video production company, the first thing you need to do is to have a plan. Write a script or an outline of the content you want covered and the types of shots youll need. Scriptwriting considerations are presented in the companion fact sheet AEC 343, Producing an Educational Video . But what about the technical side of the video production process? What equipment do you need, how do you shoot video, and what do you do about video editing? This fact sheet provides helpful hints on shooting video and producing an inexpensive video program.

Video Equipment

You should become as familiar as possible with the video camera you plan to use. Take a lot of time to practice shooting in various situations, with different lighting, visuals and composition. So, practice, practice, practice. For a basic shoot, the minimum equipment requirements are:

• Camera: Digital video cameras (mini-DV is the most popular format at this time) provide high-quality video. Some formats that you may wish to investigate are the following: analog: Hi-8, S-VHS; digital: mini-DV, D8, DVD-R. Look for such features as digital zoom and photographic capabilities.

• Microphone: Sound may be the least thought-about component in a video shoot, but it's just as important as the visuals you record. Good sound gives your program that "little extra." How many times when you watch home movies have you heard a lot of windy noise because the microphone was on the camera and the person who was talking was 10 feet away? Use microphones that can get close to a person's face. Microphone types include lavaliere (or clip-on microphones), hand-held, and "shotgun" microphones that are attached to cameras and pick up audio from a great distance.

• Lighting also needs to be taken into account. Will the video shoot be outside or inside? If it's outside, then you will have sunlight or "natural lighting." You'll have to contend with harsh shadows at various times of the day and cloud cover. You may need a reflector (a large silver screen) to direct sunlight to fill in shadows on people's faces. If the shoot is indoors, you will need lights, and not just fluorescent lights in an office. You'll need portable lights. Think about bringing extra extension cords, as well.

• Tripod: If at all possible, use a tripod when interviewing a person, panning the camera (moving left and right) or tilting the camera (moving up and down). The shots will be much smoother and much less shaky.

Shooting Considerations

The importance of using a tripod already has been mentioned. Here are some other things to consider when you're shooting video:

• Sequencing: Shoot the same shot different ways. Shoot a "long shot" (wide shot), "medium shot" (where you've zoomed in closer on the object of importance), and "close up" (where the object of importance encompasses the entire screen). This way, you draw the viewer into the video program. It also provides you with more shot choices during the editing process.

• Continuity: Have you ever watched a movie where an actor had a drink in one hand and it mysteriously switched to the other hand in the next shot? Or have you seen a television program where an actress had her arms crossed in front of her in one shot, and in the next, her arms were to her side? This is called a continuity error. To avoid this simple mistake, assign an assistant who can follow along on your video shoot to ensure that continuity is maintained. You can avoid some continuity errors by shooting cut-ins and cut-aways.

• Cut-aways: Remember to "cut away" from the action, to prevent yourself from being forced to make awkward edits in your video. For example, if you're shooting a basketball game, don't forget the audience! To transition from a shot of a basketball player on the court to another shot of the same basketball player on the court, there usually will be a "cut-away" to the fans rooting for their team.

• Cut-ins: It's the same concept as cut-aways, except instead of "cutting away" from the action (such as a shot of fans cheering at a basketball game), you "cut in" to the video. For example, if you were videotaping a person looking into a microscope, you would have a wide shot of the person staring into at the microscope. You would cut in with close-up shots of the person's hands, face, and microscope.

• Jump cuts: Avoid jump cuts whenever possible. These occur when a shot shows the same prominent person or object in different angles or different locations in back-to-back shots. Cut-ins and cut-aways and shooting shots that do not contain the "prominent person or object" help minimize jump cuts.

• Shot length: One problem many amateur video photographers have is recording short shots of two to five seconds in length. When they watch their footage later, they realize how little they actually recorded. Short shots are difficult to edit when you get to that stage of the production process. A good rule is to record at least 8 to 10 seconds per shot. You can always shorten the shots later in the video editing process.

• On-screen text: When shooting, you'll need to consider where textual material will be placed on the screen. If you're shooting an interview, about the bottom one-third of the screen will be a person's title. If you've zoomed in too closely, then the person's name will appear over the their mouth or nose.

• Record or "safety" tabs: After you've finished a shoot, be sure to use the safety record tab on the tape so no one can record over your video. On a VHS tape, the safety tab is on the front, left-hand edge of the tape. Break it out with your fingernail. Other tape formats have safety tabs that slide to prevent erasures.

• Logging tapes: It's also a good idea to catalog or "log" the video that you shoot. This way, you have a reference of what shots are on each tape. Include a description of the shot and the length of the shot to make editing faster and easier.

• Background noise or natural sound ("nat sound") can add "flavor" to the video, but if there's extraneous background noise that you don't want to record, you need to plan for this. For example, if you're doing a role-play with professionals in a conference room and don't want ringing telephones or hallway noise to spoil the role-play, then disconnect the telephones in the room or place signs in the hallway to let people know that videotaping is taking place.

Shooting Tips

You may wish to consider these pointers when using your video camera:

• Vary your shooting perspective. Don't shoot everything "head-on." Get above or below the object of interest.

• Establish a shot sequence of long shot (establishing shot), medium shot, and close-up.

• Don't shoot into a light source, because it will make the object you record appear dark.

• If you are not shooting with a tripod, consider setting the video camera on a table so the camera doesn't shake as much.

• Unless you need continuous audio for some purpose (such as recording a marching band's song), stop the camera with the record button before catching action in another area. Stopping the camera will mean less video that has to be searched through in the editing process.

• If you are not a steady shooter and you don't have a tripod, shoot fewer close-ups. The tighter or more close-up the shot, the shakier the shot will look. Shoot wider shots or get closer to the action.

• Make pans, zooms, and tilts count. One of the ways to recognize an amateur camera operator is the number of pans (movements left and right), zooms (in and out), and tilts (up and down) that are recorded. Only use pans, zooms, and tilts when they are called for - if you're following movement or showing the size of something. It's usually best to shoot a "static" (nonmoving) shot, as well as a pan, zoom, or tilt, so you will have a couple of shots to choose from in the editing process.

• Do not shoot in extremely humid conditions. Some cameras have automatic mechanisms that will shut down the camera if it's too humid to shoot.

Editing

Some consumer-grade video editing software programs are less than $100 and function well for educational video programs. These low-end programs are in the price range of many amateur video producers. Other editing programs are more expensive, but provide more functionality and special effects choices. These more expensive programs, with an educational discount, can run from $250 to $600. Retail prices for these pricier editing programs can be as high as $1,000.

Because faster computers with larger hard drives have gotten better capabilities for video editing, more consumers have gotten into video production. Video editing software programs digitize video, so it can be edited in the computer, allowing you to make changes easily.

However, if you edit your own program, you need to be aware of these two concepts that professional video producers know well. First, editing can be time-consuming. It takes roughly one hour to edit one finished minute of video. Second, editing video is a creative process. It's when you bring the various parts together.

It is suggested that you become very familiar with your video editing software before using it to develop a video production. The "learning curves" on video editing software packages range from the very easy to the very difficult.

In-the-Camera Editing

Instead of buying editing video editing software, you may opt to edit in the camera. This means shooting everything in sequence so that nothing needs to be edited for your final product. The benefit to editing in the camera is that it can be done quickly. For example, you may just want to show a few shots of a demonstration. "In-the-camera editing" is an excellent way to do that.

Drawbacks of in-the-camera editing include having to know exactly what you want to show in exactly the right sequence. There's no way to back up and change the videotape in camera, unless you change everything from that point on. It requires you to get it right the first time. Also, the video program's quality usually is not very high because of a lack of proper editing. Unsteady shots that would have been edited in a properly edited program have to be left in a camera-only-edited program.

What's Left

After the program has been edited, the finished product needs to be duplicated. If only a small number of copies are needed, you can make them with two VCRs: one to be used as a player, and the other as the recorder. Be sure to clearly label your tapes and remove record labels, because you don't want someone to record over your program accidentally. The program also can be burned to a CD-ROM or DVD or placed on the Web.

Checklist for Producing Your Own Video Program

• Practice with your video camera until you can operate it smoothly.

• Secure other video equipment: tripod, lights, and a microphone.

• Minimize pans, tilts, and zooms.

• Edit your video.

• Duplicate and distribute your video to your target audience.

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Footnotes

1. This document is Fact Sheet AEC 340, one of a series of the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication. Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication Date: January 1999. Revised: June 2004. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Ricky Telg, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.

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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.

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Copyright Information

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