No More Excuses for Low Quality Video
To quote a famous line, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."
That's probably going a bit overboard, but I've got your attention now, don't I?
I am getting tired of the awful production video quality that I see all over the Internet. Maybe I should restate. I'm getting tired of the consistently awful production video quality that I see all over the Internet. Now, before you start writing emails to tell me how unreasonable I'm being, let me explain.
Years ago, it used to be difficult to get into video. There was a large gap in quality and cost between consumer and professional video gear. The mediums for video or film delivery were limited too. You pretty much just had television or film. It's completely different now. You can shoot 1080p footage on your cellphone. DSLR cameras that were designed specifically for photographers are being used by some people exclusively for video because they can shoot better looking video for much cheaper. Canon 5d MKII's are being used to shoot the opening sequence of "Saturday Night Live" and an entire episode of "House". There's even a movement of people shooting and editing all kinds of really cool video entirely on an iPhone.
To get to the point, you don't have to spend buckets of money to do stuff with video, you just have to be willing to think outside the box a bit. Here are a few DIY (do it yourself) ideas to get you going.
- Use a china ball (paper lantern) attached to mop handle as a portable soft box.
- Spend $30 at a trip to your local hardware store to make a pretty decent steadycam.
- Use clamp lights with fluorescent bulbs for cool (temperature as well as awesomeness-wise), affordable lighting that doesn't even require light stands. Use baker's parchment as a diffuser.
- Build your own dolly track with skateboard wheels and some plywood from thehardware store.
You know how I found all of these things? I did a Google search. There's also hundreds of videos on Vimeo about DIY video gear. Give it a shot, and if you find something cool, email me (jake@videonoobs.com) and let me know.
Don't worry if you are just getting started and you're producing video that doesn't look great. Just make sure that as you progress you consistently get better, because there's just no reason not to.
Film Riot is My New Favorite Thing
A buddy of mine turned me onto this. Film Riot is a web show/video podcast thing that is part video and filmmaking tutorial, part sketch comedy, and part reality show. You can find it on the Internet Television site Revision3, and on iTunes as a video podcast. Even their sponsor messages are funny. As far as the tutorial aspect goes, what I've seen so far has mostly been covering how to do cool effects from lightsabers to gunshot wounds, but they cover other cool stuff too. One really cool idea I learned from them is to use a China ball (paper lantern) on a boom as a cool DIY light.
Check it out. You might learn something cool, and it's entertaining to watch.
Email address is now working
If any of you tried to email me last week and had your emails returned, I apologize for that. I had a email catastrophe that happened right after I posted the blog in which I asked people to email me with any questions, and I wasn't able to get it fixed until last Friday.
So, again, if anyone has any questions, comments, blog suggestions, or whatever, please email them to me at jake@videonoobs.com.
Five Things You Can Do to Produce Better Video
There are way more than just five things that anyone could do to produce better video. I figured that it'd be easier to take a bite of an apple instead of trying to eat the apple tree whole though. Or, if your more of a carnivorous persuasion, maybe it's like eating a hamburger and not trying to swallow the cow whole. I think you get the joke. GO ANALOGIES!
1. Plan
Ok, so you are ready to shoot a video. What's your video about? Where are you going to shoot it? How long do you want it to be? There are a lot of questions like this that you should already have answered and preferably down on paper somewhere. I like to approach each video I do like a film production. That doesn't mean that I write out scripts and storyboards for every scene, but in my mind I think of the video in terms of pre-production, production, and post-production. Simply put, what to do before I shoot the video, what to do while I'm shooting the video, and what to do after. This helps me break up the work into more manageable chunks, and also makes me better prepared for the day of the shoot. Also keep in mind that shooting video always takes longer than you'd think. As a rule I give myself at least twice the amount of time that I expect a shoot should take up.
2. Read
If there is one thing that I've learned, it's that video people like to talk about video (hence me writing this blog). There are lots of blogs and other types of informational websites out there written by video folks professional and amateur alike. The professional blogs are typically very informative and definitely worth seeking out, but I've found that the blogs written by amateur or hobbyist video folks to be the most helpful. Amateurs don't have the budgets and gear that professionals do and have to find cheaper and more creative ways to do things. A lot of the DIY (do it yourself) stuff you can find on the Web comes from these folks.
Here are a few blogs, forums, and website to get you started:
creativecow.net
dvxuser.com
2-pop.com
3. Watch
This should be a no brainer. The best way to get better at doing video is watching what everyone else does. Websites like ExposureRoom and Vimeo are an absolute must for anyone wanting to produce good video. These two websites are video sharing sites like Youtube, but are specifically for video professionals and amateurs to show off their stuff, get critiqued, collaborate with each other, etc.
4. Ask
I'm going to make an assumption that most of the people who work with video in any regular capacity like to talk about it and share their knowledge. Now, we all know what happens when we assume things, but I'm getting this from my personal experience and all the websites, blogs and forums dedicated to video out there. Luckily I had a couple friends who knew something about video to get me started, but I also tracked down a few other people who were willing to mentor me. I even got to go hang out on a couple of professional video shoots. That was worth more than a weeks worth of blog reading.
It may be more difficult for you than it was for me to find professional video people to show you the ropes. But you do have me, and I am more than willing to share my knowledge. Email me with any questions you have at jake@videonoobs.com. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
5. Practice
Again this one is kind of a no brainer. The secret to good video is finding the story to tell, and telling it in a good way. The story could be as simple as a dog walking down the street or a documentary about The Rolling Stones. There are lots of stories to tell, and lots of different ways to tell them. Go out and experiment.
MACE 2011 Conference
Thank you to those who attended my presentation at the MACE conference in Manhattan, KS on Friday. Also, I apologize that had to rush through the end, and that we didn't leave any time to answer questions. I would be more than happy to answer any more questions, about the presentation or otherwise. You can email them to me at jake@videonoobs.com.
I also wanted to provide you with the slideshow from my presentation. Click the link below to get a PDF of that presentation.
Video on the Cheap Presentation
Why Vimeo is Great for Aspiring Video Gurus
Video is pretty cool. That may sound a bit self-serving, considering it's what I do for a job, but I think most people out there would agree with me. In the past few years, technological leaps and innovations have made working with video more commonplace and easier to do. But, now that you've got your shiny new camera, computer, and some software to edit with, you don't know what to video (say "shoot" if you want to sound fancy) or how to do it. That's ok, because there is a video community full of people who want to help you.
Here's what I did. A few months ago I was told by a friend that I should have a presence on Vimeo because lots of other video folks around the area were on there too. I promptly went home, created an account for myself, and added about everyone in Wichita I could find as a contact. I was immediately hit with several friendly welcome messages. Not a bad sign. I browsed through a few videos, judiciously "liking" videos as I thought appropriate, joined a few groups, and gradually started to establish my presence in this video community.
I felt it was time to create and publish my first video to show my new friends my talents and abilities, as fledgling as they were. I'd never made any serious attempt at a time-lapse video, so I braved the weather one blistering December morning and shot the sun rising over downtown Wichita. It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, and I ran into some unforeseen problems, but overall I thought the endeavor a successful one. I sped up about 2 hours of video down to 4 minutes, laid it over an appropriately epic soundtrack, and posted it to Vimeo.
Sunrise Over Downtown Wichita from Jake Fisher on Vimeo.
The response to it wasn't overwhelming, and no one sent me messages praising the artistic vision of my work, but the video did illicit about 20 views, a couple likes and comments. I also ran into a few Wichita video folks while I was out having coffee and they remarked on the video too. The comments where simple, encouraging, and helpful.
If you are an aspiring video guru, Vimeo is a great place to connect with like-minded individuals and groups, find new ideas, and get access to lots of awesome resources. It's a place full of people who love working with video, get excited about it, and enjoy helping others.