How can you keep track of all the video clips when they’re archived on multiple drives?

In this tutorial video, I’ll show you how I organize and catalog my video clips. You’ll see:

• The software I use
• The order (workflow)
• Several tips that have made things easier for me

This video is available to members only.

You can click here to watch the trailer.

If you like this tutorial and want access to more than 150 other video tutorials like it, you should learn about an Izzy Video Membership.

How can you make family videos more interesting? Emulate what you see in documentaries.

In this video, I’ll show you the four ingredients of documentaries, and then I’ll show you how you can turn regular family videos into micro-documentaries. (And people will love what you make with them!)

This video is available to members only.

You can click here to watch the trailer.

If you like this tutorial and want access to more than 150 other video tutorials like it, you should learn about an Izzy Video Membership.

Is your video too flat?

I see it all the time in online videos — a camera directed squarely toward a face that’s directed squarely toward the camera. Want to know how to make a more interesting image? Turn something. Turn the person, or turn the camera. Or if you want, do both.

This creates diagonal lines in your image. Diagonal lines help because they add energy and a sense of movement. The human eye enjoys diagonal lines more than flat ones.

How can you apply this when you’re shooting video?

If your subject is a building, move the camera to the side so you’re not shooting directly toward the flat side. You want to see at least two sides.

If you’re shooting video inside a room, move the camera so you’re NOT shooting directly toward a flat wall. A good tip is to shoot into corners. When you focus on this, it’s easy to capture the diagonal lines of the walls.

If you’re shooting video of a person’s face (say for a classic talking head shot), turn the person or the camera so you can see the side of their face a little. This will add more dimension and movement.

One thing to avoid — don’t turn a person’s face too far. Usually a profile isn’t the ideal thing to see. It’s too flat. Instead of being flat from the front, it’s flat from the side. Also, you can only see one eye. This seems a little strange to us. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you can always see both of your subject’s eyes, even if the second one is only barely visible. Unless, of course, you’re intentionally trying to create a flat image.

Remember that one of our goals as shooters is to try to add dimension. We do it through lighting, sure, but we also do it by picking good camera angles.

The next time you’re shooting video, try turning something and see if that helps make a better image.

Patience is hard for video shooters. I guess it’s because we’re human, and humans generally struggle with it.

Still, if you have a little patience when you’re shooting video, you’ll be happier with your results. For example, there’s the 15 second rule. It’s simple, but it will make your life a lot easier.

Here’s how it works:

When you’re getting a specific static shot — make sure you record for at least 15 seconds.

That’s it? Yes, it’s as easy as that.

Why this amount?

Fifteen seconds of a single static shot is more than you’ll likely need. This will give you choices later when you’re editing. Because editors want to hold the attention of their audience, most shots in the final edit will last 4 seconds or less. If they were to use the entire 15 seconds that you captured, it would feel like an eternity to the audience.

By the way, when I refer to a static shot, I mean a shot that has little or no movement. This might be an establishing shot, a video portrait, or a number of other scenarios. When there’s almost no movement, it’s (usually) hard to watch a long clip (such as 15 seconds).

If you’re capturing 15 seconds when you shoot, you have a lot of 4 second options inside of the 15 second clip. For example, you could use seconds 1 to 5, seconds 2 to 6, seconds 3 to 7, and so on. You get the idea.

If you’re like some shooters and you only record for 4 seconds because that’s how much you’ll need in post, then you’ve limited your options. Whether you’re doing your own editing or having someone else do it, remember that editors love options. It gives them room to move. And the 15 second rule helps get that done.

During the 15 seconds, resist the urge to zoom the camera.

Resist the urge to adjust.

But most of all, resist the urge to stop rolling.

Capture at least 15 seconds, and then you can set up for your next shot.

* If you were thinking that the 15 second rule referred to how long food can be on the ground before it’s no longer safe to eat…well, that’s a different rule. This one is for shooters. :-)

I have a basic mental checklist for when I’m about to shoot, and I use these letters to help me remember it: F.W.E.F.A. (I pronounce this ‘fweefuh”.)

What does it mean, and how does it help?

The first “F” is for “Framing”. This is the composition of the image. Before I do anything else, I pick the camera angle, adjust the tripod, and adjust the focal length. These things create the frame. This helps me slow down and make sure that I’m starting with a well-composed shot.

The “W” is for “White Balance”. This helps ensure I end up with good color in my imagery. I use a gray card for this, but you could also use a white card.

The “E” is for “Exposure”. Exposure refers to the shutter speed, gain, aperture, and lighting. I prefer to get a correct exposure in the field so I don’t have to adjust much in post.

The second “F” is for “Focus”. I set the focus after the exposure because changing the aperture can change the depth of field, throwing your image out of focus. This is why focus is one of the last things I check.

The “A” is for “Audio”. Usually I’m the only one checking audio, so I listen with headphones and watch the VU meter to make sure the audio levels are good and there’s no clipping.

Are there more things I could check? Sure. But these fundamentals help me get a good image with good audio. A good clean image is a great place to start.

• Framing
• White Balance
• Exposure
• Focus
• Audio

Remember F.W.E.F.A. the next time you’re shooting, and maybe it will reduce the chance you end up with video that has no audio.

What else do you do? What would you add to the checklist? Let me know in the comments…

If all you have is an old video camera that barely shoots a decent image, congratulations — that’s the perfect place to start!

Practice the fundamentals of image making with your current gear. If you have an old video camera, learn to use it well before spending money on an upgrade.

What can you do with your current gear? I think you might be surprised…

Learn how to compose an image.

Practice choosing wide shots, versus medium shots, versus close-ups.

Play with contrast in shadow versus light, and contrast in colors.

Learn to work with available light. Sure, you might benefit from additional tools eventually, but for now, use the available light and see what you can do with it.

If you have a fluid head tripod, learn to pan and tilt smoothly, keeping your subject in different parts of the frame.

If you don’t have a fluid head tripod, learn to handhold the camera properly to maximize the level of image you get from this method of support.

While editing, practice organizing the footage to tell a story in a way that holds a viewer’s interest.

Learn timing, and rhythm, and movement.

In short, become excellent with what you DO have, and then you’ll be ready to start investing in gear. Even if you have the money to spend now, wait.

When I hear about a new video shooter shopping for a high-end camera, it worries me. Chances are they already have a camera that they should be mastering first.

You don’t need new gear yet. You need skills and an eye.

Once you have those, then you can start looking at gear. Great gear definitely helps, but when it comes to video, acquire things in this order:

Skills first, then gear.

Do you like to shoot video outdoors? I do. The sunlight looks amazing, especially in the morning and evening.

I could give you many tips for shooting video outdoors, maybe enough to fill a book. But in this article, my goal is to give you three big tips that will dramatically improve the quality of video you shoot outdoors.

By the way, I’m going to assume that you’re shooting video of a person. (The tips would be slightly different if you were shooting video of a building, for example.)

Here we go…

Tip #1

Place the subject between you and the sun. This will light your subject from their back. That’s why the subject is said to be “backlit.”

Why put the sun behind them? A few things happen when you do this…

Your subject gets rimmed by a halo of light. This creates a bright line that separates your subject from the background. Because it appears to be separate, it also layers your subject in front of the background elements, emphasizing the 3D nature of the world — even though the video image itself is a 2D image.

Backlighting also emphasizes your subject’s form. If there is something important about their form that you want to emphasize (pregnancy, cowboy hat, unique nose. etc.), you can use the rim light to emphasize the characteristic.

Also, backlighting places their front in shadow which creates a more dramatic look. This is a good tip in and of itself — if you want more dramatic lighting, place the shadow toward the camera.

Tip #2

Blur out the background behind your subject.

Zoom in on your subject and use a wide aperture so you get a shallow depth of field. People ask me all the time how to do this, and it’s very simple. To get a shallow depth of field requires two things:

1. A long focal length. If you have a zoom lens, then move it toward telephoto.
2. A wide aperture (low F-stop, wide iris).

If you open the aperture and zoom in, you’ll get a beautifully shallow depth of field and that will create a blurry background.

Tip #3

It’s possible that your subject won’t stay in one place, so…

Use a fluid-head tripod to follow your subject with a smooth movement. Try to emphasize either tilting up and down, or panning back and forth. My personal preference is to try not to mix them. Either I’m tilting or panning, not doing both (usually).

One bonus tip about using a fluid head tripod: If you have the ability to adjust the resistance, turn it up very high. If you’re like me, you might find you get smoother movements with the resistance turned up. It looks better when you ease into the pan or tilt, and the extra resistance helps create that effect.

Bonus Tip #4

The best time to do backlighting is when the sun is at a 45 degree angle in the sky. If the sun is too low, the light shines directly into the lens, creating lens flare and reducing the contrast in your image.

If the sun is too high in the sky, the light falls too much on their shoulders and head. Also, it creates deep shadows in the subject’s eyes. This might not be the look you want.

I could say a lot more about shooting video outdoors, but these tips should help make a big impact in the quality of your video.

As always, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you and any ideas you have. Please give me your thoughts in the comments…

When you shoot video in low light situations, the results can be very frustrating. You’ll find the image is full of noise, particularly in the shadows. The overall look is muted, under-saturated, and flat. Sometimes the image looks soft.

Yet we see examples of great-looking low light shots in television and movies all the time. How do they get those shots?

This tutorial will answer that question. In it, I show you the seven keys to shooting video in low-light situations.

This video is available to members only.

You can click here to watch the trailer.

If you like this tutorial and want access to more than 150 other video tutorials like it, you should learn about an Izzy Video Membership.

I’m having a hard time deciding which of these subjects I should cover next, because I don’t know which one you want to see most.

So, I thought it would make sense to ask you. These are the topics I’m considering for the next Izzy Video tutorial:

1. How to shoot video in small rooms.
2. How to shoot video in low light situations.
3. How to use the Zoom H4n audio recorder.
4. How to dramatically improve family video without buying more gear.

As you know, my goal is to make stuff that’s helpful to you, so I really want your input.

Which one do you want me to cover next? Please let me know in the comments…