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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Brien Lee
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Article Title: The Poor Man's Guide To Rich Looking Videos
Author: Brien Lee
Word Count: 733
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=64569&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Author's Email Address: brienlee[at]videostory.com (replace
[at] with @)
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=64569
================== ARTICLE START ==================
Hey, nice camcorder. And I hear you have a computer, too. Guess
you're in the video business!
Ah, but it's not that simple. As many would-be photographers
can tell you, it�s not the gear that defines quality; it�s the
person using the gear.
Oh, you knew that.
Okay, what if I were to offer you, say, $5000 to do a history
of my life? Would you know what to do? Can you visualize the
end result? Or do you just hope that the button marked "Ken
Burns Effect" will save your rear-end?
Sound cynical? Guilty as charged. But the proliferation of
inexpensive, decent quality video gear has convinced many a
consumer they can do their own business videos or wedding
videos, and many a prosumer to make the fulltime leap into
self-employment.
So here's my offer. Read the next five paragraphs or so for my
"video school in 5 minutes or less", and you will be one small
step closer to telling a compelling story, no matter what that
story is.
FIVE MINUTE VIDEO SCHOOL... starting now!
1) Create an outline of your project. What do you envision it
to be? Despite all the hype about interactive and non-linear
media, storytelling is linear. The human brain wants a logical
flow, and when it doesn't get it, it gets distracted... starts
daydreaming..... zzzzzz. So, even before you start shooting or
editing, plot out your story. Let's say that you're doing a
video for the engagement party of a couple who are getting
married, and you want to tell their life stories. Here's a
typical outline:
Ancestry
Parents wedding
Birth of children
Children growing up
High school or college years
Jobs
Some recreational high points in their single lives
The magic moment--couple meets
Couple together
Couple gets engaged
Reprise of earlier shots (let's audience know its ending)
Finale text, logo, "Congratulations" and picture of the happy
couple.
2) Acquire the raw material. We haven't even TOUCHED a
camcorder yet. You can't really know how this story will feel
and what supplementary shooting you'll need until you know what
raw material you'll be working with.
Think inside the box. If you look at a yearbook and just take a
picture of the yearbook, you've missed the story. Your "stars"
are featured in that world... get close-ups of pictures from
the book, pepper that with ads of Pepsi, Coke, Hostess
Cupcakes, the cast of "Saved by the Bell"-- whatever they were
into at that age.
Important: check for existing audio or video recording of your
stars, not just still pictures. 8mm film, old Betamax tapes,
whatever. This can add a treasure trove humor and expression.
Plus, vintage audio of voices long gone can bring the crowd to
tears.
3) New Section? New Music. Your outline pretty much tells you
how often to change the music. Whenever the era or subject
changes, use a different piece. It helps us understand the era,
it lets us know we can move on in the story from what came
before, and it tells us how to feel. In other words, vary the
music according to the emotion, and consider your audience. It
doesn�t all have to be hip-hop or electronica. Something warm
and fuzzy is often more appropriate.
4) Ditch the special effects. Transition effects were developed
for scene changes, and the most powerful one is still the
dissolve. Page turns, circle wipes, shatters, and other "planet
of the cheap special effects" stuff will drive an audience to
distraction-- away from your story. You're not the star, your
subject or client is.
5) Shoot for the editor. There are basic rules of editing, but
what they come down to is this: long shot, medium shot,
close-up, cutaway. When you're shooting footage of the happy
couple in the rose garden, we want to see the garden, them,
their faces, their hands (and a close-up of the wedding ring,
and some signage telling us they're in the rose garden. Oh, a
close-up or scan of their newspaper wedding announcement is
nice, too.
Is it time? Put your pencils down. Follow these rues and pass
to the next level of video storytelling!
Good luck.
About The Author: Brien Lee is a thirty year veteran of video
and audio-visual production, whose company, Brien Lee
Videostory, is considered the "teaching hospital" of video
production. His employees have won Enny;s, started companys,
worked in broadcast and cable TV, and generally seem to have
done a bit better than he has. http://www.storysecrets.com
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