TV Quality Videos: Tips and Tricks Part 2
We want to talk about actual camera movement, settings, and MUST have shots. When do I zoom, when do I cut, when do I pan? What should my settings be and when? All great questions and we are going to dive into this and discuss exactly whey and when to move your camera! I’m going to lay it out for you just like I tell the guys filming for Final Descent!
Camera Movement
Every move should have a purpose.. The movement needs to add to the shot..if it doesn’t ..it shouldn’t be moving. Shaky footage looks horrible. Focus on stability: Use a heavy duty camera arm that can support the weight of your camera. Use a tripod as much as possible to create that good stability! Focus on smooth movement: In general, there are two pieces of gear that will help your camera movement you should have: #1:A REAL fluid head. #2: For walking around, some sort of steady cam will help loads. There are steady cams in all different price ranges. (If you have a gopro and you would like to use it for walking around shots ..thats fine. Keep in mind that its small and light…so shakiness will just look 100 times worse walking. They sell 3 axis gambles that mechanically stabilize cameras. If you get one for a gopro, they actually aren’t that expensive.) Use a slider if your wanting to add some artistic movement to some of your B-roll shots. Do not use zooming effects. Don’t zoom in fast or zoom out simply for a “cool effect”. We tend to cut out all those zooming spots. Zoom into where you need to be and stay there. (a bad zooming job can ruin a shot..but you can’t ruin it zooming if you don’t zoom at all) Make sure your hands are off your camera when your shoot (self filmers won’t have this problem) lol!
Camera Exposure and Settings
DO NOT point a camera UP at your face. (reposition it so that it looks down at your before you do an interview..or use a second camera for your interview shots). Don’t use auto exposure or other auto settings. There are a ton of shots where i know you guys are using a good camera, but your not getting half of what it could do because its on auto. A shot will be good..but there is too much grain in it because you have your camera on auto. You cant tell what your video looks like just by looking at your camera screen..but when you put it on TV you defiantly can notice those things. When your camera is on Auto is jacks your ISO to make things brighter..there are a lot of ways to make things brighter without jacking your ISO and ruining your footage. Know your camera settings. I have had footage that was shot in 1920x720 and 60fps..which is not full HD..and it looks like your watching a soap opera because everything looks waaaaayyy too smooth. KNOW YOUR CAMERA. KNOW YOUR CAMERA. KNOW YOUR CAMERA. Understand your manual settings and use. Its really not that hard once you learn them. There are guys out there self-filming entirely with DSLRs on manual and getting great shots. It just takes knowing your camera so that changing settings becomes second nature.
Getting Necessary Shots
Film in’s and outs: Get shots of you heading to your spot, climbing your tree.. (self filmers use a gopro). If you have a kill that day or a story that is worth documenting entirely..theennn film the out…climbing down..going home etc.
Get wides and close ups. Remember to not have all your shots be super wide.. get some tight shots of you doing something. And don’t have them all be close ups..make sure and get these wide shots of when your walking to a spot or sitting in your stand doing an interview..the wider the better in those cases. The viewers want to see you in your surroundings. Not just a close up of your nose while you give an interview. They want to see as much of your surroundings while your sitting in your tree as possible.
If you didn’t get it ..stage it. Nothing is better than the real deal. But it for some reason something happened and your didn’t film yourself taking the shot or getting down from your stand..stage it. Make sure and focus on continuity (making sure things are the same) with other shots. AKA wear the same clothes you were wearing when you killed it and made the recovery and do everything the same as much as you can remember. Also, things to remember when staging a shot is your expressions. Are you actually looking where that deer was when you shot him? Did you put your bow on the hook right after or did you hold it? Pay attention to details!
Get real life recovery footage!!! Nothing says CHEAP!!! more than a staged recovery. People watching the show want to see you get excited! They want to see you go crazy and be all pumped like you are when you first find the deer! So have that camera rolling when you start tracking! Don’t find the deer and then go back with the camera..all that excitement can’t be replayed! Other than filming yourself heading into your stand, this is the only part of hunting we actually have control of when filming. If you have gone through all the work to kill a buck..make your recovery footage count.
This is exactly how I have laid it out to the guys filming for Final Descent Outdoors. We have been doing this for over a decade and pride ourselves on getting the best possible video to make the best possible episodes! Apply this to your filming and I promise it will make a world of difference for you as well!
This blog was written by Adam Carter. Adam has been in filmmaking since he was young. He grew up in Oklahoma City, OK making videos for his local youth group. Years later he would graduate from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelors in Film Production. He has worked as a vocational minister for two churches as a Media Director, made numerous short films and produced an all Oklahoma made feature film, Hollis, in 2012. He was a producer for SkitGuys.com from 2015-2017 and has worked on many commercials for clients such as Foot Locker, Orange Leaf, and Oklahoma Tourism. He is the Vice President and Co-Owner of Full Strut Media and has been the producer for Final Descent Outdoors since Season 4.