Videography is defined as the process of capturing videos and/or moving images with a form of electronic media. These forms of electronic media can include tapes, hard drives, DVDs or CD’s. Videography involves the art and the process of shooting or recording a video in such a way that it elicits a certain effect wanted on the viewer. Videography is the production of one or more videos, start to finish. This can be done by a videographer, which is someone who is shooting the video, the cameraman, or even the person in charge of the production of the video. Usually in these types of projects, it can be done by a single individual or even a team, and they are in charge of shooting the video, setting, and finally editing.
Videography is something that has become fairly common for people to learn, just like photography. It’s something many people learn to do because they see themselves either being successful at it or even something they do just for fun.
Tips and Technique
Becoming a successful videographer or even doing videography for fun is more than just buying and having the right equipment. You’ll want to know the right techniques, tricks, and tips that will make your videos more professional looking but also take away a lot of the stress and frustration that can come along in the videography business. Knowing the right techniques can help you concentrate more on the creativity and fun of videography.
Here are some techniques and tips that can help you a lot:
- Keeping it Steady – Keeping your camera steady is a basic and yet very helpful type that can make a huge difference. Even using a tripod can help in this situation giving you strong and steady videos. If you opt not to use a tripod you’ll want to get into a comfortable position where you can avoid any movements that can cause unwanted camera motion. Simply use objects around you to steady yourself or even get creative. With that, you don’t want to zoom in or out too much or even pan right to left as it can have a negative effect on the video outcome.
- Get Creative – This is a very important tip. Get Creative! It may seem like common sense but producing a simple yet plain video can make it seem like a surveillance tape. Use your angles and perspective, make it interesting! The most common mistakes beginners make is taking the video from the corner from the room, and out of the way but if you get in the action, in the middle of it all, you’ll get images that you wouldn’t have gotten in a corner or from a distance. This takes time, but find what works best for you and most of all, be creative.
- Unnecessary pans and zooms – Like said above, avoid going for the zoom button and panning out. While they can be helpful there is always a right time for those and a wrong time, and consistently using the zoom and the panning can have a negative effect with your viewers. Let the video flow naturally, and let the motion dominate your video in an action scene. Even at sports events, there are times and places like following the ball and letting the action dictate the video.
- Lighting – Like in photography, lighting is important even in videography. In a video, make sure your subject is well lit but don’t over-lit. You don’t want to ever put your interview subject with their back to the sun, or under a shady tree with a brightly lit background as it can distract your audience from your main subject.
- The Right Framing – It takes practice but learning the standard framing styles and using the rule of thirds (used in photography) can be very helpful in your videos.
- Capturing the action – This is something that can’t really be taught but more is something you learn the more you shoot. The best example of this would be a sporting event like baseball. Capturing a baseball player hitting the ball. Its something you’ll have to learn to anticipate and try to capture moments before it happens. You can train yourself by recording a player you think you’ll hit the ball a few minutes beforehand. Its something you’ll learn over time instinctively.
- Preparingand Organization – Making an incredible video isn’t rocket science but properly organizing and planning before a shoot can make a world of difference. Do some pre-production before the actual production. Who is your target audience? What will your objective be? What is your Message? Doing your research and planning out your production beforehand will help you so much in the end and will give you the best finishing product.
- Capture Good Sound – Good audio is essential to a good quality video. Without the proper and good audio your video can come out with no sound and useless. Some of the most common mistakes that beginners make are forgetting to record audio and even failing to monitor the sound they’re getting. Without capturing the proper sound, your video could be ruined. By monitoring your sound, you can avoid capturing any unwanted audio in your video. It could be as simple as interviewing someone and not realizing your standing near a loud air conditioner. This could completely corrupt your audio. If the interview subject is talking, you will want the camera to be close to the person you are interviewing, otherwise it can and will be annoying for your audience to try to hear or guess what they are saying. The reality is that having good sound can often dictate your video.
- Don’t zoom in for close-ups – In general, when you zoom in you ruin the image you’re trying to capture. The image you are trying to capture will also end up more shakier, especially if your camera is hand held. So if at all possible, take your camera and personally get closer to the image you want to capture. It will end up looking much cleaner, sharp and more professional.
To finish, to become a great and successful videographer or even practicing videography for fun can be rewarding but it takes lots and lots of practice, and more practice. Videographers have a million little details that oftentimes you can only learn first hand and on the job. When you’re starting out, it’s okay to copy and use other videographers’ techniques until you find your own techniques that you feel comfortable doing and capturing. Just remember to have fun, be creative, and make your videos your own. It’s more exciting that way.
Now, if all of this seems like a lot of work, that’s because, well, it is. It can be difficult to find the time to do videography work to promote your business. Fortunately, there are plenty of videography companies you can hire to do this work for you.
