Camcorders


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



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I spotted the over-casual cameraman (seen below) at Bellagio in Italy. He was actually using the camcorder while he was waving it about!
Man with camcorder
It is much harder to make a really successful video than to take a good photo! This is because, to do it properly, you require very much more time and effort. It is really very hard to enjoy a holiday, and video it at the same time. It needs real commitment - not only from you but your subjects! This is because you need to think in terms of coherent sequences not of individual shots.
The man above was not only waving the camera around, but he contented himself with just the one shot. One shot is fine for a photo - but is pretty meaningless on video.

Build up sequences

Look at any film or video on television. Usually, once the scene has been set, the camera will go on to show lots of different views of what's going on, moving in closer to show particularly interesting activities. This introduces an element of story-telling that holds our attention, and it is this that is missing in so many amateur videos.

Take a subject like a family barbecue. It's a good subject for a home video because everyone is within reasonable distance and there's plenty to keep them occupied, so we can show people enjoying themselves instead of staring awkwardly at the camera, and feeling (and looking) very self-conscious.
Man at barbecue Close up barbecue Man with baby
Pick out the telling details (the food cooking? The cook's face? The children's games? A youngster toddling around? Drink being opened and poured? Adults eating and chatting? People playing with the baby?), and you are well on the way to producing something of real family interest.
Woman pointing Boy eats apple Girl pours beaker
Show people busy doing things. In the shot, above right, you could tilt down (or slowly zoom out) from the girl to show exactly what it is that she is pouring the water into.
Look out for shots of people interacting with each other, and run some shots long enough to capture coherent conversation. Practise controlled camera movement so that you can (occasionally) swing from one speaker to another, or capture people's reactions, while the conversation continues. The closer your subjects are to your built-in microphone, the more clearly you are likely to hear them.
Never be afraid to get in really close, so long as the subject is reacting with someone else and not just looking awkwardly at you. If you're really ambitious, a shot like this is particularly useful as it can be edited in to avoid a continuity jump (e.g when you jump from someone engaged in one activity to a shot of the same person doing something entirely different).
Baby smiling


Don't wave the camera around!

It's always a temptation to swing the camera desperately around, but the resultant jerky pictures are pretty off-putting. Similarly, don't zoom in or out unless unless you have a good dramatic reason for so doing. However, given enough practice, you'll find there can occasionally be advantages in walking with the camera to follow, say, a child running around. This sort of camera movement is much less obtrusive than, for example, zooming in then out again for no apparent reason.


If you don't like the idea of editing, don't buy a camcorder!

It is simple enough to select only the best photos for an album and discard the failures. It is a lot more hard work to edit a video so that the rubbish is removed, and meaningful sequences emerge. The best way to do this is nowadays is via a computer. I know many camcorder users don't bother with any of this, but that is why home video shows have such a dire reputation!


Final suggestion

Family and friends soon tire of being videoed, so don't over-do your use of the camcorder! It's an excellent way of recording stages in the lives of your children or grandchildren (every 6 months or so?)- but, once the initial bloom has worn off, you don't have to take it on holiday. An ordinary camera can be so much more convenient....




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