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Video Project Guide

How to plan, record, find, and edit a video.

Take a Shot!

Now you’ve got your camera what do you do with it?

Basic Camcorder Use

This is modeled after Canon R72, but will generally work for most camcorders.

To start recording:

  1. Charge batteries using wall charger before use!
  2. Connect camcorder to tripod using tripod foot and screw
  3. Open the LCD panel to turn on camcorder, or press ON/OFF button
  4. Slide lens cover switch down
  5. Check that shooting mode is set to AUTO
    • Note: AUTO mode, the camcorder will automatically detect certain characteristics of the subject, background, lighting conditions, etc and then adjust various settings.
  6. Check that image size and quality are set to high
    • Note: We recommend recording MP4 and 24 Mbps, or AVCHD and 60p.
  7. Make sure you have enough space on the memory card to record what you need - usually this is listed as a time by a memory card icon. By default, movies are recorded to internal memory
  8. Frame your subject (refer to Video Project Guide for more information about composition, location, etc)
  9. Press start/stop to begin recording
     

When you have finished recording:

  1. Press start/stop to end recording
  2. To playback video, press → arrow on side of camcorder, then look for scene you want to play back
  3. Close the LCD panel or press ON/OFF button to turn off camcorder
  4. Slide lens cover switch up
     

Saving files onto computer:

  1. Connect the camcorder to a computer using included USB cable
  2. Turn the camcorder on
  3. Press the playback → button
  4. Note: this sometimes doesn’t work well on Mac computers. Cooper Library has PC computers available to retrieve your files if the camcorder doesn’t connect to your Mac properly
  5. On your computer, find your files in the DCIM folder and copy onto your computer

Composition

  • Horizontal vs. Vertical: Something to be aware of in the era of camera phones, is that recording images vertically will often result in smaller videos on YouTube. This is because YouTube's frame is horizontal. If you are mixing in additional footage from a cell phone, just know that vertical video files might result in heavy black bars on the sides known as letter boxes.

  • Rule-of-Thirds: Most cameras have an option to add a "grid display," will create an overlay that partitions the image into nine sections. This grid is used to guide the composition of an image.
     
  • Headroom: the rule-of-thirds is particularly helpful for figuring out how to fit someone comfortably in the from. The headroom refers to the amount of space above a person's head in the frame.


     
  • One trick for finding the headroom is to align the upper horizontal line of the grid to the person's eyes, and this will often produce a well-balanced headroom.

Types of Shots

  • There are lots of different ways to set up your frame for recording an interview or filming a scene.
  • These are just a few names for common types of shots when filming a person:

Camera Handling

  • Smaller cameras (like camcorders and your phone) are much lighter and therefore much easier to move - which is create for carrying in your pocket but NOT great for stabilizing a shot.
     
  • Tripods are a great and simple way to ensure that your image is shaking.
     
  • You can also place the camera on a table or a solid flat surface.
     
  • If you are filming yourself, be sure to flip the camera screen towards yourself while filming or review your footage afterwards to make sure that you’ve captured the image you want.