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To
achieve maximum effectiveness, a video should be well
planned. One way to get the project going is to
designate one person as “producer.” He or she will be in
charge of obtaining photos and all the other ingredients
for the video, and then be available to answer questions
when our editor begins to assemble the production.
Below you will find general notes on producing any type of
video. Many of the areas will not be needed for your particular
video project, but we have included them for your information.
Topics covered on this page:
Length
Style and Feel
Shooting
Video Yourself
Logging
Video Clips
Using
Old Movies
Choosing
Photos
Music |
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Length |
The
first step in making a video is to decide how long you'd
like the program to be.
If it's to be shown to a group during an event, such as
a tribute video or presentation, try to hold it to no
more than about 12 minutes or so. It has been found that
anything exceeding 15 minutes loses the audience’s
attention. After all, they are at a social event and are
in that frame of mind which is different than someone
sitting at home watching television.
A concert or play is another matter entirely because the
video itself is the entertainment.
Whatever the topic, your goal is to keep the viewer
interested. |
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Style and Feel |
A very
important step in creating a video is deciding how you
want the video to look. You'll want to think about
things like the colors used in the graphics or the style
of the music, things that affect the overall emotional
tone and rhythm of your video. It is important to
understand who will be viewing the video and what it is
that you want to make them feel; Do you want your
viewers excited and energized by your product video or
moved with emotion by the tribute for your loved one?
These are the things to consider when producing any
video. It's important to decide on the tone or mood of
your production before you start shooting. Just as
spooky music sets the tone, the way you light and frame
your shots can change the mood of your video in a very
powerful way. |
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Shooting Video Yourself |
A few
things we suggest to make your video production look
more professional:
1. Use a tripod whenever possible so your shots don't
look wiggly (unless you are trying for a shaky-cam look)
and check your framing (not too much headroom is needed)
Sony has a super lightweight tripod that has zoom and
other controls built into the tripod arm.
2. Always roll 2 or 3 seconds before the shot you are
trying to take - before the subject begins to speak or
before you start a zoom. You'll need that leader for
editing and if you don't, the beginning or end can get
cut off because many camera's backspace before they
start recording.
3. If you are recording voices - use an external mic,
not the built-in camera mic. Either attach a shotgun
microphone to the hotshoe of your camera, clip a
lavalier microphone on the speaker, or use a handheld
microphone right up to their mouth - especially when
there is a lot of extraneous noise in the background.
These mics are not very expensive for basic models.
4. Working with on-camera talent: If the camera person
is speaking a direction to on-camera talent and the
talent begins to speak while the camera person is still
speaking - have the talent start again. Otherwise you'll
hear "go ahead" stepping on talent
presentation and it can't be edited out. If talent
messes up part way through or needs to pick up at a new
point in the presentation, camera person should change
the shot. Example: Your opening shot was framed as a
"long shot" or "wide shot" for the 1st part of the
presentation. If you pick up for Part 2 and the shot
stays the same, when you edit the two pieces together
you'll get what editors call a "jump cut" same to same.
If you zoom in to a close-up for Part 2 it will cut
together much better. |
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Logging Video Clips |
It
is very important to log your footage before bringing it
in for editing. This will save you lots of money! It might
seem like it's pre-editing your footage before hand and
it is. The more time you spend in the editing bay the more
it will cost you, so it's best to save your time for the
actual editing.
There are a few methods for doing this - you may want to
ask us which is best for your project:
Method 1
This is the simplest, but least accurate. If you have a
very simple project with less than 60 minutes of video then
this method will work ok for you.
Label each source tape or DVD as #1, # 2, and so on. It's
important for us to be able to tell the tapes apart so there
is a need for unique titles among the cassettes or DVD.
If you are logging a VHS tape, your VCR must display time
in hours, minutes and seconds, not the vague 4-digit foot
counter found on older machines, for this to work. Be sure
to rewind each tape to its beginning, then press rewind
again just to make sure it really has rewound completely.
Zero the counter and proceed to the first clip you want
to use. Log the desired clip with a name, the start and
end times and the tape name.
Time should beexpressed in Hours : Minutes : Seconds - It
is important to keep to this format.
Method 2
Our preferred method because it is very accurate and saves
everyone a lot of headaches.
Basically we take your tapes and make DVD copies with timecode
"burned in" on the bottom of the screen. At the
same time we make digital sub-masters of the footage which
is easier for us to edit with. Once this is completed then
you log your footage just as you would with Method 1 except
you use the on-screen timecode as your reference instead
of your VCR's readout.
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Using Old Movies |
| If
you do have 8mm or 16mm film that you want to include - and
they really are worth the extra effort to locate - allow enough
time to have them transferred to video. We always recommend
transferring film to digital videotape. We can make DVD copies
of the entire films for you to view at home. The digital master
will offer the clearest image from which to make copies and
to edit your tribute video. Once transferred, use the logging
methods above to sort the shots you'd like to use. |
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Choosing Photos |
Be
critical when selecting pictures! Generally speaking,
video cannot improve the quality of poor photographs.
Don't use ripped, folded, or stained photos unless they
are very meaningful and no other examples of that
portion of the person's life are available. Select
pictures that tell a story and try to avoid picking the
same sort of composition over and over. Family group
photos, for example, are often composed identically year
after year - the subjects get older but everything else
in the picture stays pretty much the same. Your show
will look better and be more interesting if the shots
vary.
Don't paste clever captions or stickers on the front of
your photos. Keep in mind also that because of the shape
of a TV screen, horizontal photos tend to work better
than vertical. Weed out photos that are out of focus,
similar to other images, or simply redundant. Only
include images that really say something about a given
part of that person's life. Examples: A wild hairstyle
period, the European study abroad, first baby, first
house. Think like a filmmaker. If you have a cute
picture of little Herbie in a pedal car, do you also
have one of him in his high school hot rod and, perhaps,
in the sports car of his bachelor days? That kind of
continuity can make a tribute video really memorable.
Now gather up all your pictures or scrapbook items.
Check everything for quality and cleanliness and then
put the items in the order you want them to appear in
the video. Number each item in order of appearance. Be
careful with ink! Modern photographic paper is actually
plastic and some inks will never dry on it. So don't
smear ink from the back of one picture to the front of
another! It's a better idea to number with pencil on
paper stick-on labels and then stick them on the back of
the photos.
When photos are used on video, a guideline for time is
for each image to be on screen for about 4 to 6 seconds,
or 15 pictures per minute. A 10-minute video will
include about 150 pictures. |
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Music |
| Though
we've saved music for last, its importance can't be overstated.
The right song played with cherished images can create a moving
and personal experience. But there is a catch if you want
to include hit tunes of yesteryear. Because of International
Copyright Laws, we insist that you purchase the CD's that
contain the songs you'd like included on your video or we
can purchase them on your behalf from ITunes or similar service.
We will not supply copyrighted music. If you want to use popular
music, buy the music. Musicians support themselves and their
families (and their agents and attorneys) through the sale
of their music and we think they are entitled to the fruit
of their labor. Remember! Videos that include copyrighted
music without proper permissions can never be sold and admission
can never be charged for their viewing. An alternative to
using copyrighted material is to include music from our extensive
library of royalty-free production music. |
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