Tips for Shooting Better Videos

The Panasonic MiniDV PV-DV203 was my first camcorder. This unit works well for starters, but I don’t recommend buying one. I had problems with the tape head and now, my camcorder is intermittent. Anyway, days had passed and I learned how to interface my camcorder with my PC (using Adobe Premiere 6.5).

But before I took my passion in video capturing and editing into the next level, I made it a point that I learn the basics first.

Just want to share some tips I found in the Internet for shooting better videos. Hope these helps.

1. Use the Rule of Thirds for Well-Composed Shots
To get a better picture every time, use the Rule of Thirds. Mentally divide up your viewfinder's image like a tic-tac-toe board. Divide the picture into 3 equal parts vertically and horizontally. The most significant part of the picture should be where the lines intersect - you have four choices - top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right. See the far right picture, I chose a top-left framing.

(this tip comes with a picture to further explain it, kaso ndi ako marunong mag-upload. Hingin nyo na lang sa akin kung gusto nyo)

2. Look Out for the Light
Shoot away from windows and other forms of intense background light. If the background light is minimal, use your camera's backlight feature. The backlight feature allows your camera to compensate for overly bright light - it does not add in background light as many people may think.

3. Use Zoom-in and Zoom-out Features Sparingly
Fast zoom-in and zoom-outs are rarely used on network TV. The next time you shoot, try not to use the zoom feature once and see how much better the footage is.

4. Keep it Steady
Another mark of a bad videographer is shaky video images. Correct this by using a tripod whenever you can. If no tripod is available, look for fixed objects that you can lean on (or lean the camera on), that add stability to the camera's movements.

5. Make the Beginning the End
When you are shooting a video, make it fun and make it a story whenever you can. Often times in movies, we see a setting shot that is repeated at the end of the movie as a cap-off. This often works well in any video. Picture a baseball game. Setting Shot - Red Sox Logo, Picture of the Red Sox mascot running around like a madman, the game, shots of the mascot, Red Sox logo, the end. It sounds simplistic, but can be integrated into any video whether it is a home movie, wedding video, or other event.

6. Keep It Short
When you're trying to capture the attention of an audience, it's often easier to give them a lot of short video clips instead of attempt to appeal to their artsy side with long, drawn out shots of over 2 minutes long apiece. Shots of 5–10 seconds duration often work very well.

7. Mix It Up
When shooting video, get plenty of A-roll (the main event) and B-roll footage (other shots). If it were a child's football game, you might get the action (the A-roll footage) and also get some B-roll shots of the cheerleaders, the crowd, the coaching staff, and the child before and after the game.

8. Tell Us Where You Are
If this is a travel video, take some "establishing shots," which is are wide shots of a sign, natural monument, historical reference, or any indication showing where you are in the video. A shot of the Eiffel Tower says to the audience, "we're not in Kansas anymore."

9. Use Many Angles
Shoot your subjects from all angles — move around the subject, shoot from below and from the top. When you shoot from below it makes the subject seem larger than life (try this with a small child). When you shoot from above, it shows the person or subject as inferior.

10. Try Visual Surprises
Try shooting into mirrors or from a high viewpoint or put movement into your material by shooting from glass elevators or from moving escalators. This can make for a very fun and exciting video.

Happy shooting!!

Windows 2000 and Hyperthreading

I just bought two computer units for use with the latest software from Autodesk: P4 3.0 Ghz with hyperthreading, 512MB RAM, 2x80GB HDD and 19” monitors. On the day of delivery, I got too excited to try on the latest machines, and promptly installed my favorite network OS: Windows 2000 with SP4 slipstreamed. Unfortunately, I only went as far as the setup screen. Maybe, I thought, the first PC was defective so I’ll just try and install Windows 2000 in the second PC and have the other one returned the next day. So I went with the installation and lo and behold, the same problem occurred.

 

Windows 2000 and Hyperthreading

 

The problem lies in the way Windows 2000 handles the effects of Hyperthreading (HT). With Intel’s hyperthreading, one (1) P4 processor will be reported as two (2) logical processors. This way, multi-threaded applications can execute in parallel with two logical processors, thus cutting the processing time time significantly. Windows 2000 does not differentiate between logical and physical processors. And while Windows 2000 supports multiple processors, it cannot handle effectively the logical processor as a result of hyperthreading. In Windows 2000 Server, the additional logical processor eats up CPU license. On a Windows 2000 server that is capable of using four (4) processors, only two (2) HT processors can be used (2 physical CPU = 4 logical CPUs). Thus, to be able to fully utilize four (4) HT processors, you need to install Windows 2000 Advanced Server which can handle 8 CPUs!

 

According to Intel, only Microsoft XP (Pro and Home) and and subsequent MS Operating Systems can fully utilize the HT technology. Computers running  Windows 2000 (all versions), Windows NT 4.0, ME, 98 (SE) must disable the hyperthreading feature in the System bios.

 

Well, that s*cked because almost all of my workstations are running Windows 2000 Pro (SP4). The only Windows XP installations that I have in the network are from our boss’s laptops which came with the pre-installed OS. Second, I expected more from Microsoft. With their almost unlimited supply of cash, not to mention nerd employees, they were not able to anticipate the next generation of processors. In comparison, there are four (4) Linux OS’ that are eligible to carry the HT logo. These are the Red Hat 9, SuSE 8.2, Red Flag 4 and COSIX 4. Great work for Open Source J

 

Posted by: Allan

 

Mirror sites (Wisdom of the Jabberwocky)

http://spaces.msn.com/members/itguy

http://itguy.blogspot.com

 

Staggering Numbers!!!

• US$7,620,452,905,081.11 - U.S. National Debt as of this moment (that is US$2.05 billion per day)
• approximately 1 out of 2 marriages end in divorce or separation
• more than 3,000,000 - deaths from the world's deadliest known natural disaster in history -- the massive flooding in Yangtze River in China in 1931 -- due to flooding and starvation
• more than US$900,000,000 - total paid by the Catholic Church in settlements for sexual abuse, harassments, and similar lawsuits
• 550,000,000 - number of users of the World Wide Web
• 1:10^120 (or 1 followed by 120 zeros) - the maximum deviation from the cogent values that would either stop the universe from existing now for not having matter or be inapt for any form of life to exist. The value of the Cosmological Constant exactly makes up for the lack of matter in the universe. Big Bang is false.....otherwise, prove that this can happen by chance
• 62,000,000 - worst genocide of all-time, in USSR, under Lenin, Stalin, and their successors
• 2,300,000 - Egypt's Great Pyramid's number of stone blocks weighing from 2 to 30 tons each and some weighing as much as 70 tons
• 4,000 chemicals and 200 known poisons - in a single tobacco/cigarette stick
• US$27,000,000 - Shaquille O'Neal's current salary, the highest-paid NBA player
• US$46,600,000,000 - Microsoft's William Gates III (better known as Bill Gates)'s net worth, the wealthiest man in the world
• 646 - number of men in the world record gangbang in one day, by Klaudia Figura
• 101 - number of men in the world record "anal" gangbang in one day, by Victoria Givens
• 3,500,000 - number of people who attended the largest concert ever (free) at the Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on New Year December 31, 1994. Who performed? You may have never guessed it: Rod Stewart.
• US$1,700,000,000 - the most expensive divorce settlement in history. Rupert Murdoch, one of the richest in the world with his worldwide media empire, let his then ex-wife Anna to leave with this enormous amount of his assets. This is why marriage is not so great, unless a man is definitely sure that the marriage will last for a lifetime. A friendly reminder: absolutely NO ONE can be definitely sure.
• 94.3% - percentage of the worldwide terrorist organizations/groups who are Islamic or Muslim. Why? Read the Qur'an and study Muhammad's life.
• US$17,000,000,000 - how much Americans and Europeans spend on pet food each year. That's not including medical, care, accessories, etc. Just unbelievable! We Pinoys and some other Asians? Yeah, we eat them!
• 39,400,000 - estimated number of people in the world who are infected with HIV/AIDS as of December 2004
• 70% - percentage of people in Somalia making Php27.02 a day
• 16 years old - age of Dandy when he lost his virginity
• more than Php100,000 - potential fund of PCCians '95 in one year (hindi ko babanggitin kung saan manggagaling, alam nyo na yon)

Featured Car of the Week

2005 Ford Mustang GT

Specifications:
Engine Type: V8
Displacement cu in (cc): 281 (4606)
Power bhp (kW) at RPM: 300(221) / 5750
Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM: 320(434) / 4500
Redline at RPM: 6250
Brakes F/R: ABS, vented disc/vented disc
Tires F-R: 235/55 ZR17
Weight lb (kg): 3483 (1582)
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Base price: $26,330 (last update: 1/3/2004)