Capturing the Holidays

Holidays are the time when we are most likely to grab the video camera and capture family events. For most of us, it is why we bought the camera in the first place. Taping a holiday home movie can be fun, and should be something you will cherish years from now.

Media Notes Episode 10 | Holiday Videos

Capturing holiday events, quick tips and tricks

The holiday video does not have to just document annual events. With a little planning you could create a great video postcard from the family that you send out before the holidays.

The Video Post Card

One topic idea could be to shoot some of the activities where you are getting the house and family ready. If you get a tree, shoot a little sequence of the journey there, choosing “just the right one”, bringing it home and decorating it. If you have young kids have them describe their version of the meaning of these holiday celebrations. Have each member of the family give a message why they are thankful, or who they miss, or what gift they are hoping for, or any topic that has special meaning for your family. And shoot to edit. Don’t be afraid to shoot something more than once, and only use the best version.

A great way to get your video post card ready for distribution is to edit it all together using iMovie or MovieMaker and upload it on to web sharing site like Vimeo, Blip or Soapbox. Write your family letter and include a link or embed the video. For those friends and relatives that are far away, the chance to see your family may be the best gift of all.

Holiday Movies

When it comes time to record the family holiday gathering, here are a few survival tips to make it a movie to remember, in a good way.

First of all, use a tripod whenever you can. I realize most tripods are so clunky and big they could be considered lethal weapons in six states, but they really help improve the watchability (if there is such a word) of your work. Things like breathing and body movement can be exaggerated significantly on your camera, particularly when you are zoomed in. Using a tripod can make your video look more professional, and can eliminate the nausea-inducing movement common to most home video. This is particularly true of the holiday classics like concerts, plays, religious services, gifts, and video taping in low light.

Second, film a few set-up shots of an event before you film the actual event. For instance, film the tree sitting by itself before you film people opening presents, or film people filing into an auditorium for a concert before the actual concert. Hold each shot for at least 10 seconds. When you edit you won’t have to use all of it, so don’t make the mistake of shooting each moment as if it were a snapshot. Just count to ten quietly to yourself until you get a feel for how long is long enough. Years from now you will really appreciate the footage of your holiday decorations, or the holiday meal. Look for camera shots that catch the feeling of where you are and set the scene for your holiday home movie.

As I have indicated in earlier posts, interview your subjects. Have them describe what is happening, have them tell you what is going on around them. If your child performs in the Holiday Pageant, asks him about his performance. If gifts are a part of your celebration, ask your kids what they want the night before, and then get their reaction when they finally discover what’s in all those packages.

No matter how well you plan, how well you shoot, how succinct your interviews, the odds are that you will shoot tons of boring video that no one, not even you, will want to watch again. So shoot to edit and edit what you shoot. It is not that hard. Try to trim out sections of the video that don’t have much going on. If your video looks choppy, a fun idea can be to make a holiday music video. Select your favorite holiday song, and the set clips of your holiday celebration to the music.

Enjoy the Moment

Plan ahead. Plan when you will shoot and when you will put the camera down. Don’t let your camcorder keep you from celebrating the holiday with your family and friends. A home video can give you great memories, but nothing will match the memory of being fully present in the holiday events yourself. Besides, some folks will get really tired of having the camera out all the time, or may not appreciate the intrusion to their vision of the perfect holiday. Keep it in balance and appreciate every moment of the holidays. You only get one shot at it so make it the best you can.

Drew Keller

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You Can Edit. Really

Editing sometimes seems like so much alchemy. Managing all the cables and software can feel overwhelming. But the learning curve for editing does not have to be steeper than the face of an isosceles triangle.

Episode 4 – You Can Edit. Really

You can, and should, edit your footage. There are a multitude of resources available to you for managing your footage. Whether you are on a PC or Mac, there are solutions that will do a great job and are already built right into your computer. While videotape is far from dead, we are seeing more and more cameras that record the image to a file, making moving and managing your video as easy as moving and editing a Word document. Finally, with the expansion of video on the internet, we will begin to see more and more web-based editing applications where you can edit and distribute your work with a minimum of muss and fuss.

But it does take practice to become familiar with the process. It is not all that difficult to do and you can have success within the first few minutes. This is especially true with the Beta build of Movie Maker. This package appears to be a few months away from release, but shows tremendous promise. I expect to spend a fair amount of time exploring it with you as they get closer to release. In the interim we have iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Premier, and many other apps.

You have to start somewhere, so dive right in. It won’t be perfect at first, but you need to start somewhere. Simply, just start editing your videos. You will see that the story you have to tell is important, and that more folks will listen as you eliminate the bumpy spots in your footage. Eventually you will learn how to add sound, organize the footage, and use basic editing techniques. But you can’t learn until you start. Find the courage to poke around the editor that is waiting for you.

 

 

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Media Notes Episode 3 – Get Up and Move

 

Episode 3 – Get Up and Move

We have all endured the excruciating home movie. You know the one… a single wide shot of “Little Johnny” or “Little Judy” running around a field playing some sort of pee-wee sport. The camera is locked on a wide shot, the kids are dots in the back ground. A proud mom or dad offers commentary about how, “there is my kid. The blue smudge over there.”

A Wild West dentist would inflict less pain than these parents. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Shot variety is a great way to propel a story or event. Wide shots should be left to the domain of surveillance footage, establishing shots and weather cameras. As photographer and story teller it is up to you to choose what is important and communicate that point of view with your camera. It is all about how you frame the shot. This episode introduces you to the notion of shot variety and camera placement. There are a number of thoughts about how you can convey emotional messages by how you position your subject in the frame, and in future episodes we’ll explore the logic and emotion behind the choices you make. For now, I just want you to start thinking about where you could be to make your shots more interesting.

It is not difficult and once you practice moving around you will find that you are placing your camera and framing your shots by intuitively knowing what is best for your story. There is no need for intimidating theories and a pile of jargon. Let’s keep it simple. Get up and move. Often closer is better. Look at the corners of your shot, is there anything distracting there? What feels right?

Shooting your home movies is not a test, it should be fun. Sure, there are times where the final outcome is not the vision you had. But that is how we learn. There are events in your family that can not be repeated and if you stop using your camera because you are afraid you will make a mistake, well that would be the real mistake.

I love shooting everyday stuff. After a while all the Christmas packages look the same, but the water fight in the back yard, the inflatable pool, bath time, dinner in a high chair… those have a special beauty in their own right. Most of life is lived in the in-between moments, not just during life’s milestones. So be certain to capture life’s little pleasures. Twenty years from now having your four-year-old daughter sleeping under your arm will only be a sweet memory. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could revisit the moment with more than your mind’s eye.

 

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