Tripod vs. Monopod
The Pros and Cons
In my experience, not having a tripod screams amateur. Consider this, if the camera is on a tripod, and the background never changes, you’ve just given yourself the opportunity to apply stellar transitions that look like the subject disappears into thin air without having to do any crazy post-production… a simply cross-fade [...]
The Rule of Thirds
Tic Tac Toe
When I was in high school, I took a video class that covered basic film theory, techniques, and processes. One of the most memorable lessons I learned was ‘the rule of thirds.’ Our teacher used the movie Golden Eye the James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan as an example of maticulous cinematography that [...]
Synchronizing Camcorders
Match the Waveforms
I usually use 2 camcorders when filming a show and I try to place them within phase coherence to one another (refer to the “How to Record Sound for Video in Concert” posting in the production tips category for phase coherence), but there is one carnal rule that I live by to make [...]
Standard Definition vs High Definition
The Pros and Cons
Podcasting videos wouldn’t even require Standard Definition broadcasting equipment let alone High Definition broadcasting equipment. However, I use Standard Definition equipment for the sake of colour. There is a very big different in the colour of a single chip consumer camcorder vs. a standard definition three chip camcorder (3CCD). The essential difference [...]
Filming for Television
Mind the Safe Zones
When targeting the web, whatever you see in your camcorder’s viewfinder will be what you see online. However, when targeting television, i.e. film/dvd a good chunk of your video will be cropped out. That being said, be sure to give yourself enough space around the subject so as not to have the [...]
Cutting Video to Music Visually
Just Tap The Tempo
This blog will cover the technique I use when cutting video to music. This technique is just the tip of the iceberg. More “sync” techniques will released over the next few weeks so stay tuned if you’re a video editor.
Now this technique can be applied to any video. It is not going [...]