What you need for this exercise:
• Camcorder with a fully charged battery
• Blank media
• Computer with video editing software
17. Take your camcorder, and go for a walk. Don’t make a big deal of it; just go somewhere close by, maybe somewhere that you see every day. As you walk, look at your environment. When you see something that interests you—for no reason other than it interests you—stop and record it, no matter how little sense it makes. Shoot at least thirty seconds of footage each time you turn on the camera. (Thirty seconds gives you enough footage so you can edit it easily.)
18. Continue until you have five to seven minutes of footage.
19. Dump the footage into your computer.
20. Assemble a one to three-minute movie from the most interesting shots.
21. Give the movie a title and save it to CD or DVD.
22. Post the movie online.
SECRET 4: LEARN TO OPERATE YOUR CAMERA BY TOUCH
Being able to turn on the camera and shoot without looking at the camera allows you to shoot verite or to blend into the environment in a way that you couldn’t if you had to stop, open the viewfinder or LCD, focus and frame the image.
The ability to shoot “from the hip” is a good way to get an unexpected angle on a scene. You can often capture very interesting and revealing footage using this technique.
This skill is closely associated with the other steps in shooting fluently.
• What you need for this exercise:
• Camcorder with a fully charged battery
• Blank media
• Camcorder operating manual
• Computer with video editing software
23. Find an interesting place, someplace where you can tape safely and unobtrusively. It may be a park, a city street, or even your own back yard.
24. Use the viewfinder or LCD to frame a scene. Adjust the camcorder’s zoom, focus, shutter, iris and white balance.
25. Close the LCD, and hold the camera at waist level. Point the camera toward the scene.
26. Record the scene for a minute or longer. Do not peek at the viewfinder or LCD while you are recording.
27. Repeat five times in different locations.
28. Dump the footage into your computer.
29.Select the most interesting footage and assemble a two to three-minute movie.
30. Give your movie a title and save it to CD or DVD.
31. Post your movie online.
SECRET 5: LEARN TO SHOOT WITH BOTH EYES OPEN
When you are shooting on location, learn to shoot with both eyes open. This is useful if you are doing what is called “shooting verite.” When you shoot verite, you try to be like a “fly on the wall.” You observe and film, without being a part of the scene.
Shooting with both eyes open is also useful if you need to walk while you are recording. When you are concentrating on the image in your viewfinder, it’s amazingly easy to do something dangerous—like accidentally stepping into a swimming pool. When you shoot with both eyes open, you remain aware of the immediate environment as you shoot.
It’s a little bit like learning to rub your head while patting your stomach. You can learn it with practice!
What you need for this exercise:
• Camcorder with a fully charged battery
• Blank media
• Computer with video editing software
32. Find a safe, unobstructed place where you can walk about as you film. This may be in your own home or back yard.
33. With one eye on the viewfinder, and the other eye open, walk about the location. Hold the camera as steady as possible, and keep the viewfinder at your eye. Don’t lower the camcorder until you finish all five shots in this exercise.
34. Frame as you go. When you see something interesting, stop and record thirty seconds of footage.
35. When you have five minutes of footage, stop.
36. Dump the footage into your NLE, and edit the most interesting scenes into a one to two-minute movie.
37. Give your movie a title and save it on a CD or DVD.
38. Post your movie online.
SECRET 6: SHOOT A MOVIE WITH A UNIFYING THEME
For this exercise, you will shoot a series of images with a unifying theme.
Shooting a series of shots with a unifying theme will develop your ability to create visual transitions between shots, and establish continuity between scenes.
This exercise develops visual literacy. As you assemble movies based on a unifying theme, you will become aware of the visual power of certain images, colors, and compositions.
What you need for this exercise:
• Camcorder with fully charged batteries
• Blank media
• Tripod or other camera support
• Computer with video editing software
39.Shoot a series of shots with a unifying theme. The unifying theme might be subject, color, movement... anything that appeals to you, as long as there is a visual relationship between one shot and the next.
40. Record at least twenty seconds on each shot.
41. Continue until you have five minutes of footage.
42. When you have five minutes of footage dump it into your computer and edit it down to a two to three-minute movie of the most visually interesting scenes.
43. Give your movie a title and save it to DVD or CD.
44. Post your movie online.
SECRET 7: SHOOT A MOVIE A DAY FOR SIXTY DAYS
One of the most useful things you can do to become fluent with your camera is to shoot and edit a five-minute movie every day for sixty days. You can edit the movie “in camera” or in your computer. When you edit “in camera” plan each shot so that it will transition visually to the next.
Keep your shots simple. If you make them too complicated, you may find it difficult to shoot every day. Aim for completing a simple movie, every day.
Remember: “Done is good!”
Shoot intuitively. Do not over-plan. Soon you will begin to see a pattern in your movies. It will be a pattern of your own interests and enthusiasms. This pattern may reveal the kind of moviemaking that interests you deeply, and which you might do well.
At the end of sixty days you will probably have one or two good little movies.
What you need for this exercise:
• Camcorder with a fully charged battery
• Blank media
• Notebook and pencil
• Camcorder operating manual
• Computer with video editing software