Internet Marketing - Making a Video

http://www.carfreaks.com.sg/
http://www.andrewontv.com/

Home Videos

Home videos are becoming easier to make with the advent of low-cost video cameras and editing facilities. Many of our mobile phones have video recorders and most computers have simple video editing software programs (PCs running XP have Windows MovieMaker while Macs have iMovie). Mini DV cameras are also becoming increasingly affordable and some can produce broadcast-quality footage.

So gone are the days when we had to use expensive 8mm film cameras and scissors and tape to make our own home videos. Even then – and also in the VHS and Super8 days of the 80s and much of the 90s, there was no reasonable way to digitize or share them online. Even a few years ago, online video streaming was clunky and impractical. Now with YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and a host of other video upload systems it’s even being done by children.

It really doesn’t matter what technology you decide to use – whether it’s your mobile phone with built-in mic or a professional 3 CCD HD camera, because it’s the content that counts. You can shoot the most boring footage on the most expensive camera and nobody will watch it. But shoot a spectacular event or a kick-ass story on your mobile phone’s camera and you have a winning piece.

Let’s go through the types of cameras available:

Mobile phone
This is pretty self-explanatory as you probably have a video recorder in your phone whether you know it or have used it or not. The quality of phone footage is not normally very good but phones offer a subtle and portable solution.

If you know how to transfer it to your computer via a USB cable or flash card it may be stored on it’s simple to get online. Otherwise, you may have to use infrared or Bluetooth.

Mini DV camera
Around 2000, the Mini-DV format really took off as a high-quality consumer, prosumer or professional video recording format, replacing Super8. Most Mini DV cameras record on one chip, or CCD (closed-coupled device; the chip translates light into a digital signal before sending it to the tape), but the prosumer or professional cameras record on three chips, (red, green, blue) and are known as 3 CCD.

Mini DV is a great format as the quality can be excellent, it shoots well in almost all lighting conditions (some even in the dark using infrared!) and is cheap. Audio quality is also excellent, especially if you use an external (wired or wireless) mic.
Mini DV footage is transferred to computers via Firewire, or IEEE1394. This standard is like USB, but mostly used for video.

Other handheld camera
Now, cameras that record onto flash drives or even small hard drives are a cheap and fun way to capture video. Some record onto DVDs and can produce great quality.

The footage from these cameras can be sent to edit via USB, Firewire, flash storage cards or DVD.

Once you’ve chosen your camera, the next thing to look at is shooting. Entire books have been written on shooting video, but here are a few very basic tips:

• Watch the storage. Make sure you have enough storage in your device before shooting. This could mean mobile phone space, flash card memory, or a new tape or DVD.


• Watch the backlight. Unless you know what you are doing, you probably don’t want your subject dark and your background bright or too sunny. Your camera will adjust itself for the background and your subject will be underexposed.
  
• Watch the sun. If you’re shooting outdoors, find shade. If it’s cloudy, that’s great. But mid-day sun can cast harsh shadows in people’s eyes and elsewhere which will result in a dramatic underexposure of those areas. You could get a friend to hold up a piece of cardboard or diffuser if necessary.


• Watch the sound. Often, the audio pickup in phones and some cheaper Mini DV devices leaves a lot to be desired. If possible, get as close to the audio source as you can and get your subject to speak up. Also, if you can afford second takes, do one if you hear a plane, loud vehicle or other unwanted noise in the background.


• Watch the framing. If you’re shooting a person, is all that extra head room and ‘looking room’ necessary? Can you zoom in a bit closer? Look at all four corners of the frame and make sure all that is seen is there for a reason. Otherwise, reframe it for a closer shot or zoom in. Also, try to use a tripod whenever possible. Don’t shake the camera!


• Watch the sequence. If there’s one thing you can do to make an everyday task on video look even a tiny bit interesting it is to shoot it in a sequence. For example, what does it take to make a sandwich? First you have to walk to the kitchen. Show that shot. Then you have to take the bread. Show a hand taking a loaf of bread. Next, you might want to get tomatoes. Show the refrigerator opening and someone taking tomatoes out of it, then getting a knife, then cutting the tomatoes, etc. You get the idea. It may be laborious but it works.


• Watch the footage! Do a test. Shoot in the same or similar conditions to what your final product will be and watch it on a computer or TV. Is the audio good? How does the video look overall? If there’s something you don’t like you can work to fix it before you do your final take.
  

The Edit
After you have shot the story, you will need to edit. Non-linear editing facilities such as the MovieMaker in Windows XP or iMovie on Macs are very simple, intuitive ways of stitching your story together. They will allow you to add music, sound effects, simple transitions between clips, fades, titles and more.

Once you have learned the basic features of an editing program – such as cutting the clip, dragging and dropping it, adjusting and adding sound and a few others, the best thing you can do is practice, practice, practice.
One general rule of thumb when editing: Cut your story down to as short as you think is necessary – and then cut it down some more. When you have invested effort, time and energy into shooting certain scenes or events you won’t want to cut them. But the fact is, you probably should, and most of the time you will have to. It might not seem boring to you, but odds are, if you don’t cut a lot down it will be boring to others. Now this really depends on your subject matter, and doesn’t always apply, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

After you have trimmed your story down, added titles/credits, transitions and even music, you are ready to export the file. You may have to render it first, which is the way the computer processes the video and audio to prepare it for export. Depending on what you want to do with the movie, you may want to export it in a full-size file (large but with no loss in quality) or a smaller file for use online or on a phone or PDA. There are many variables you can play with, such as file type, screen size and more. You may have to do numerous tests to see how big your file is and how the quality is before you know what you want. Some editing programs will make it easy for you by asking if you want the file exported for use on DVD, internet or email – then it will apply the appropriate settings.

Sharing
If you made it this far in creating your home video, I’m sure you’ll know how to upload your video to the internet (You Tube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, etc) or save it to a DVD. You’ll know that there are dozens of video sharing sites on the internet – most of which will give you the tags to link your video into a blog, forum or website. Once you’ve registered you can upload them and if you’re lucky you may achieve a tiny bit of internet fame!

The Author
Andrew Patterson is a freelance writer, actor, voice-over artist and Interactive Marketing Manager in Singapore. He also runs a car forum, http://www.carfreaks.com.sg/. His personal site is http://www.andrewontv.com/ .