Shooting great small business videos Lessons

Shooting great business videos may seem hard at first, but it can be easy if you follow a few guidelines. This class will walk you through the process of shooting digital videos. You'll learn how to plan your project, select the right equipment, set up scenes, adjust lighting and capture audio and video. You'll also learn about chroma keying, which can provide a unique look on a budget. 1. Planning a digital video project In this lesson, you'll explore digital video, video formats and camcorder features. You'll also learn the importance of planning a video project, from storyboarding to scripting to setting a budget. 2. Exploring camera motion and shot dynamics And. . . cut! Find out about shots, scenes and sequences, and learn how to get the shots you want. This lesson also covers camera stabilization, and gives you tips for improvising equipment to help you stay on budget. 3. Understanding and manipulating lighting Lighting can set a tone, enhance an important moment or turn a perfectly good scene into a washed-out eyesore. Find out how to use proper lighting and exposure to make your subjects and video look great. 4. Getting good audio This lesson covers all-things soundvoice, music, background and room noise and recording outdoors. Find out how to maintain the professionalism of your video with appropriate and high-quality audio.

Welcome

Planning a digital video project

In this lesson, you'll explore digital video, video formats and camcorder features. You'll also learn the importance of planning a video project, from storyboarding to scripting to setting a budget. Welcome to the class. Because you're here, you're at least somewhat interested in shooting videos in a business setting. Maybe there's an opening in the production department of your company, or maybe you wish to start a new career in video production. Whatever the case may be, you're ready to move from being a hobbyistsomeone who shoots video for funto being a professional. In this class, you'll learn tips and tricks the professionals use when planning, storyboarding and shooting great video. Shooting professional-quality video isn't rocket science, but it can get complicated, especially when there's money involved. It will be up to you to keep the project under budget and within the scope of the plan, which will be explained later in this lesson.

How the class works

Here's what you can expect to learn from each lesson:

The content in this class is designed for business professionals who want to capture professional-looking videos for work. However, anyone with an interest in videography can benefit from the class.

Lesson 1: Planning a digital video project: From budgeting to storyboarding, this lesson helps you prepare for a shoot. Lesson 2: Exploring camera motion and shot dynamics: Find out about shots, camera

Each lesson is accompanied by an assignment and a short quiz, which help you put your skills into practice and reinforce what you're learning.

The digital advantage

The most important thing you can do is plan ahead. The key to creating a great video is having a well-planned and scripted concept. If you read the lessons, complete the assignments and quizzes and try some of the filming techniques offered in this class, you'll be ready to call the shots. Lights, cameraaction!

stabilization and more in this lesson. Lesson 3: Understanding and manipulating lighting: Learn how proper lighting and exposure can help your subjects and video look great. Lesson 4: Getting good audio: Learn how to work with voice and music, as well as background and room noise. You'll also get tips for recording outdoors.

If you're already an employee of a video production company or department, the decision as to which video cameras to purchase have probably already been made. If not, and you'll be involved in making that decision, this section provides a quick review of some the camera options available and the benefits they offer to professional videographers.

Analog versus digital

To truly understand the advantage of one camera over another or even standard definition (SD) versus high definition (HD), you need some background on analog and digital recordings. Analog video used to be the standard in video recording, but analog cameras and analog recording equipment have pretty much gone by the wayside. However, understanding analog video is key to understanding digital video and the tools used today. Analog video cameras capture images by varying the level of brightness, known as luminance, and color, known as chrominance. These signals are then written on videotape using separate channels. There are generally three different types of analog video signals: Composite video: The oldest type of video signal in use today. It combines three different signals on a single line or copper wire, also known as a single broadcast signal or radio frequency (RF) signal. The Y signal determines brightness; the U and V signals work together like Cartesian coordinates to determine color. S-Video: Transmits the picture using two separate signal pathsone for the brightness and one for color. This separation allows for a better quality image than composite, but it tends to be lower quality than component video. S-video's greatest strength is its ability to carry a signal over significant distance without degradation. Component video: Refers to several different types of video signals. The one most people mean when they say "component" is RGB, also known as YCbCr. RGB stand for red, green and blue. RGB has been a staple for computer monitors, high-end TVs and a majority of cameras because of its quality output.

Although you may think the term "digital video" is new, it's actually been around since the late 1970s. Sony Corporation was the first manufacturer to introduce digital video commercially to the market. However, due to the expense, large television networks were really the only users of Sony's digital video format, called D-1. Thanks to advances in digital technology, video recording and editing equipment that used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars is now available for consumers to purchase for thousands, and in some cases only hundreds, of dollars.

SD versus HD

As digital video camcorders and compression standards improved in the mid- to late 1990s, consumers began to demand higher-quality video. Wanting to capitalize on the demand for higher-quality pictures, manufacturers scrambled to bring their new HD products to market as fast as possible. But to really understand the difference between SD and HD, you need to

understand resolution.

Resolution

The term resolution can be described and measured in many different ways. As it pertains to videoand specifically to digital video resolutionresolution is the detail that a specific image can hold. An image with a high resolution has higher quality and can hold more detail than one with lower resolution. In video, resolution determines how close lines can be to each other and still be visible; this is also referred to as TV lines in broadcast terms. Television standards have broken down these resolutions and placed them into categories based on type of transmission. The higher the number of vertical and horizontal lines, the higher the quality of the signal. Table 1-1 lists SD resolutions and examples of formats that use them. Analog/early digital (horizontal x vertical) Format examples 352 x 240 (264 lines) 330 x 480 (248 lines) 400 x 480 (300 lines) 440 x 480 (330 lines) 560 x 480 (420 lines) 670 x 480 (503 lines) 720 x 480 (520 lines) 720 x 480 (503 lines) Video CD

Umatic, Betamax, VHS, Video8 Super Betamax, Betacam (pro) Analog broadcast LaserDisc, Super VHS, Hi8

Enhanced Definition Betamax

Table 1-1: SD resolutions.

D-VHS, DVD, miniDV, Digital8, Digital Betacam (pro) Widescreen DVD (anamorphic)

Table 1-2 lists HD resolutions and examples of formats that use them. Digital (horizontal x vertical) 1280 x 720 (720 lines) 1440 x 1080 (810 lines) Format examples HDV (miniDV)

1920 x 1080 (1,080 lines)

D-VHS, HD DVD, Blu-ray, HDV (miniDV)

2048 x 1080 (2048 pixels wide)* 2K Digital Cinema 4096 x 2160 (4096 pixels wide)* 4K Digital Cinema

D-VHS, HD DVD, Blu-ray, HDCAM SR (pro)

Table 1-2: HD resolutions.

* 2K and 4K are terms used for digital cinematography and they are not measured in vertical lines wide. The process for creating a 2K or a 4K image is completely different from the process a camcorder uses for creating a standard video, digital or analog.

Understanding video camera features

Shoot raw video content using the highest resolution possible. When you edit and distribute your video, you can compress it into any video format you desire. If you film your video in a lower resolution or SD format and then distribute the video via some type of HD playback device, the image will appear blurred because your lower-resolution picture will be scaled up to fit the HD device. Now that you understand some video essentials, you're ready to look at video camera features.

Knowing the individual features of your video camera is very important. Many videographers don't fully understand the features of their cameras, and a simple setting error can waste hours of time and potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars on a shot. You'll learn details of planning and budgeting for a project later in this lesson. For now, you need to understand that a great deal of time and effort go into creating a well-planned and executed video production. If you haven't correctly adjusted the settings on your camera, your shot(s) will be wasted and you'll need to film againthat is, if you even get the opportunity to try again.

General camera settings

Most cameras today come with a wealth of built-in features and settings that can give your shots a professional and artistic look. Features such as image stabilization, viewfinders, zoom and focus controls are all commonplace. Be sure to review your camera manual and practice using your camera controls. During an actual shoot, you don't want to spend any time learning how to do something such as perform an effective zoom. And you don't want to fumble around looking for the manual/auto-focus setting while your actors are waiting for you to continue.

White balance 101

Creating great-looking video is a lot like painting a masterpiece. Your video camera is like a canvas. It's your portal to your masterpiece. Your view of the world through your camera is completely subjective. You have total control of how the world looks and how colors blend through your lens.

Camera manufacturers reconfigure and re-tool their cameras all the time. Don't assume that you know exactly where a feature or setting is because the manufacturer may have changed it on the newest release of a camera.

In photography, the main method of obtaining perfect color balancethe overall mixture of colors in an imageis by adjusting your camera's white balance. Most high-end video cameras offer a range of automatic white balance settings as well as the ability to set custom white balance settings. There are a number of ways to adjust a camera's white balance:

Use filters: The method most often used when working with film-based cameras is to tint the color of the lights in the scene. By adding color-correction filters, often know as a gels, to the lights in a specific scene or the lens of the camera, you can essentially warm or cool the colors in your shot. Set a custom white balance: Place a color-correction card in front of the lens in the desired location for the shot you're framing, and then press the camera's Custom White Balance

There's absolutely no substitute for a shot with good color balance. Consistent color balance and white balance throughout your filming can save you hundreds of hours of color-correction time in the editing phase of your project. You'll learn the process and techniques of proper lighting and white balance in Lesson 3. For now, remember that your camera doesn't always see what your eyes see. Also, if you've set your camera's settings for a previous shot, you need to check them before every scene to make sure the color balance and white balance stay consistent.

Most consumer and professional video cameras come with a set of built-in lighting settings that automatically adjust the camera's RGB values to transform the overall color that the camera image processor records. Examples of these options are Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight/Sunny, Cloudy and Auto.

button. This way, you capture an image of the color of the card and tell the camera that this color is 100-percent white. The camera then adjusts the overall color of the scene accordingly. Use your camera's color balance options: A simple way to adjust white balance and obtain neutral color balance is by using the camera's built-in color balance options.

Exposure

Another important factor in the look of your video is the exposure, which is the total amount of light allowed to be captured by the camera's image processor. In camcorders, there are generally two different means by which you can control exposure: shutter speed and iris control (f-stop).

Video editing is covered only briefly in this class. To learn about video editing in depth, look for our "Editing great small business videos" class on this learning center.

Shutter speed is the length of time it takes the camera shutter to open and close. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the shutter stays open. Slow shutter speeds create a blurry effect on the recorded image. The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the image. You'll generally use fast shutter speeds when filming fast motion, such as sporting events and when objects are flying past your lens. Camera lenses have an iris, also known as a diaphragm, built into them. You can open and close the iris to control the amount of light that hits the camera's image processor. The setting you use to control this is commonly known as the field stop, or f-stop. However, in the video world, we typically refer to this as iris control, and most camcorders use the term iris rather than f-stop. You can control the camera iris both automatically and manually. However, be careful with auto iris features when filming outside scenes. As you pan your camera in an outside setting, the different variations of the sun's light can cause your image to overexposethat is, allow too much light to hit the image processorand therefore cause the image to look blown out. On the other hand, your image may underexpose if not enough light hits the image processor; this causes the image to be too dark to make out the detail in your scene.

In addition to the options discussed here, you can control many other options in your video camera. Take some time to review your camera's manual to learn about all the features included. You may be surprised at some of the features you didn't know your camera supported and the amount of manual control you have over the masterpieces you can create with your camera. Also be sure to experiment with your camera to get a good feel for its various settings. Now that you understand general camera features, it's time to learn about scripting, storyboarding and budgeting. The next section walks you through those phases of video project planning. You'll learn about video camera settings that pertain to audio processing in Lesson 4.

Planning your video

So you've purchased your camera, learned its features inside and out and possibly even spent some time honing your filming skills, using your friends and family members as subjects. Now it's time to use those skills to produce a video that you can present to senior management or a client. A few items need to be in place before your management team will approve your project.

Scripting your vision

What is broll?

There's no rule about whether to develop a script before creating a storyboard. It's often easier to storyboard a project based on the script than vice versa. However, you may think otherwise, and there may even be good reason for creating a storyboard first. Still, most videographers create a script first, so we assume that you're taking this path, too.

The script, or screenplay as it's called in the film industry, is a play-by-play or action-and-dialogue breakdown of a video. The action content is typically written in the present tense. The dialogue is the words the actors will speak. When working on a production project that has numerous different actors and speaking roles, you may find it beneficial to type a script to help you maintain the action. You can purchase script-writing applications if you want. These applications help you organize and define the different roles, scenes and character dialog that meets the standards used in professional feature film projects. Some examples of scriptwriting software currently available for purchase are Magic Screenwriter, Final Draft and Movie Outline.

If your production department doesn't have the resources to purchase a script-writing application, you might be able to find a Word template online that you can use for your script. You might also be able to find free scriptwriting software online; just search your favorite search engine for free scriptwriting software.

Creating a storyboard

Once a script is in place, it's time to create a graphical representation of the scenes in your video. This is known as a storyboard. Storyboards have been used for decades; Walt Disney even used them in the 1930s. A storyboard is a sequence of images placed side-by-side that provide a visual layout of how the scenes in a video progress. You may even choose to include in it some of the dialogue and action from the script. You can create a storyboard for a video by hand on a piece of paper or digitally on a computer. Figure 1-1 illustrates a sample storyboard you can print and use to practice creating scenes. If you prefer the digital method, you can purchase 2D or 3D software to help you create a storyboard. Digital storyboarding software works best in the hands of someone with advanced graphic design skills. Take this into consideration as you put together your budget and your production team. And remember that graphic artists don't come cheap, but they can certainly make you look good!

B-roll is secondary footage that you intercut with the main footage of your video. You can see b-roll in action by watching a newscast. For example, if the anchor is reporting a story about the war in the Middle East and how it affects local residents, you might see footage of soldiers in trucks driving past a closed market.

Figure 1-1: Sample storyboard template. Enlarge image

A 3D storyboard is known as a previsualization, and it shows you exactly what the camera will see, complete with camera moves, lighting and set design. The downside of a previsualization is that it takes a lot of time to create, and it can be expensive. Previsualizations are rare and are typically used only on high-budget projects.

Creating a budget

You're ready to sell your idea to management team to film your video. Of course, you need money. Great business videos don't get made for free. However, there are a few things you can do to keep the costs low and still get the masterpiece you're looking for. The budgeting process can take some time, and regardless of who you're presenting your idea to, they all have the same goal in mind: spend as little as possible (to make as much money as possible, if applicable). When putting together a budget for a video project, you should break down the project into four sections:

The process of creating a storyboard can be tedious and time-consuming. However, a storyboard can play a pivotal role in making your video attractive to upper management. Using a storyboard to show how you intend to illustrate or stage a specific scene in your video can be the deciding factor for management to buy into your vision.

Budget post-production costs separately from production costs, especially if a second individual or team will perform the post-production tasks. Post-production indicates that the project has moved from the filming or production phase to the editing or post-production phase. Other: This section is for miscellaneous items not covered in the other categories.

The cost for below-the-line equipment is usually fixed in contrast to above the line costs which vary from project to project.

Above the line: This cost can include the cost of paying someone to write a script, which is not typical if you're working on a video project as part of a production team. Actor expenses and outside production consulting costing costs like producers, directors, assistant directors are also considered above-the-line costs. Below the line: This cost can include the cost of paying non-starring cast members like individuals you may use for b-roll footage. Technical crewmembers as well as the use of rental equipment, travel, location costs and meals are also considered below-the-line costs. Post-production: Editing, visual effects and so on are all considered to be post-production costs. However, they are also below-the-line costs unless you have someone from another production company facilitate any of the post-production responsibilities.

Table 1-3 lists some below-the-line and above-the-line budget items and their typical costs. Each video project may include some items and not others. Below-the-line budget item Script Story rights (remember, this not Hollywood) Producers, directors and cinematographer Cost $500 (if applicable) $150 per hour $175 per hour

Post-production (editing and visual effects) Above-the-line budget item Talent

Production (sound, lighting, make-up, travel) $1,000 per day

$600 to $1,000 per day

Table 1-3: Costs of typical video budget items. To cut costs, consider the following tips:

$50 to $200 per person per hour

Your goal is to be as creative and as flexible as possible when it comes to your plans. Management teams like to see that you're willing to negotiate when it comes to cost. They understand that this is your vision, but they're still the ones putting up the money to produce the video.

Moving on

Avoid shooting at night: Night shoots require a lot of power and expensive lighting. In addition, you have to pay your crew and talent higher nighttime rates. Avoid filming in famous or commercial areas: The cost required to get permits to shoot in famous places such as New York's Times Square or the Empire State Building can push your budget out of scope. Barter: Allow businesses and owners of locations you're considering to shoot in to play a small role in the production, giving them free advertising in your production for the use of their location.

Although the planning process seems tedious, it's vital in your ability to sell the vision for your video to your management team. Great planning can make the difference in whether your video gets turned into a masterpiece, or remains a fantasy floating around inside your head. Take a risk! What do you have to lose?

Assignment #1

In Lesson 2, you'll delve deep into the filming process. You'll learn concepts such as camera stabilization and pick up tips for improvising equipment to help you stay on budget. It's time to get the camera rolling. Before you move on, be sure to do the assignment and take the quiz for this lesson. Build a budget for a 60-second commercial spot based on a cost of $2,500.

There are two parts to this project:

Quiz #1
A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B)

Use these details to help you complete your budget:

Question 1: True or False: Composite video uses two signal paths: one for the luminance and one for the chrominance of the picture. Question 2: Which of the following are ways to control the exposure with camcorders? (Check all that apply.) C) D) Question 3: True or False: 1280 x 720 is an SD resolution standard. False True Exposure Focus Shutter speed Iris ND filter White balance True False

Your project will include three actors at a cost of $100 per hour. You are allowed to spend $400 on graphic art. You need to rent a camera jib for two days, at a cost of $150 per day.

1. Determine what your above-the-line costs will be and determine what your below-the-line costs will be. 2. Determine the maximum length of time you have to film your project.

Question 4: Which of the following can you fix by adjusting your camera's white balance? C) D) C) D) Question 5: When creating a video production budget, which of the following is an above-the-line cost? Normalization Color balance

Varying your shots

Exploring camera motion and shot dynamics

Hired talent, directors and producers Rental of extra lights and cameras

Graphic design and creation of 3D images Video editing

And. . . cut! Find out about shots, scenes and sequences, and learn how to get the shots you want. This lesson also covers camera stabilization, and gives you tips for improvising equipment to help you stay on budget. Welcome back. In Lesson 1, you learned to recognize the benefits of digital versus analog, how to get the most out of the features in your camera and how to plan a well-designed project. In this lesson, you'll learn to walk, talk and even dance like a professional business videographer.

Most amateur video looks amateur because the shooter stands off to the side of the action and shoots wide the entire time. Shooting video is like going to the prom: you don't want to stand against the wall and watch; you have to get in there and dance if you're going to have any fun at all. When shooting video, you need more than just wide shots.

Understanding the basic jargon

The material in this lesson will make the most sense to you if you understand video terminology. These are some terms you need to know:

Watching TV like a director

Now that you know some of the basic terms related to shooting video, you're ready to see them in action. To understand them more fully, consider spending some time watching TV this week. Instead of being a couch potato, though, you need to watch television like a director. Record an episode of a good primetime drama and find a long scene. Watch the scene carefully and try to answer these questions as it unfolds:

A shot, or a cut, is the uninterrupted footage from a single camera. If you're shooting a video about your CEO, Steve for example, your camera might focus on Steve as he stands in front of a podium, introducing your company's newest product. That's one shot. A scene is a collection of shots that take place in a single location. For example, an auditorium scene in your video might include several shots: Steve at the podium, the audience's reactions, a close-up of the product, a tight shot of Steve's presentation and so on. Together, these shots make up a scene. A sequence is a collection of scenes that make up a coherent section of your project. A sequence, unlike a scene, doesn't have to take place in one location. For example, you might create a sequence that includes the auditorium scene, a production creation scene, a marketing commercial used to promote the new product and an interview scene about the amazing steps the company has taken in the creation of the new product.

With some practice, you'll learn to see different shots directors use to build scenes and sequences. These are the same building blocks you'll use when you shoot your own business videos.

Understanding more jargon: shot types

How do you know when the new scene starts? How much of the new location are you seeing? For example, are you seeing just the desk, the whole room or just the main character's shoes? What's the focus of the first shot? How do you know it's the focus? How far is the camera from the action? Where is the camera placed? Is the camera handheld (watch for a little wobble) or on a tripod? Does the camera change position during the shot? Focus on a particular shot. How long does it last (roughly 2, 4 or 10 seconds, or some other amount of time)? Do shot lengths remain consistent, or do they change as the scene progresses?

To learn some more video-related jargon, let's break down a sample finished sequence and examine its parts. Here's how a director might describe the Steve sequence described earlier in the lesson: LS sweeping shot of the auditorium, with news personnel and potential customers beginning to fill the seats. MS from inside the auditorium as individuals interact with each other and begin to discuss what they think will be introduced at this year's new product launch. They flip open their programs. Half the length of the previous shot. CU of a hand flipping through a new product dossier. Very short.

Confused by all these new abbreviations? You'll understand them in no time.

LS stands for long shot, and it usually has the camera far enough from the action that a human figure doesn't fill the screen. In the example, the LS is also known as an establishing shot because it establishes where the subject is.

MS stands for medium shot. In this type of shot, the subjectsin this case the customerstake up a big portion of the screen. In this example, the perspective change from "sweeping shot of the auditorium" to "customers interacting" makes the audience curious about what's going on. CU stands for close-up. As you might imagine, a CU shot is a close-up view of a subject or object. In the sample sequence, the perspective changes again, focusing now on the same thing the customers are focusing on: a brochure of the new products. This shot is short. If this sequence were nothing more than the long establishing shot from the back of the auditorium as Steve stands in front of the audience and introduces this year's new products, it would be awfully boring. The sequence is much more interesting, however, because in less than one minute, it incorporates three different perspectives in three shots. Also notice that the duration of each shot decreased from the beginning to the end of the sequence. By blending establishing shots with medium and close-up shots, you can make a scene more interesting. You can use the different types and lengths of shots to change the perspective and build interest. When you take the time to plan a scene by imagining how all the pieces will edit together, you can get a much better idea of what to shoot.

Taking practice footage

Setting the stage

In the next section, you'll practice some shot techniques. You'll also learn tips for future filming and get better acquainted with your camera's features. Now it's time to get your camera out to practice what you've learned. You can capture just about any event you'd likefrom a department meeting in a boardroom to an interview with a previous customer. What you capture isn't as important as practicing shot techniques. Get an ES (usually also an LS) of the general area you're going to film. The camera tells us where we are, what's going on and who's there with us. It's the first part, but certainly not the whole, of any story. Mobile cameras offer the ability to change perspective constantly, moving in and out of the action, changing the audience vantage point and redirecting the focus of any scene as if you're omniscient. Use that power.

Reaction shots

Movin' on up

The MS brings the camera closer to the subjects. Suddenly, human beings instead of surroundings command our attention. The CU moves us in closer to focus on the expressions of the face or hands. An ECU (extreme close-up) might bring you so close that only the eyesthe most expressive human featurefill the screen. Use all these shots to your advantage, whether you're shooting a dramatic piece of fiction or a pie-eating contest at the company party.

A little planning

With the camera, you allow your audience to be omniscient. Take a moment before rolling tape to assess the situation. Who are the major players? What are their relationships to each

Every action needs context. Your subjects provide that context with their reactions. Be sure to capture them on video as you shoot. In documentary interviews, it's common to shoot the "reacts" or "noddies" later. Watch a pre-recorded interview on a news show and ask yourself if every shot of the host nodding thoughtfully was necessarily done at the

other? Which of their actions are important to understanding the situation? Capture all of these things with your all-knowing lens.

Lines of interest Coverage

Every scene has a line of interest. Be sure to notice it. In dialogue, it normally passes in a straight line between one speaker and the next. Choose one side of that line to shoot from and be careful not to cross the line with your follow-up shots. To do so will startle and confuse the audience. A good director never leaves a scene, whether it's fiction or documentary, without covering his back. After you've captured all the actions and reactions that describe the situation, always find something related, but not critical, to shoot. If you're shooting a promotional video, find time for one shot of the manufacturing plant spinning out the product, or a shot of a customer's reaction to the benefits of using the new product. These are called cutaways, or b-rolls, and they're insignificant to your major shooting but absolutely critical in the editing room. When the action falters, or you need to manipulate the time-space continuum by cutting the middle out of someone's sentence, you can cut to a shot of anything related to the scene, and then return to the main flow, picking up the action at your new (seconds, minutes or days later) point in time. It sounds artificial; however, it might be the difference between an awkward transition and an unworkable one. You can imagine the whole thing developing from the viewer's point of view: from "No Idea What's Going On" to "Absolutely Amazed to See the Product in Action." A great improvement, don't you think? Directors know this and plan each shot that will make up a scene. Find some time before you shoot to imagine the kinds of shots you'll get, and you'll come away with a lot more, and a lot better, footage to work with. Next, learn some basic camerawork techniques for capturing action shots, providing for headroom and framing shots with the rule of thirds.

same time that the speaker was talking. (Audio and video can beand areedited as separate tracks.)

Learning basic camera work

Now that you've seen the kind of shots you'd like to record, consider the guidelines described in this section. They'll help you shoot dynamically and increase the interest in each of your carefully planned (or wildly improvised) shots. Before you race out to begin composing your new masterpiece, take a moment to consider some of the basics for good shooting.

Catching your subjects in action

The rule of thirds

Focus on people to keep your footage interesting. Landscapes and architecture can be beautiful but are best left to painters. Unlike photography or painting, video and film have the ability to capture motion. Don't waste that incredible ability.

If you're shooting at a presentation or product launch, you want to see a lot of faces. And you want to see shots that demonstrate relationships between your customer and the product: If it's a financial product, maybe it's a shot of mom and dad struggling to pay the bills, or young man or woman being told they've been declined for a loan. These types of shots help show a relationship between the individuals in the video and the amazing product that's going to solve their problems. The closer you get to the action, the more intense the footage gets. Sometimes this is good; sometimes it's unnecessary. You must decide. Only practice will tell you when to go in close, so keep shooting until you get the feel of it.

When framing a shot, borrow an idea that painters have used for centuries: the rule of thirds. Imagine your screen divided by lines top-tobottom and side-to-side into three panels. Use the intersection of linesa natural focus pointto draw attention to action or

Watching your head

When shooting video of people, you have to learn to watch out for "headroom." If you're using a wide shot, don't cut off everyone's head. If you fill the screen with someone's head, make sure you don't cut off their eyes. The same notion holds true for left-right space. If your subject is facing to the right, don't smash him or her up against the right side of the screen; this looks cramped. Allow for "nose room" to give the shot a more natural feel.

Avoid letting your subject's chin graze the bottom of the frame, or letting the top of his or her head bump the top of the frame (ouch!). This gives your subject a cramped look. If your goal is to fit the whole head into the frame, leave ample room on top and bottom.

people of interest. You'll improve your shot compositions if you shoot video the way an artist paints portraits.

Taking it more slowly

Stabilizing your camera

Although you don't want your piece to consist entirely of long establishing shots, don't cut off the action too soon. Let the actions develop and play themselves out. Avoid changing your angle constantly as if you were a dog hunting for treats. Relax, find something interesting, enjoy your subjects and remember that someone watching later might not understand everything as intuitively as you do. Give them time to digest what's going on. You can always cut it short in the editing process later. Next, learn about stabilization in many different forms.

Once you've decided how to frame your subjects and where you'll set up your first camera position, you need to develop a method for stabilizing your shot. Handheld camera work has an intimate, personal feel when done carefully. Done sloppily, or without stabilization, makes your viewers seasick. Avoid making your audience queasy: find something stable to shoot with.

Using tripods

A good, solid tripod takes all of the wiggle (and some of the waggle) out of your shooting. When shopping for tripods, look for:

Stability: A wobbly tripod is no help except in controlled situations, and you won't find many of those. Adjustability: Make sure the legs extend and retract smoothly and easily. Fluid heads: These are more expensive but are a great help if you're doing complex moves such as pans, tilts or combinations. (You'll learn about these in a moment.) A level: Some of the nicer tripods come with a built-in level, which is great for quick setups when you don't have time to line up your horizon by sight. Spreader bars: These stabilization bars, shown in Figure 2-1, run from the legs of the tripod and connect to the center post or to the other legs. Spreader bars are more common on higher-end tripods and add a significant amount of stabilization for panning and tilting.

Figure 2-1: Spreader bars on a tripod.

Steady alternatives On your own

If you're not ready to spend money on a tripod and fluid head (which cost $30 to $500 for good consumer versions, with professional equipment costing even more), you might consider a monopod. A monopod is a one-legged tripod. Monopods are less-expensive than tripods, less adjustable and less stable, but much simpler to haul around and set up. You should learn to improvise without a tripod. Practice holding your camera with a good solid stance. If you're still not stable enough, brace yourself against a wall or table. Any extra stability you can achieve improves your shooting considerably. If you can't find something to lean on, drop to your knees and prop your arms up on the back of a chair. For an even more stable shot, find a good platform for your camera and set it down entirely. If you've got a remote control device for your camera, and a good vantage point, you might even get to shoot yourself (in a good way). Before you do any shooting, make a mental note of what's around to help you stabilize your shooting. You'll be glad you did.

Solid shooting stance

If you're a news videographer, there isn't always time to find a sturdy platformyou can't tell the action to wait while you look for a good place to lean on something or to rest your camera. Practice shooting with nothing at all to hang on to. Hold your camera in your right hand, using your left hand to help stabilize the camera. (Sorry, lefties, most camera controls are oriented for the right-dominant world.) Keep your feet at shoulder's width and bend your knees slightly. Imagine that holding your

Pull your elbows in against your sides. This locks your position, and it's easier to maintain than having your elbows flexed away from your body.

camera is like carrying a bowl of soup in the back seat of a car. Now imagine a bouncy dirt road. Breathe in, lock your elbows and shoot!

Telephoto (and its traps)

Instead of moving your camera around, you can simulate movement by using your telephoto/wide-angle settings (also called zoom). A zoom is a wonderful thingonce in a while. Properly executed, a zoom-in is a graceful transition linking one subject to another in a single shot or a way of focusing the attention on a small portion of a larger picture. Zooming in and out oftenand rapidlyis a great way to make your audience sick and a telltale sign of an amateur camera operator (or a music video, but each thing must have its place).

Practice makes photo-perfect

Practice your telephoto motion. The telephoto/wide-angle control rocks back and forth like a seesaw. You get better control, and can do a more graceful zoom-in or zoom-out, if your seesaw moves smoothly and slowly. Apply easy pressure back and forth to change smoothly from wide-angle to telephoto. Try it repeatedly until you get a smooth zoom that makes you happy.

Bouncing and misbehaving

Zooming all the way in on your subject has a few consequences worth noting. An extreme telephoto shot exaggerates any camera motion on your part. What might normally be a slightly unstable shot seems like earthquake footage when the camera is fully zoomed in. If you're using your zoom a lot, you shouldn't shoot without a tripod.

Keeping your sea legs

Exploring camera motion: pans, tilts and moves

One last thing: be sure your camera is level before shooting. A horizon that's not really horizontal gives your footage a strange look. (Experiment with this, though, because sometimes strange might be what you're looking for.) Usually, you want a nice straight horizon. The trick to achieving this is not trying to line your camera's bottom edge up against a horizontal line in your shot. Instead, visually line up one of the vertical edges in your picture against something standing straight up. This results in less distortion and a more precisely framed shot. Next, find out about camera angles and focus.

The most compelling footage won't come from a camera locked down on a tripod or from even a well-executed zoom. Professional videographers use a variety of standard camera moves and work hard to combine them for an interesting and dynamic shooting style. Take a moment, the next time you watch TV or go to a movie, to notice how the camera moves.

Cutting between simple static shotsfrom a showroom to a car to a face to a buffing productisn't challenging for an editor or an audience. A smoother, more interesting sequence uses a variety of shots, from different perspectives, with carefully choreographed camera moves. The sequence might start with a shot of a company representative walking out from the side of a vehicle in a showroom, and then pan to the right to shift the focus to the car. Cut to a close-up of the rep's face and tilt down to see the buffing product in his hand.

Changing the angle

The most basic camera moves you should remember are the pan and the tilt.

A pan pivots the camera along the horizontal axis, side to side. A pan left is a camera motion that begins on the right and turns to face left. Kneeling in front of a car, frame a close-up of the driver. Without changing your own position, turn slowly to point the camera at the front seat passenger. You've just done a pan left. The pan right, obviously, moves in the opposite direction. A tilt (you can tilt up or tilt down) pivots along the vertical axis, moving the shot from high to low or vice versa. Point the camera at the base of a tree andwithout moving your feetslowly follow the trunk upwards to end with a shot of the bird's nest above your head. You've done a tilt up.

Ideally, the move should begin with three seconds at full stop. Press the Record button on your camcorder, count to three and then start your move slowly. Move smoothly from your first to your second subject, and end at your desired finish without jolting. Pan more slowly than you think you should. Side-to-side motion, done quickly, dissolves into a blur rather quickly. Shooting an elegant pan is easier said than done, but practice will give you a professionallooking shot. Example 2-1 shows a short pan left and then a pan right. Notice how, if done slowly and smoothly, the subjects remain in focus. Example 2-2 shows a short tilt up and tilt down example.

Changing the focus

An even more difficult feat is a rack focus. Here, you won't move your camera at all. In a rack focus, you change the actual focus of the shot from a subject in the foreground to one in the background without changing the framing. This only works on cameras with a manual focus setting.

Racking your focus can be hard for a reason you wouldn't expect to cause a problem: today's video cameras have such powerful chips they can keep everything in focus at once. It's actually technically difficult to keep a subject on-screen out of focus. To get a good rack focus, decrease your depth of field and stick with manual, not automatic, settings if you have them.

Depth of field describes how much of your shot is in focus at any given moment. A short depth of field means, for instance, that the people sitting at the conference table will be in focus but the trees showing through the conference room windows behind them will look slightly fuzzy. A long depth of field would let you count the number of leaves on a branch while keeping the people in the conference room in focus. You can change the depth of field by changing your aperture or the length of your lens. To get the soft focus background or short depth of field look on a camera with manual settings, open up the iris, slow down the shutter speed and use the zoom all the way in. Example 2-3 shows an example of depth of field. Notice how the focus of the text changes from front to back. The next section covers dollies, trucks, jibs and choppers.

Dollies, trucks, jibs and choppers, and how to fake them

If you've been watching your television carefully, you've noticed that Hollywood directors use a variety of camera shots, angles and movements. To achieve them, they used some of the techniques discussed in this lesson. They also have at their disposal an enormous stable of gizmos and gear designed to capture shots no human can do with arms and legs alone.

Although these devices cost money that you might not have in your budget, with a little ingenuity and a few common items, you can fake some of these at the office, occasionally with great results.

Dolly shots

Some of the smoothest, most cinematic moves you'll see are dolly shots. The director mounts a camera on a wheeled tripod and moves it toward or away from a stationary subject. It's a zoom done by moving the camera instead of using the telephoto/wide-angle setting of the lens.

Fake a dolly with a skateboard or a wheelchair. How about a rolling office chair? You'd need a dolly driver to maneuver for you, but with a few rehearsals, you could get an interesting new shot. Have you got an office shipping cart that could be wheeled around smoothly? Just place a board in the cart to which you attach your camera securely, and you've got yourself an inexpensive dolly. Keep an eye on safety, too, as you plan your motion sequences. A dolly shot that lands you in a ditch on the side of the road may be good for that sewer sequence you've been working on but not for much else, and could possibly put you out of work for a period of time. Practice each maneuver before you start rolling tape to be sure you can execute it without mishap. A clear dolly path and a big set of wheels give you the opportunity to capture interesting angles and make a big impression at the next company presentation.

Truck shots

Truck shots are similar to dolly shots, but they move back and forth instead of in and out. Your subject rollerblades down the street to demo your company's new kneepads and helmet. A truck shot follows him as he glides. Find a quiet street or parking lot to shoot on and use a slow-moving minivan with the door open. You can even shoot from the back of a pickup truck. Be particularly careful, however, not to become a traffic hazard. And make sure you have received approval from your company's legal department. If something was to go wrong you don't want to be left with the liability.

Above the fray

Jib arms and crane shots are the shots when the camera seems to rise above the crowd and fly effortlessly through the air.

You might get good overhead shots from balconies, ladders or rooftops. However, always remember to check the safety of any shooting position, for both you and your camera, before engaging in any overhead shenanigans.

Equipment rental Moving on

As you begin to put your project together, remember that you can rent equipment from your local broadcast video retailer or even an equipment rental store. Most companies will charge you a daily or weekly rate to rent things like dollies, cranes and jibs. Carefully plan your shot list and consider if renting any of this type of equipment will benefit your project.

Now you're really on your way. You've got a camera, and now you've begun to see how you can use it to capture a variety of shots. You've also begun watching TV with a director's eye. Lesson 3 dives into lightingcharacteristics of light and how to use it to your advantage. Before moving forward, be sure to take the quiz and spend some time on the assignment. This time there's some shooting involved (or at least faking it on paper), so you can get your feet wet. Good luck.

Assignment #2

Plan and shoot this straightforward scene. You may change the details to match your own situation, but try to create all the action. Shoot each shot in order, and edit each shot in the camera as you shoot, if necessary.

Exterior. Your office. Late afternoon.

A man in a business suit arrives, gets out of the car and enters a building.

(How many shots do you want to use? One long shot? A series of shots from different angles to capture different parts of the action? Directors must make decisions like this continually, and the shots you choose determine the look and feel of your piece.)

Interior. Your office. Late afternoon. Conference room. Your office.

A manager meets the man as he enters the building. She shakes the man's hand and motions for the two of them to enter the conference room. Grateful, the man enters the conference room, followed by the manager. The man pulls a paper from his briefcase and hands it to the manager. Intrigued and nodding in approval, the manager reads the document. The camera changes angle to the manager's point of view to reveal the document. (What is the document? You decide.) A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) True Question 1: True or False: A shot is a collection of sequences that, when edited together, create a scene. Question 2: When you're shooting a shot, which of the following should you be careful not to cross? C) D) C) D) Line of interest Cutaway B-roll Establishing shot Rule of framing Rule of thirds False

Quiz #2

Question 3: When framing a shot, one technique is to draw two imaginary equally spaced lines from side to side and top to bottom and use them as a guide. What is this principle called? Question 4: How do you get the steadiest results when shooting video? (Check all that apply.) Use a tripod. Brace yourself against another person. Rule of steady shooting Rule of interest

C) D) A) B) C) D)

Question 5: Which of the following are important to shooting good pans? (Check all that apply.)

Understanding lighting and white balance

The color of light

Understanding and manipulating lighting

Starting from a static shot and ending on a static shot Avoiding a jerk as the camera slows to a stop

A smooth movement left-to-right or right-to-left A steady up-and-down motion

Brace yourself against a heavy, stable item such as a desk or chair. Stand with elbows tucked in and knees slightly bent.

Lighting can set a tone, enhance an important moment or turn a perfectly good scene into a washed-out eyesore. Find out how to use proper lighting and exposure to make your subjects and video look great.

In Lesson 2, you learned about using camera motion and angles to help build a dynamic story with your video. You also learned a few tricks and techniques for adding a unique look and feel to your projects. If you've been practicing, you've already begun to see the difference a few camera pointers can make. Now it's time to discuss a little lighting theory and some tips for making your camera work shine. What we normally consider a white light may be anything from greenish-yellow to blue to orange. The color of light depends on what's vibrating to emit that light. Vibrating? Yes. Without getting into Einstein's theory of relativity, let's just say that light is emitted when an object vibrates at a certain frequency. A light bulb is simply a casing around a wire that's heated until it reaches such an agitated state that it begins to emit light. On a sunny afternoon, most offices contain a mixture of light sources. The fluorescent light in the office area, the lamp on a person's desk and the sun coming through the window all contain different colors. As a videographer, you need to be aware of every light source and its properties.

Incandescent light bulbs have a tungsten filament that glows in the yellow range. Fluorescent bulbs glow greenish. Sodium lights, such as those commonly used to light sporting arenas and large shopping center parking lots, radiate in the orange range.

White balance

In Lesson 1, you learned a little bit about white balance, and here you'll learn more details about it. Although some of this information may seem repetitive, it's worth reviewing. Understanding white balance is vital to your role as a professional videographer.

Your camera probably has a white balance feature. This function is designed to compensate for the different colors of light. Although your brain automatically adjusts to new light situations, a video camera can't do so without some help from you. The white T-shirt you have on may look greenish in the open part of the office, yellowish by the desk lamp and bluish in the sunlight.

You use the white balance setting to tell your camera that, in light that's a particular color, your T-shirt actually is white. Once you've set the white balance for one shade of light, the rest of the colors in the shot will look normal. However, you have to reset your camera's white balance when you begin shooting under different lightif you go from the office's greenish lights to the company foyer's sunny natural lighting, for example.

Your camera's white balance most likely has several settings:

Shooting indoors

How your camera's white balance is set varies depending on the model. Play with it and experiment until you know how to use it. You'll have won half the battle in the lighting game. In the next section, you'll get a feel for lighting challenges when you're shooting indoors.

Automatic: With this setting, your camera changes on its own with the variations in mixed lighting situations. However, this setting isn't foolproof, and you'll often notice color changes in your video as the camera adjusts to the changing light sources. Indoor/artificial: This setting adjusts for normal tungsten bulbs. Outdoor/sunlight: This setting adjusts for light coming in the window. (Even though this light is indoors, it's still a natural light source.) Manual: This setting requires you to balance the white levels on your own by pointing your camera at a full-screen white object and then pressing the White Balance button. Not all cameras have a manual setting.

The greatest challenge to shooting indoors is simply getting enough light. With a 3CCD camera, for example, a scene needs roughly 250 watts of light per square yard. That is, you'd need about the equivalent of four 60-watt table lamps on a card table, which would hardly leave enough room for your subjects. A well-lit scene shows more detail and better color saturation than a poorly lit scene.

Your camera, especially if it's new, may have come with a claim that it can shoot in low-light situations. Although the camera may be able to actually shoot in low light, the image you'll get will be somewhat indistinct, and the predominant color will be gray. Add a little light, and you'll get a much more satisfying shot.

Getting enough light indoors

Camera-mounted lights, although easy to find and relatively inexpensive, might not be the best answer to your indoor lighting problems. They tend to be harsh lights that shine right in your subjects' eyes and are unflattering. Who wants to be pasty and squinty when being recorded? You'll be happier, and so will your subjects, with multiple light sources spread around the scene. Turn on a few more lamps. Replace some of the low-wattage bulbs in the room with some 75- or 100-watt bulbs. Bring in a desk lamp and position it close to the action. Do whatever it takes to bring the overall light level of the room up to a decent range. Consider obtaining a few soft boxes, enclosed light housings that turn a harsh or direct light into a softer light. You can also build your own soft box out of foam core and hardware you can find at your local hardware store. Do some research online, and you'll find numerous examples of how to inexpensively build a soft box.

Floor lamps, which bounce light off the ceiling, are especially good for lighting a room without shining light in everyone's eyes. You can use multiple smaller lights instead of one 200-watt bulb to create a soft, flattering glow.

Light levels and the inverse square law

Photographers and videographers often use a tool called a light meter to measure the amount of light in a scene. You can use a light meter to determine the lux reading of a scene.

The light level varies inversely with the square of a change in distance. Huh? Consider this formula, which is known as the inverse square law: Change in lux = 1/(Change in distance)2 . Let's look at an example. Say that you position a subject 2 feet from a light source and get a reading of 32 lux. When you move the subject 4 feet away, or twice the distance, from the light source, the lux reading drops to 8. The change in distance is 2, so 1/22 = 1/4; therefore, the new lux is 1/4 the original. If you move the subject 8 feet away from the light source, you've moved the subject four times the distance from the light source, so you get 2 lux, which is 1/16 the original lux reading. The inverse square law is confusing at first. The important thing to remember here is that slight changes in the distance between a light source and your subject create vast differences in light levels. Especially if you're interested in doing more formal shooting, such as interviewing a CEO about how she got where she is today, you should consider some of the lighting principles that professionals use. You'll find out about one such technique, three-point lighting, next.

Lux is a unit of measure for the intensity of light on a surface.

The power of three

A good way to perfect your own lighting technique is to watch how the professionals do it. With a little knowledge, along with some personal experimentation, you'll get a good idea of how to make your shots look great. The most common technique for lighting an interview is called three-point lighting. Three-point lighting is so named because it involves using three lights to light a specific scene and subject. The three lights give the subject definition, warmth and depth. Watching interviews and documentaries is a good way to learn how to effectively light a scene. Pay close attention to where the light is coming from and where the light is hitting.

Basics of three-point lighting

Some interviews are done as formal, sit-down affairs. Others use a looser, "man-on-the-street" style. Either way, the lighting is critical.

By using three lightsthe key, fill and back lightyou can control the highlights, shadows and shading that the light produces. You can adjust the three lights to create just the right filming environment.

Key

The key is a bright light whose job is to guarantee that the camera side of the subject's face can be clearly photographed. If you have only one light, it is the key. With a one-light setup, you may get some harsh shadows, but you can get the lighting job done quickly and easily. For an interview, you should position the key slightly above the subject's head, pointing down and at 45 degrees from the camera.

Fill

The second light in a three-point lighting scheme is called a fill. The fill's job is to add light to the other side of the subject's facethe side not lit by the keyto soften the contrast between light and dark and to give the subject a more natural glow. A fill needs to be a more diffuse light source than the key so it doesn't overpower the key or create yet more shadows. You place it at 45 degrees from the camera, on the opposite side from the key. You can use just a key and a fill, but a two-point lighting scene may make your subject look pressed up against the backdrop. The best solution? You got it: use three-point lighting.

Should you put the key on the subject's left or right? It depends on your subject and whether he or she has a more photogenic side.

Back light

The third light in the basic three-point lighting arrangement is the back light. It shines from the back, and it throws a little halo of light around the subject's hair. The back light doesn't need to be very brightjust bright enough to pull the subject away from the background and add depth to the shot.

More complicated lighting situations

If you think interview lighting sounds complicated, imagine lighting a whole room that many actors will move through. You must make sure that each subjectand there may be manyhas enough light and that the action, if it moves around the room, never falls into a shadow or throws a shadow on someone else. Sound like a headache? It is. The following are a few tips that will help you light your business video project with minimal lighting headaches.

Be sure to keep the back light out of the shot and watch for glare on the lens.

Lighting the background and the foreground separately

When you're considering lighting, you can think of the scene as two separate pieces:

Background: The background is the environment that surrounds your camera's focus. It may be a convention hall, a building or an office. Foreground: The foreground is an object or area of the scene that you want your audience to focus on.

By lighting the background and foreground separately, you have more control over how much light hits your subject. You can, for example, lower the background light to make the background darker. This increases the depth of field, which we discussed in Lesson 1. A greater depth of field separates the subject from the background and draws the viewer's attention to the subject instead of the background.

Using gels to change the color of your lighting

By changing the color of your lighting, you can alter the look and feel of a scene. You can do this by using different colored gels over your lights. If you want to create a warm scene that conveys a comfortable feel to the viewer, for example, make the color of the lighting more amber or orange. To do this, cover your background lights with amber-colored gels, and turn the lights way down if you can dim them. If your lights are not dimmable, you can use a scrimsemi-translucent material, discussed later in this lessonto diffuse the lights and limit the amount of light the camera sees. Blue-colored gels give a cold feeling and help to create a chilly environment. Some government office buildings and laboratories are examples of cold, cool or sterile environments. Carefully consider the feeling that you're trying to convey in your scene and experiment with colored gels to get an idea of the different effects they'll have on your video. Learning how to create good lighting, especially indoors, is a difficult process that requires practice. Just keep at it and watch your finished footage with the lighting in mind. You'll get good at it before long, and the quality of your business video footage will skyrocket. Next, you'll learn techniques for shooting outdoors.

Shooting outdoors

Compared to lighting scenes indoors, lighting outdoors is a breeze because you've got one great big light source on your side. Bright sun is great for the annual picnic, but it's not necessarily great for a professional videographer. A bright, sunny day presents as many problems as a gloomy, gray one. The following sections offer lighting tips for shooting videos outside. Whereas indoor lighting requires more and more light bulbs positioned correctly, the trick outdoors is often to find a place with enough shade.

Blinded by the light

When you're shooting video outdoors, the sun is your main light source, and it can be a very powerful one.

A strongly backlit subjectthat is, a subject lit from the backnormally appears dark in your camera. If you've ever shot still photos, you know this. Your camera's auto-exposure setting looks at the bright sky and that huge shining sun and closes down the aperture, letting in less light. It's the same with video. If your subjects have their backs to the sun, their front sides appear to be very shaded, and you end up with a beautiful sunny video marred by shadow people you thought were your subjects. Cloudy but bright days are better for shooting than days with blazing sun. On a cloudy day, the sun filters through with much less strength than on a sunny day. You might not get those great blue skies, but your subjects will tend to look more natural in the diffuse light of a slightly overcast day.

An important consideration in shooting video is the contrast ratiothe light rating of the brightest objects to the darkest ones in any given shot. Video does best with a contrast ratio of about 64:1. When you're shooting outdoors against a bright sky, you might have a contrast ratio of 1:100, in which case you need to find a way to lighten up some of the dark areas or resign yourself to losing detail in much of the shot. You can overcome the problem of backlighting in a couple ways:

Flat out at high noon

Another problem you might encounter in the sun at midday is that your subject might look like a cartoon character who's been hit with a frying pan. Bright overhead sun casts short shadows. On video, this means you can end up seeing only the darkened eye sockets and elongated nostrils of a subject's flattened face. This is not the most flattering of views.

Override the auto-exposure settings with a manual one. Set your camera to manual exposure and open the aperture until your subjects look properly bright. The danger with this solution is that now you'll have an overexposed sky that's washed out to a bright white color. Change your camera's position. Put yourself between your subjects and the sun.

Unlike humans, who have two eyes to take in the three-dimensional world, a video camera "sees" through only one aperture. It relies on lighting to represent the depth of any shot. Good lighting adds that third dimension and makes for much more realistic footage.

Solar flares

Bright sunlight increases the chance of catching a bright flare on your lens. Catching these flares is like catching home video diseases. To fix this problem, you can use a small sun screen for your lens. It can be as simple as a cut-out piece of cardboard taped to the camera to form a small hood over the lens, or it can be a commercially purchased device. Adjust a sun screen until it blocks direct sunlight but make sure it doesn't stick out far enough to get into your shots.

Figures in the shadows Filters

The deep shadows on a sunny day can wreak havoc with your camera's exposure. As you're shooting a soccer game for your school's website, for example, you may pan from one side of the field to the other. While you're panning, your camera may run through different shades of light. You might get the exposure right for the moments spent under the shade of the stadium, for example, but get an overexposed shot when your camera pans into the sunlight again. For consistent shots, you're better off shooting in one place or the other. Your camera may already come with a built-in neutral density (ND) filter. This type of filter cuts down on incoming light without changing its color. You can use it for shooting on bright days instead of shutting down your aperture. Even if your camera does have a built-in ND filter, you might consider purchasing a polarizing filter, which improves the color balance and contrast of your camera when shooting outside.

Improvising to get good footage

With video, as with most other things in life, you often have to make do with what you have. You can't cancel a sporting event just because you don't have good lighting for shooting video. And you can't make the players stop running around in the shade of the stadium. Regardless of the situation, you have to be ready to improvise. You should have a number of different

tools in your bag of tricks to improve the look and feel of your outdoor shots.

Packing helpful equipment

A bounce board is a board covered in highly reflective material such as aluminum foil. You use it to direct the sun's light into or onto areas that the sun is not directly hitting. By using a bounce board, you can set up a shot in an area where your camera is not looking directly into the sunlight. Bouncing the light back onto your subject will allow you to get a consistently lit scene with some extra light bounced back in to add contrast. A scrim is a semi-translucent piece of material that you can raise over the top of a subject. You use a scrim to dim the sunlight that hits the back of a subject or lower the overall light temperature of a scene. By using a scrim in conjunction with a bounce board, you can gain quite a bit of control over your outdoor shooting environment.

Filming at the magic hour

Even the sun's light changes colors. How it looks varies according to the angle of the light and the cloud cover. At dawn and dusk, it's more orange and yellow. In broad daylight, it's blueand it's even bluer with an overcast sky. Try shooting at the magic hour, when the sun is low in the sky just before dusk or just after dawn. The light, and your footage, will be golden and magnificent. What if you just had an idea about how to film your next marketing promo, but you would need to climb to a mountaintop to accomplish it. With chroma keying, you can accomplish the shot you want, and you don't even have to leave the office. You'll learn about it next. You might have wondered how the Titanic sank in the movie or how a character could climb up walls like a spider. Well, they didn't. It's all fake. Well, it's not really fake, but it just isn't possible to climb up a wall without a little camera magic. In this case, the camera magic is called chroma keying. With chroma keying, you electronically remove part of a scene from the picture and then allow another image to show through in its place. If other tricks don't help, try a different angle: low or high or off to the side. Keep trying until you find the best picture you can find.

With a static situation, where your action takes place all in one location, you can remove a set's deep shadows by bouncing some of the existing light into a corner or onto your subject's face. You'll find hints on making an inexpensive lighting kit at the end of this lesson.

Mastering chroma keying

Typically, you perform chroma keying by filming your subject on some type of a solid-color background, called a backdrop. Blue and green are the most common colors used in the chroma keying process. However, you can key any color to key out a shot. In fact, you can even key out certain levels of brightness, in a process known as luminance keying.

The chroma keying process is used in the news industry, to allow a meteorologist to stand on-camera in front of a weather map.

Chroma keying lighting tips

Lighting your backdrop

Successful chroma keying requires a lot of light, especially on the backdrop. There are also some important considerations for lighting the foreground and subject. The following are some tips for getting your backdrop lighting as even as possible:

A solid blue backdrop is most commonly used in chroma keying because people are most commonly chroma keyed, and human skin stands out well against a blue background. In additional, color spills occur, with the background keying color spilling onto the subject in the foreground. Blue is easier to cover up than most other colors, including green.

Lighting your subjects

Once you've lit the backdrop, it's time to light the foreground or subjects. Well-lit foreground images can mean the difference between subjects in your chroma keyed video looking real and looking fake.

Start the lighting in the middle and move outward, placing lights at an equal distance apart in both directions. Make sure to use the same temperature lights all throughout the backdrop. For example, if you use a 250-watt light in the middle, then use all 250-watt lights. Ensure that your lights are all the same distance away from your backdrop, so that each light hits the backdrop with the same amount of intensity, causing your backdrop to look evenly lit. Consider renting or purchasing a light meter and holding it at certain places along the backdrop to measure how much light is hitting the backdrop and determine whether it's evenly lit. Another tool you can use to measure whether the light is even is your camera. Most cameras have a zebra setting built into the viewfinder that you can use to see how much light is hitting a backdrop.

When lighting foreground images, make sure that you move a subject far enough away from the backdrop that the lights you use to light the foreground and subject do not spill onto the already lit backdrop. You spent a great deal of time getting your backdrop lit properly, and you don't want to ruin it with your foreground lighting. You should start with your subject three feet in front of your backdrop and then experiment with different distances.

Considering your camera's color space

You could spend hours working on your lighting, recording chroma key video and editing itbut that's no guarantee you'll get good results. There's something else you need to consider when you decide to create a chroma keyed scene: your camera's color space. A camera's color space is the ratio of red, green and blue values in its images. The color space is indicated by a three-part ratio of numbers, such as 4:4:4 or 4:2:0. There are many different levels of color space, and 4:4:4 is the highest. The most important thing you need to understand is that the higher the ratio, the higher the quality and therefore the better looking the chroma keyed video you will be able to

The farther away you can get your subject from the backdrop, the better.

get. Most DV and HDV cameras use a color space around 4:2:0, which is too low to get a good key.

Lighting solutions for small budgets

Chroma keying is a great way to add special effects to your business videos. The main things you need to remember with chroma keying are to be patient and pay particular attention to your lighting. Also, when working with chroma keying, you should be sure to experiment. Try different backdrop colors, different lights, different light placement and different light temperatures. You should also play around with your foreground lighting and use bounce boards and soft boxes if you have them. Next, learn some tips for getting professional-style lighting at an affordable price.

If your camera doesn't shoot in 4:4:4 color, you're not doomed in the world of chroma keying. It's just important to know that your video camera can play a big factor in high-quality chroma keying, and it's a factor over which you have little controlunless you're able to purchase a different video camera.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on a video lighting kit. You can make your own by looking around your office to see what you already have to improvise your own solutions.

When pulling together a lighting kit, remember that mobility and flexibility are critical. You could assemble a full-on light kit with a dozen varieties of lights, but a kit containing a few variable fixtures, with cardboard hoods, aluminum foil reflectors and a foam core bounce board, is much more efficient.

Lighting bargains

Low-budget film crews often mimic floodlights with hardware store quartz-halogen shop lights. Or you might buy a clip-on light socket and add your own 200-watt photoflood bulb from a camera store.

Remember that you want to get roughly 250 watts per square yard. That's fairly unrealistic, unless you're shooting in a completely controlled situation, such as a television studio. However, it gives you a good goal as you gather the tools to light your video shots.

You can also shop at flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales for used lights. Old lights designed for Super 8 film cameras in the 1960s provide a great and inexpensive way to light a scene. They often have clips or screws to attach to an old camera, but you can remove them. Add your own clamps, and you have a professional-strength light for under $10. A 100-watt bulb in a Japanese paper lantern makes great lighting for a soft, moody scene. Increase the wattage, and you get brighter yet soft and even lighting.

Do-it-yourself bounce boards

For bounce boards, pros usually use a two-sided piece of fabric spread over a frame. One side is white, to softly reflect light, and the other is silver, for shining harsher light on the subject. You can use a large piece of foam core or poster board for a white bounce card or cover it in aluminum foil to get a brighter reflection. In a pinch, you can grab the sunshade from your car, which was designed to reflect sunlight, too. The lighting kit possibilities are almost endless. Once you know what you're looking for, you can build a simple and versatile kit from ordinary items. Keep your eyes open, and you'll soon have all the tools you need for lighting business videos like a pro.

Moving on

Assignment #3

With a little lighting practice under your belt, and a few of these pointers in your mind, you're on your way to shooting great-looking business videos. Remember that light has color, and you need to make adjustments for that. In addition, both indoors or outdoors, you need to watch for harsh, unflattering shadows. Lesson 4 offers guidelines for getting good audio and addresses pitfalls you should try to avoid. Before moving on, work on the assignment and give the quiz a try. It'll help you remember some of the highlights of lighting. There are three parts to this assignment: 1. Set up two interviews in the same location outdoorsthe first at midday and the second near dusk, during the magic hour. During the midday shoot, don't use any type of outdoor lighting aid. For the second interview, use some type of reflector to bounce light onto your subject to give the appearance of a key light. Before you shoot, write down how you expect the light to be different at the two shoots. After your two interviews, write down how the light was different. Was your prediction accurate? 2. Set up an interview inside, in a location that will allow you to play with the depth of field. Use the three-point lighting technique to light the interview. 3. Watch a television interview. Draw a map of the interview location. As you watch the interview, pay attention to the lighting. On your map, draw the interviewer, the interviewee and where you think each camera and each of the lights is placed. Label the key, fill, back light and background lights. Was more than one camera used? Why? The overhead sun can flatten out a subject's features.

Quiz #3
A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) C) D) C) D)

Question 1: Which of the following are pitfalls of shooting in the middle of a sunny day? (Check all that apply.) Subjects moving in and out of dark shadows are hard to capture precisely. Heat can dry out the delicate videotape unless you protect it. Perfect hour Bright sunlight increases the chance of catching a bright flare on your lens. The magic hour

Question 2: In photography and videography circles, what is the name for the time of day when the sunlight is soft and golden? Question 3: True or False: Different types of light bulbs emit different colors. Question 4: What does white balance do? C) D) C) True False It makes sure all of your shots are lined up symmetrically. It eliminates contrast in your shots. Key lighting Flat lighting It reduces the amount of white light in a particular shot. Two-point lighting Optimum exposure Premium daylight

Question 5: Which of the following lighting styles is perfect for lighting interviews?

It makes whites look white no matter what kind of light is used.

Understanding audio and timing

Sound 101

Getting good audio

D) Three-point lighting

This lesson covers all-things soundvoice, music, background and room noise and recording outdoors. Find out how to maintain the professionalism of your video with appropriate and high-quality audio. Welcome back. To a beginning videographer, everything seems overwhelming. You're constantly on guard against what seems like hundreds of things that can go wrong with your video. So far in this class, you've learned to pay attention to things like the subject, the light, the framing, the focus and the length of your shots. The only thing you're probably not keeping track of yet is the audio. But you need to. Nothing ruins a good picture quite like muddy or distracting audio. That's what this lesson is all about.

Sound travels by moving air molecules in waves of pressure called sound waves. Whether you're listening to someone speaking, waves crashing or music playing, you're hearing sound waves. Every sound is composed of thousands of repeating waves. The frequency of a sound, measured in Hertz (Hz), identifies the number of repetitions of a sound wave within a single second. Humans typically can hear frequencies between 12 Hz and 20 kilohertz (kHz). Most living creatures have developed some type of organ to produce sound and communicate with each other. However, humans are the only ones to have developed technology to record and later replay sounds.

Sounds are typically broken down into a series of characteristics that can be used to measure and identify individual sounds: Frequency: As already mentioned, frequency is a measure of the number of repetitions of a sound wave within a second. Wavelength: The wavelength is the physical length of a single waveform, or the distance between two sound waves. Amplitude: Often referred to as volume level, amplitude is the intensity and magnitude of the air pressure within a sound wave. Speed: Speed is the distance a sound wave travels per unit of time. The speed of sound is 343 meters per second, or 1,125 feet per second.

Recording sound

Much like video, audio can be recorded in either analog or digital. Analog recordings are created using two methods. The first way involves a phonograph. A phonograph can mean either a record player that follows the grooves from a wax platter known (in the day) as a record, or a machine that uses a stylus to cut the grooves in the platter, based on the sonic vibrations it perceives. The second analog audio recording medium is magnetic tape, which is a strip of plastic with a magnetic coating. When you record audio to magnetic tape, the sound waves are converted through the microphone to varying degrees of voltage. Think of it as a long, thin scroll that records the magnetic changes. The process can then be reversed in order to play back the audio. Digital recordings are considered to be higher quality than analog recordings.

Digital audio begins much the same way as analog. A microphone converts the signal into various voltages, but then at some point in the signal chain (often at the recording device), the voltages are replaced with a series of binary numbers (1s and 0s) representing the voltages. Once the sound has been

digitized, it can then be stored on a variety of different digital media types, as discussed in the next section. In order to play back digital sound, it must first be converted back into an analog audio stream before it can be played over a set of speakers or headphones.

Digital media options

It's truly amazing how far we've come since the first phonograph records. We now have many different options to choose from when it comes to recording devices and sound storage media. Since the invention of the CD, things in the sound recording industry have changed dramatically. We now see vinyl records being created and sold only as novelties. And in recent years, even the CD player has lost its once glorious standing. We now have small digital music players that can store hundreds and even thousands of hours of music. A digital music player contains a Flash drive, a very small hard drive that's resistant to shock and damage. As a videographer, you need to understand what digital media devices are available for sound recording and reproduction. Each of them has pros and cons. You should research them and determine which one is right for you and your production team.

Digitize means to convert analog voltage into binary numbers.

Understanding sound formats

An important factor in choosing which digital sound recording device to purchase is the file format. You can choose from many different file formats for storing sound recordings.

File format is a huge factor when it comes time to edit a project. Each operating system has a preferred file format. For example, Windows/PC-based editing applications typically prefer the WAV file format, and Mac/Apple-based editing applications typically prefer the AIF file format. Different sound recording device manufacturers use different forms of compression to store sound recorded onto their recording devices. A file may be stored, for example, using an AIF or a WAV file and then compressed using a special compressor-decompressor (codec). To edit the sound file, you need to ensure that you have the correct codec installed on your editing computer. Make sure that you read your equipment documentation carefully and ensure that you have the correct device drivers installed on your editing computer so you can correctly play back the audio you've recorded.

You can convert sound and video files from one file format to another. However, this can be a difficult and time-consuming process. So it's best to ensure that your files are recorded in the correct file format for your editing program from the beginning.

Timing

Now that you have a better understanding of sound and the sound recording process, let's move on to the actual process of recording good audio. Something that you will want to take into consideration during the recording process is timing. More time is always better. What does this mean? How is more time always better? Well, consider this: If you're recording a conversation, it won't do you much good to come in midway through a sentence. Your audience will have no idea what your subject is talking about. But if you give your subjects a little lead time, the audience will have no trouble following. In the professional world of video, this time is known as slack time. You should build a few seconds of slack time into your videos by starting to record a few moments before a subject starts speaking.

You should keep shooting until you get to a logical stopping point. Then you should roll a few more seconds at the end to let the speaker breathe before you cut. This way, you can ensure that you capture all of the speaker's dialogue. It also gives you some extra footage to play with during editing. When interviewing individuals, ask them to answer in full sentences. Also ask them to repeat the main subject of your question as part of each answer. This is especially important if you intend to edit the interviewer and questions out of the final video. Understanding timing seems easy, right? It should be easy, but it takes a little practice.

Everyone has heard a director (or a cartoon character imitating a director) say, "Lights, camera, action!" These commands actually have meaning. "Lights" tells the lighting director to turn on the lights. "Camera" tells the camera person to start recording. And "action" tells the subject to begin speaking. This gives your audience a few moments to recognize who is talking before the speaking begins.

Controlling indoor background noise

Now that you've learned a bit about controlling the sounds you want in a video, you'll learn how to control the noises you don't want in the background when filming indoors. Background noise can be an intense distraction. In regular life, our brains normally work to weed out background noise and focus on particular sounds we're interested in. Your camera is not so smart, though, and you have to learn to adjust for it.

The louder your background noise, the less room you'll have on your recording media to record the sound you really care about. If you have a relative with a hearing aid, you're familiar with this kind of problem. Hearing aids, like cameras and microphones, do well in low-noise situations. Did you ever notice that Uncle Pete has to strain extra hard to keep up when you're having a conversation in a busy restaurant or around a table full of screaming kids? Your camera's microphone has the same problems as Uncle Pete. One way to minimize background noise is to use an outboard microphone that's right in front of or on your subject. You can find a reasonably good handheld or lavalier microphone for $75 to $200. If you don't have such a microphone, you can try to move your camera and its onboard mic closer to your subject. This will help you pick up much less extraneous or background noise. Indoor sound is usually easier to control than outdoor sound, but you must be just as careful to weed out the sounds you don't want on tape. Watch for the following nuisances.

Controlling music from another room

Unless you're planning to include music in your footage and you're going to shoot the entire time the music is playing, it's best to avoid shooting scenes while music is playing. You can always add it later. If you accidentally capture unwanted sounds in your footage, you can use music or narration to mask them. This technique also gives your video the wallop of professional-grade work. You need a fancy camera or video-editing software to use this method effectively.

Say that you're shooting a promotional video of your company's newest products. You're shooting a conversation between Steve, your CEO, and your vice president of marketing, as they discuss the new products. There's a radio on in the next room. During video editing, you realize you have to reshoot part of the conversation, but now there's no music playing from the other room. One minute your video has conversation and music, the next it's just conversation and no music. This is a problem.

It's important to shoot "clean" audio, with only the elements you're interested in. For example, when interviewing Steve and the marketing vice president, you'd want to record only the conversation. Later, you can edit in your own music, if you want, and you can start and stop it whenever you need to.

Watching out for machine noise

You don't realize how much noise equipment makes until you try to edit together two parts of a conversation you recorded while a vacuum cleaner or an air conditioner was running. You might not want to hold a new product launch in an auditorium without the air conditioners running. If you do, your audience will be gone before you presentation is even half over. But the noise this equipment makes can make filming and getting good audio difficult. Try to stay out of the immediate area of noisy equipment as you film to minimize noise interference.

Reducing EMF noise

Electromagnetic field (EMF) noise is a type of noise that is introduced into the recording signal due to electrical circumstances in the environment. EMF noise can result from a number of situations, such as your mic being bundled with electrical cords, different parts of an audio system being plugged into different electrical circuits and having a radio station nearby that the recording is picking up. These are all types of EMF noise. Although EMF noises can all cause problems in your recorded video, you can't hear some of them in normal listening. Therefore, it's a good idea to often check your audio signal by listening on headphones to the same signal your recording equipment is receiving. If you hear any EMF noise, you should try to identify the source and see if you can turn it off or move away from it. Perhaps you can re-route your cables or even try using cables of different lengths.

Considering acoustics

You should be aware of the features of the rooms in which you're recording. Sound bounces differently on wood floors than it does on cement walls or on wall-to-wall carpet. Generally, the harder and shinier the surface, the more easily it allows sound to travel, and the more distortion and echo you get. Recording in large rooms can be especially difficult. If you're filming in an auditoriumat a company meeting, for instanceyou'll have a difficult time getting good, clean sound. In a large room such as a convention hall or a theater, you can try the following tips to improve the sound quality:

Once sound is digitized, there's almost no chance of EMF noise interfering with the signal. This is why digital recordings are considered to be higher quality than analog recordings.

You can't control sound entirely unless you're shooting on a sound stage. So don't worry too much about

You'll learn more about microphone types and proper microphone placement on the next lesson page.

Move your video camera closer to the subject: The closer you are to the subject, the better your sound will be. Move a mic closer to the subject: If you can't get the sound you want from way up in the balcony or in the back of the auditorium, but you need to shoot from such a position, you can use an external microphone and a long cable. You should place your microphone on a mic stand somewhere out of the way or fasten it near the subjects if the event is being amplified. Use headphones: Using headphones is the only way to tell what you're actually recording. And use studio-style headphonesthe ones with the big puffy ear cushions. You might feel like you look silly, but you'll know exactly what you're recording.

Recording outdoors

flies buzzing by or birds singing in the street. However, it's important to be aware of what your camera is hearing and do your best to minimize the distracting portions of your audio track. Now you know about the noises you face when shooting video indoors. Imagine what perils await you outside. That's what you'll learn about next.

Shooting outdoors can be great fun. It can also be a challenge when you're trying to get good audio. It's tough to get clean audio because it's almost impossible to control what's going on outside. You should do your best to avoid extraneous noises such as traffic. While shooting, you'll want to concentrate on getting footage that's as noise-free as possible. Here are a few of the biggest threats to audio in the great outdoors.

Human noise

We humans are a pretty rowdy bunch, and we can be quite noisy without even trying. Most of us are used to human noise, but your camera isn't. Common sounds you might not even be aware of include cars, trucks, nearby highways, bridges and that construction site across the road. When you're making a business video, you can't ask the road crew to move, but you may be able to move your subjects. With a little thought, you can avoid a lot of noisy distractions in your video.

Natural noise

The natural environment itself is full of sound. Sometimes you want the sound of a rushing waterfall or rain patter in your video. If you're trying to record someone speaking, however, you need to block out those other sounds as completely as possible. Common noises, such as rustling leaves, twittering birds and barking dogs, may make unwelcome intrusions into your business video. Wind noise is always a big concern. To protect your camera microphone from the rustling sounds that accompany regular breezes, consider using a windscreen. You often see them on professional microphonesthey're the big puffy black things. You probably won't need that much protection, but it might be worth picking one up inexpensively at a video store or online.

Airplanes and helicopters are particular nuisances in the audio world. They come and go quickly and make lots of racket.

You can make your own windscreen with a piece of foam, some fake fur or a spare (clean) sock.

Certain times of day are naturally windy. For example, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. are common times for breezes.

Early morning and evening are unusually wind free. If you shoot just after dawn or just before dusk, you're likely to get a combination of a wind-free environment and that elusive magic hour of light when the world looks golden.

Focusing on the foreground

When capturing audio outdoors, the most control you have is over your own position. It's up to you to tell the camera and microphone which parts of a scene are the most important. For example, if you can hear a fountain or burbling brook in your audio but can't see it in the video, it might be an odd, out-of-place distraction. The same goes for traffic or other incidental noise. If you can hear it on tape, you should make sure you can see it as well, unless you have an interesting reason for keeping it out of sight. Be familiar with these terms: Nat (natural) sound is audio recorded with a picture, whereas wild sound describes audio recorded without a picture.

Getting close and changing position

The closer you are to your subject, the better your sound will be. Once again, it's better to bring your camera and its on-camera microphone nearer to the subject of your sound source than to zoom in from afar and risk picking up extra sounds or room noises.

If you're picking up a lot of background sound, and it's all coming from one direction, you can try changing your own position. Also, you should keep the camera's microphone pointed toward your subjects and away from the most distracting background noises.

Learning to listen

Getting the right mic for the job

The pros hire sound technicians whose sole job is to worry about audio. But you're probably doing double duty (triple duty, if you count all that lighting work), right? You can save yourself some time and work by learning to listen to every scene with a sound tech's ears. Are there low hums or background noises you don't normally notice? Can you pinpoint and avoid the source of the loudest distractions? Is there a better location with quieter surroundings? Eventually you'll be able to do all this naturally.

We've touched on using microphones (often called "mics") several times in this lesson. In the next section, you'll learn more about them. Sometimes your camera's built-in microphone is more of a hindrance than a help in recording sound. Go back and listen to the first sample of audio from the New York rooftop again. There's so little sound in that recording, for the most part, that you can actually hear the turning of the video camera's motor. If more action were recorded, you wouldn't notice the camera motor, but in quiet situations, your camera can become a nuisance of its own. In such situations, it's best to use an external mic. Most professional filming situations call for using a separate external mic to ensure good-quality sound. There are hundreds of manufacturers and models to choose from. All of them fall into three main types of microphones, as discussed next.

Omnidirectional microphones Unidirectional microphones

Omnidirectional microphones capture sound equally from all directions. This type of mic is great if you're looking to capture sound from as much of the space where you're recording as possible. This type of mic will pick up on almost any sound within a given radius.

Unidirectional microphones have much more focused ranges than omnidirectional mics. They usually pick up sounds only from the subject or area where they're pointed. You use this type of mic when you want to pick up the subject and only the subject.

Cardioid microphones

The most commonly used mics are cardioid mics, an example of which is shown in Figure 4-1. They're named for their heart-shaped capture area. A cardioid mic picks up sound best right in front of the mic, like a unidirectional mic. But it also picks up sound somewhat well to the sides, like an omnidirectional mic. A cardioid mic picks up little sound from behind. The three main types of mics listed here have a number of subsets, including hypercardioid, shotgun, supercardioid and bidirectional.

Unidirectional mics have an important weakness. If more than one person is trying to use this type of mic at the same time (like for singing), it tends to pick up neither person very well.

The best way to figure out which mic is best for your situation is to try out some of them. You can find companies that rent mics. You can also look for used mics online, such as through Craigslist, if you're on a tight budget. The more you try, the more likely you are to find what you like and what works for you.

Moving on

Assignment #4

With a little forethought and some careful placement of both camera and microphone, you'll be able to shoot indoors and outdoors and get good, clean audio to go with your video. If you follow the tips in this class for good audio, practice your lighting design and perfect your shooting style, you'll be well on your way to becoming a great business videographer. That's it for the class, so finish your preparation by taking the quiz and doing the assignment for this lesson. Do one of the following: Watch an hour-long television show. Make a list of all the sounds you hear that don't correspond directly to what's happening on camera. Which ones do you think are real? Why? Watch the following video, and come up with three or more solutions for reducing background noise while shooting an interview in this environment. Busy outdoor intersection. Shoot and record the following conversation or a different conversation of your choice in three different settings: one outdoors, one indoors and one in another location of your choice. Then

Conversation

Kelly, salesperson: What can I do to get you to sign and finalize this contract today, Carl? I really feel that this is a clearly stated contract and a needed service for your company. With so much going on in the health care industry, you really shouldn't leave your employees in such a turbulent situation. I'd be willing to bet that they're upset about the delay that this process is taking. Kelly: Look, Carl, I have a contest that I'm trying to win back at the office, so I can take my husband on a trip, and we're really excited about it. What can I do to get you to sign this contract so I can let you get back to work? Carl: Kelly, this doesn't sound like something we're interested in right now. How about if you come back later, and maybe your pitch will sound better next time? Question 1: When you're recording dialog, when should you generally begin shooting? A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) A) B) C) D) C) D) When one subject begins speaking Right after one subject finishes a sentence Frequency Speed True Distance Amplitude A moment or two before one subject starts speaking In the middle of the previous subject's speech

listen to all three recordings. Note the differences in the audio, depending on scene location. Listen for background noises. Think about steps you could take to minimize audio distractions.

Carl, business owner: Kelly, I haven't heard anything from them that would support your statements. I think they're going to want to hear more of the pros and cons of the policy before any decisions are made.

Quiz #4

Question 2: Which measurement identifies the number of repetitions of a sound wave within a second? Question 3: True or False: Analog sound is more susceptible than digital sound to electromagnetic field noise. False Music playing in another room Airplanes Shotgun Automobiles Auto-normalization Omnidirectional Cardioid

Question 4: Which of the following factors can cause unwanted sounds to be recorded in a video? (Check all the apply.) C) D) C) D) Question 5: What kind of microphone captures sound equally from all directions? Unidirectional

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