Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Shooting the Action

Most video producers (professional or amateur) watch what others do. They get ideas and see how new techniques look on film. Sometimes they even try to incorporate these ideas into their own work. As I look at both professional and amateur video I see a lot of differences. One of the largest differences I see in the amateur world is the "live-to-tape" shooting method. "Live-to-tape" is continuous shooting of everything that happens. The majority of YouTube videos seem to be shot in this method with very little post-editing taking place. Is there anything wrong with this method? Absolutely not! However, it has its time and place. If you are shooting a "LIVE" event and only have one camera, there are no other options. You have to record directly to film/disk with little or no opportunity to divide the action into sequences.

Is there a better way to shoot the action if you are shooting a controlled content piece? Absolutely! You can take your film to the next level by planning your shoot. Spend some time mapping out the event and make a script if possible. Once you have a good idea of the objective, the subject(s), and the flow, then you need to divide the entire action into smaller sequences. These sequences sometimes are termed as "acts" or "scenes". In a sequence you can record separate shots utilizing different viewpoints and supporting material. Producing more film with better angles and additional supporting subject matter makes a better overall production. This means that anyone involved may have to follow a production schedule and script.

Moving your video production into a series of sequences means that more post-editing will be involved. It will take more time and energy, however the results will be worth it. So the next time you want to pickup a camera and make a YouTube video, do everything you can make it the best video possible!

Keep Shooting!

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