Video Camera, Camcorder Skills, Sound and Lighting Techniques

“How to Shoot Like a Pro in One Day”

Content

• Choosing the Right Video Camera
  • 3 Types of Video Cameras for Videography
  • 6 Must-have Features in a Good Video Camera
• The 6 Core Camcorder Skills

Choosing the Right Video Camera

3 Types of Video Cameras for Videogaphy

Video cameras are every! Almost every mobile phone is a video camera. Every still photography camera can record video. Look around inside a building, you will find CCTV security video cameras.  Some are so small and hidden out of sight known as spy video cameras.

In this course we just need to know the 3 types of video cameras for the videographer: Professional, Prosumer and the Consumer.

Professional video cameras are those with plenty of buttons to give the user manual control over the recording quality.  Used commonly for drama production, corporate videos and broadcast.

Consumer video cameras or home video cameras are the smaller ones used by everyone else,  They have less buttons to worry about and most functions are automatic.  Great for no-brainer users, just point and shoot.

Prosumer video cameras are cross-breeds between professional and consumer video cameras.  They have less control buttons than professional video cameras but have higher quality video and audio recording than consumer video cameras.  They are the best choice for videographers on the move and for those who do not want the technical operations to bother their creativity.

Choosing the Right Video Camera

6 Must-have Features in a Good Video Camera

As a videographer for events and corporate video shoots, I tend to use some video camera functions more than the others.

In fact, there are only 4 functions on the video camera that I touch the most often to get the best visual capture, namely the zoom, focus, exposure and white balance.

Then there is audio.  For the best audio capture, we need a mic in and a headphone out to monitor sound quality.

So, when you are looking for a new video camera, even if it is a consumer video camera, look out for these 6 must-have features:

1. Motorized and Manual Zoom Control
2. Automatic and Manual Focus Control
3. Automatic and Manual Exposure/Iris
4. Automatic and Manual White Balance
5. Mic In
6. Headphones Out

From here on, I will use the term camcorder and video camera interchangeably.  The term camcorder is the short form for camera-recorder.  In the old days, when things were huge, the lens section of the camer and the recording section are two separate parts…  Let’s not go into history. Embrace the future.

The Six Core Camcorder Skills

Please pay attention to this section!

This is where you learn how to use a camorder to shoot like a pro.

No matter how great a video camera you have, it will not improve your video recording if you do not have these 6 core camcorder skills.

• Core Skill #1: Camera Control
• Core Skill #2: Camera Support
• Core Skill #3: Camera Shots
• Core Skill #4: Camera Angles
• Core Skill #5: Composition
• Core Skill #6: Camera Moves

Pick up your camcorder. Let’s begin…

Core Skill #1: Camera Control

Control Your Camcorder Like a Pro.

Learn and master the use of these 3 Controls:

1. Focus: Learn to quickly switch between auto and manual focus.  The camera automatically focuses on anything in the centre of the scene. Adjust focus manually if subject is off-centre.
2. Exposure/Iris: Use auto but learn to quickly enable and adjust manual exposure/iris to keep your subject consistently lit up.  Always manually adjust when the subject is darkened by a bright window behind.
3. White Balance: Record white as white and not blue or green.  Unlike our eyes, the camera have problem with seeing colors under filament light and flourescent light.

Core Skill #2: Camera Support

Steady Your Camcorder.

1. HANDHELD
   • Need lots of practice to keep your camcorder steady.
   • Trick: Hold the camera with two hands, your arms near your body, stay close to the subject, keep the zoom lens at widest.
   • Another way is to lean against a stable object.
2. TRIPOD
   • For a professional looking video, use a tripod.
   • The tripod allows you to move the camera in two ways – pan (side to side) or tilt (up or down).

Core Skill #3: Camera Shots

Use the 3 Basic Shot Types.

1. Wide Shot: Shows a large background.
2. Mid Shot: Shows a person from waist up.
3. Close Up: Shows a person from shoulders up.

Watch this video. Observe the use of wide shot, mid shot and close-ups on people.

Core Skill #4: Camera Angles

Use angles to help tell your story.

Different camera angles help tell your story by leading viewers to what is important in the scene.

The camera angle (shot angle) is the level from which you look at your subject through the camera.

1. Eye-level: Same level with subject’s eye. Commonly used angle.
2. Low Angle: Tilt the video camera to look up at the subject.  For making the subject look important and powerful.
3. High Angle: Tilt the video camera to look down on a subject. To create a sense of smallness or helplessness in the subject.

Tip: To eliminate undesirable background or foreground details, use high or low angle shots.

Core Skill #5: Composition

Follow the Rule of Thirds!

Composition is framing the picture and controlling what and how your audience sees a scene.  Guide the audiences’ eyes to reveal what is important and frame the view so that it is interesting.

Divide the frame into nine imaginary sections to create a guide for framing images.

Draw an imaginary tic-tac-toe with equal lengths.

Important information should be placed on the lines and at the intersections of the lines. Especially the subject’s EYES!

Watch this video.  Observe the placement of the subject’s eyes and how it follows the Rule of Thirds.

Core Skill #6: Camera Moves

Follow what is important in the scene.

Camera moves help tell your story by following what is important in the scene.

The most common moves are:

1. Pan: Turn video camera from left to right or right to left.
2. Tilt: Move by pointing video camera top-down or bottom-up.
3. Zoom: Seeing farther away or seeing a wider view.

Watch this video. Observe a pan left at 0:07 to 0:09, a zoom out at 0:12 to 0:14 and a tilt up at 0:26 to 0:28.

There you have it.  Practice the 6 core camcorder skills and video will never ever look  amateurish again.

 

Enjoy!

Adrian Lee
http://VideoLane.com

PS: Please ask me questions about video cameras and video shooting using the comment form below.

 

Learn Videography in 5 Days -  Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5