Using Camcorders - The Use of Camcorders (Page 5 of 6 ) Camcorders are fairly easy to use. If after playing around with yourcamcorder you still are unable to record something, rewind it, and viewit on the camcorder, go ahead and ask for help. Don’t be afraid to(gulp) read the manual. Chances are this is a new area for you, so beprepared to do a little research. I suggest starting your filminginside with your camcorder plugged into the wall. Get the basics down,then move outside. It is important to have an extra battery on hand ifyou are shooting video outside. Most camcorders have automatic settings for beginners. Use theseuntil you feel comfortable with your camera, then add on the differentfeatures. Many newer camcorders have some editing effects that can beadded to your video. Most of these are basic video effects such as fadeto black, fade to white, wipe right, wipe left, shutter, slide, doorwipe and many others. These video effects are nice if you are notplanning on editing the video yourself. However, if you are going touse an external video editing software like Adobe Premiere or Pinnacle,you will probably be disappointed with the effects that come with yourvideo camera. A Few Tips - Start small with your shooting. You might try first to shoot aninterview-type video inside, or a child at play inside. After recordingsomething, use the buttons on your camera to rewind the video and seewhat you have. Test and retest until you get the hang of it.
- When shooting inside, you will probably find that the imagesseem flat when viewed on your TV or the view screen. If this is a greatconcern of yours, look into different lighting configurations. Most ofthe video shot by amateurs like us is flat because we don’t payattention to the background lighting, the following graphic shows theproper way to set up lighting for your shot.
As you can see, shadows created by thestronger keylight need to be offset by a fill light and backlight. Ilearned something interesting here while doing research for thisarticle. There are much fewer differences in the levels of lightcaptured from a video camera than from a professional camera.
When shooting, it is best to use the viewfinder,instead of the LCD screen. Using the viewfinder, (the little clear boxon your camcorder that you also use when taking regular pictures) is amore accurate representation of what the film will look like than thevideo that appears on the LCD screen.
With a littleimagination, you can put together a decent documentary-style film. Thesecret to creating good, long films is storyboarding. Storyboards aresimilar to comic books for your film. Below is an example of astoryboard.
Theadvantage of a storyboard is that you have the highlights planned.Amateur video buffs often take hours and hours of footage, thinkingthat they will edit it later for the “good stuff”. Knowing what goodstuff you are looking to capture up front saves time and money. Chancesare, you will have a lot of video and will have to edit some of it out.
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