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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.
Here 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. If you have any
format other than VHS or 8mm/Hi8 then you must use
Method 2.
Label each tape as Tape 1, Tape 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.
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.
This is what you should end up with:
Note that time is expressed in Hours : Minutes : Seconds
: Frames - It is important to keep to this format. Your
VCR will not show the frames, but please save the editor
some confusion by using ":00" on the right to hold their
place.
If you have MS Excel or MS Word then you can make a
spread sheet that you can Email or bring on a floppy
disc. This will save us the time of typing it in to our
computer and save you money
Download spreadsheet template
Don't have Excel or Word?
Click here to download the text version.
Method 2
Our preferred method because it is very accurate and
saves everyone a lot of headaches.
Basically we take your tapes and make 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 would with
Method 1 accept you use the on-screen timecode as your
reference instead of your VCR's readout.
This is what the the onscreen timecode looks like:
Again, if you have MS Excel or MS Word then you can make
a spread sheet that you can Email or bring on a floppy
disc. This will save us the time of typing it in to our
computer and save you money
Download spreadsheet template
Don't have Excel or Word?
Click here to download the text version. |
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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 VHS 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. We will not supply
copyrighted music, nor will we accept music that has
been personally recorded on CD's or cassette tapes. If
you want to use popular music, buy the CD's. 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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