Lens filters once allowed all sorts of special effects. Star filters made twinkly stars wherever a highlight appeared in frame. Gradient filters turned boring skies into dark stormy skies or brilliant sunsets. Even defusion filters to get that Vaseline smeared-on-the-lens dreamy look from your video camera. Of course for this effect a pair of nylons stretched tightly over your lens will do the trick too.

Alas, now we have computers (more…)

I hate cleaning my lens. It scares me, damn things expensive, but I’ve seen a lot of video ruined behind a dirty lens. Try and shoot a beautiful sunset behind a dirty lens and the beautiful sunset will be the second thing your viewers will notice. So keep it clean but CAREFULLY.

Fight scenes in movies are just really long sequences. Since the last two episodes you should be shooting sequences all the time now. I’m going to show you how you can make two people who have actually no idea how to fight, look pretty good in a fight scene. It all has to do with choosing specific angles that hide and enhance what you want the audience to see. And to prove it, I’m going to use a nine year old and an eleven year old and I’m going to do it in an hour.

Last time we talk about shooting sequences to make your videos more interesting. This time I’m going to show you the effort it takes to shoot a sequence. It takes time to shoot sequences but the end result is always worth it.

A sequence is a way of editing a group of video clips together so they make sense. Does that make sense? You have to really think ahead to shoot a decent sequence. They include different angles, cutaways and a lot of changing your scale; You’ll see.

Screen Direction is another one of those gotchas that can fool even the most seasoned reporters. Believe me, Ive seen it a lot. So here’s another taste of the mastering Videography DVD. I hope it helps.

Action Move is a continuity technique. Its a very specific technique that should not be used all the time but its interesting if you have a reason to use it. So here is another tool for your toolbox.

Contrast ratio has a lot to do with our last tutorial on the iris. You see contrast ratio is the difference between the lightest and darkest objects in a shot. Unfortunately video doesn’t do very well with this and the iris we talked about last time is the tool that has to deal with it.
Here’s another excerpt from the Mastering Videography DVD.

Every video camera has an iris. Hopefully your camera doesn’t just offer and auto iris. Yeesh, I hate those things. Here’s a little diddy about the iris and why its so important for your videos exposure.

Split edit are simply an editing technique. Picture two shots and a strait cut between them. …. No really, picture 2 shots together. Now picture that edit point and just before the edit from the first video clip to the second video clip the audio from the second video comes first. Just a split second before the video. This is a split edit and you need to start using them. Trust me!

Shooting an instructional video shouldn’t be that hard. Here’s a standard way to shoot a simple training video. Don’t take this one lightly. This is how many types of productions are shot. Keeping these strategies in mind you could shoot all kinds of different video productions.

All video cameras have a zoom lens. Well, maybe not some of those stationary security cameras. The problem is most people use this like its a ride at a theme park. Its so easy; just push that little lever and you zoom in. Push it the other way and you zoom out … in … out …in … out …WEEEE!
Well stop this now please. Im getting nauseous just thinking about it. Think of a zoom lens as a composition tool not a video game joy stick. Next time you go for the zoom lever stop and think, why am I zooming. Can I get the shot another way. If you said yes to the last question get it another way. Zooming should only be done if you have a REASON to zoom.
Here’s an excerpt from the Mastering Videography DVD with answers about zooming.

Plosives are a real pain in my .. well, lets just say I make a lot of them. Plosives are those annoying pops people sometimes make when talking into a microphone. P’s and B’s cause a lot of them. Its a burst of air hitting the microphone. (more…)

If you’re looking for the Mastering Videography DVD it’s here. If you are taking this videography thing serious or plan to try to make money with your video camera I highly recommend the DVD. It’s packed with all the information you need to shoot like a professional.