This is the place that you can find Video Production Tips, which will help you make better videos. These tips may sound pretty basic, and in fact they are. When making good videos, it's essential that you know and practice the basics. If you know this stuff already, go to the bottom of this page.

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Video Production Tips

Dear Reader

It's been awhile but I'm writing to you again, and I want to talk about the time when the pieces of your video will go from the script to the camera: the shoot.

When you are filming your video it can be fun, stressful, neutral or a nightmare. It's a thin line between each of these outcomes. When you are planning your shoot make sure to plan ahead. One rule of thumb: it will always take longer than you thought. Give yourself good amounts of time and don't plan to do much on one day. If you do end up finishing ahead of schedule then you can probably film something scheduled for a different day or something from a previous day that you weren't happy with or didn't finish.

Another thing, make sure all of the people involved are definitely coming. Make sure they know the date and time and that they are aware of how important it is that they come when they said they would-the last thing you want is for someone to call at the last minute and say they can't come. If you plan on filming during the summer make sure to get your actors and technical crew early. A lot of families go on vacation and that can smear your plans if you don't get to them first and get them committed.

Don't schedule over too many days. Your actors and tech crew will want to attend to their personal lives and will get sick of what can be a very tiring situation. At the same time however, you must make sure that there are not too many days in between each shoot. If you are filming during the school year try to get what you need done in a weekend (if this is a realistic goal). The longer your lapses are, the more the continuity of your video will suffer. Energy levels, clothes, even haircuts could change during the break and your video will have differences between each cut.

Finally, remember to have fun on your shoot. It won't hurt anyone to laugh occasionally. As long as it doesn't get out of hand let your actors, tech crew and above all YOURSELF have a good time.

James Yeaton JYEATON@sover.net


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