With that said video class I took at university last semester, it sparked in me a desire to produce more. Not an easy task being a mother to a 6-month old, student, homemaker AND running a business. There's always a pile of my husband's shirts waiting to be pressed that somehow end up at the bottom of my priority list...Being creative is just so much more interesting than ironing! That's why I want to make more of these family videos: so precious, I highly recommend you trying to make one, too!
This week, against all odds, I somehow managed to press a handful of Mr. Myrrha's shirts, edit more photos AND make this little baby here of my little Sarah trying to crawl (excuse the Portuguese if you don't get any...I bet Sarah doesn't get it either yet =P):
Sarah querendo engatinhar from Camilla Myrrha on Vimeo.
How I did it? Simple! Here are my 6 tips to making easy family videos with your DSLR:
1 - Capture a Story:
The entire footage I had was about 10 minutes long. Plus, I was telling a story, which made it 87849337 times easier than if I didn't have a chronology of facts to show. I wanted baby to crawl. She tried grabbing a toy unsuccessfully, got distracted with the TV cords and finally did her "almost crawling show". If you were, for instance, simply filming a family event with no real beginning or end to the timeline, it will potentially bore the viewer after the first 30 seconds, and make for harder selection of which footage is best.
2- Use MANUAL focus:
When using your DSLR with a detachable lens, make sure you are on MANUAL focus. This way you have complete control over where you want your viewers to look. It also prevents that annoying and undesirable "wait-a-sec-i'm-trying-to-focus-here" noise your camera makes every time it gets lost with all the information. It's okay if you miss the focus. Videographers nowadays use this for their advantage and for an artistic look. Just make it look like it's on purpose. ;)
3- Control movement:
One thing photographers specifically have a hard time with is with the transition from stills to moving imagery. We are used to composing a still shot, snapping it, and moving on to the next shot, without ever having to consider a smooth transition from one great composition to the next. When making a video, add purpose to the movement of your camera. Tell the story with the different directions and angles your camera moves to and fro. ROCK YOUR LEGS when handholding the camera so that it moves smoothly as opposed to looking like you're trying to keep it still when it won't ever be.
4- Selecting interesting footage:
When editing your movie, whether you use iMovie, MovieMaker, Final Cut or Premiere (I used Adobe Premiere Pro for this one, but used to make tons of videos with Movie Maker and loved it), you have the power to cut unnecessary parts of each footage. Choose the part with action. When in doubt, TAKE IT OUT. If the movie is longer than 5min and it's all looking the same, cut the actions. No need to see the child raising her arm to reach the toy. Just show the part where the child is ALREADY reaching for the toy. Make things interesting by having shorter cuts as opposed to longer ones. And feel free to mix the order up and go back to the same footage you were showing. I did this in my video several times--it helped add interest to the story (the viewer keeps watching in order to subconsciously find out what happens next).
5- Add music!
Audio in any DSLR is pretty crappy. So if you are just making a video for personal use or don't really have the means to invest in a rode mide, zoom recorder, etc, then at least add some music! DON'T FORGET to add credit to the artist. Either in the video or in the descriptions for when you share it. It's always thoughtful and correct to do it. Real movies do it (and it's usually a longer list), so why not add an extra 2 seconds and add it, too?
6- Export and share
Make sure to export your video as either a Quicktime movie, or h.264. The latter is the standard for video delivery nowadays. It's what I exported my movie as. Unless you have a better setting that works for your needs, h.264 should be your setting. Finally, don't forget to upload it and share it! :)
Hopefully these tips were useful. I tried to stay away from technicalities and instead add more practical tips. If you want more technical tips for either photo or video, please send me a comment below and I'll do my best to answer your questions!
(Considering I study photography at university and that is my craft, I DO know something about photo AND video. Did I ever mention I have worked both behind the scenes and as a reporter in front of the camera for an entertainment television show on BYUtv?) Yes, I'm famous but nobody knows it. ;)
you rock.
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