What did I learn from the mountain bike review I posted 2 days ago? Heaps… and by learnt I mean what were the biggest problems I faced;
- Just shoot it!
It took me 4 separate days and locations to get what I perceived was the right location, the right attitude, the right background etc etc….. Just shoot it, edit it and then see what you think. Action beats inaction every time. - I’m better behind the camera than in front of it
- Get a camera with a flip out viewfinder
I can’t tell you how many times I sat down to shoot myself talking only to find it was slightly out of focus or the framing was wrong or the background wasn’t right etc etc My 3 video cameras I currently have are my iPhone, a GoPro and my Canon C100. In a perfect world I would recommend the Canon 60d or the newer 70d with their flip out viewfinders so that you can see yourself whilst shooting even thou my Canon C100 is about 5 times the value of a Canon 70d - There is no perfect camera!
I’m a camera guy so I tend to obsess on the right camera for the situation and spend hours researching online for the perfect camera…… it doesn’t exist, use what you’ve got and grow from there. - Script it
Unless you are a natural speaker in front of the camera (I’m not) write or type out a script for your spiel you are going to deliver on camera. Then break it down into point or sentence form and take it with you. The beauty of editing is that you can make as many mistakes as possible until you get it right. Deliver it in bite size sentences if easier which brings me to my next point… - Talking Heads are boring
Watch any TV program or current affairs show and see how long they hold a picture of just a talking head. Usually not very long. So shoot lots of cut-aways (shots of what you’re talking about being a product or place or location etc) which will serve not only to make your edit more interesting but you can then also use them to cover all the edit points between takes when you were stuffing up your spiel to camera.
That’s it for today, perhaps I’ll put up a blooper reel from that first video review…..it would be quite long.