Shooting techinques for editing

When most people use a video camera for the first time, they shoot what they think they will look cool on video. And, it hardly ever looks the way they expect. Those with a critical eye will correct the ubiquitous mistakes of overlong shots, camera waving, and trampoline zoom, but even they will still concentrate on trying to shoot a sequence that can't be viewed straight off the camera.

However, if you know you are going to edit your results before letting them loose on the world (or at least your friends!), you can use a few techniques that will simplify the subsequent editing process.

Specific techniques vary depending on the type of material, whether scripted, an event (e.g. wedding), documentary, or ad-hoc (e.g. holiday, kids). If you are doing a scripted project you should have built a storyboard of the shots you want. this way you will already have subsequent editing in mind. The tips here are more applicable to non-scripted work where you will largely film on-the-fly, with little chance to set up or repeat shots.

We usually want the audience to feel part of the action, as if they are in the scene. The sequence of shots displayed should be what they would be looking at if they were there. The classic beginner's mistake is to try to do this by setting the camera running and pointing it where he/she is looking, thus waving the camera around while looking around.

In reality we don't look around us like this. It is physiologically impossible for us to pan our eyes over a scene. Our gaze flicks from point to point, so what we actually see is a sequence of short static scenes. Most of a professionally made movie is almost always constructed as a sequence of surprisingly short edited shots. This emulates the way we actually view the world much more better than long waving shots and is, hence, much more compelling to watch.

The sound track on the other hand should be much more continuous. We hear the world as a continuous stream of sound, even when our eyes are darting about. So there should not be cuts in the sound track with every cut in the video. In fact, a sudden change of sound usually implies a change of scene.

All this doesn't mean you shouldn't include things like pan shots for example -- they can also be very good for scene-setting. The key thing is to appreciate how the pictures and sound you record are likely to be perceived by a viewing audience, not necessarily the way you perceive the scene when using the camera.

A video should always tell some sort of story. Unlike looking at a photo album, a video imposes pace on the audience as well as content. It needs some structure, even if it's only pictures of last summer's holiday. It needs a beginning, middle, and end. Often the first and last are what's missing if you have no plan of what you are going to shoot. Always try to include some scene-setting material -- shots that in themselves are pretty boring but can serve as a video "frame" for the interesting bits. Like a picture frame they aren't much use on their own, but serve to enhance what's put inside them.

Also remember that because you are going to edit, you don't have to shoot scenes in the same order as they will be shown. You might take some interesting shots, then realize you don't have anything to serve as an introduction for the topic. No matter, look for a suitable shot and record it afterwards.

Always try to use good lighting, the best you can get for the situation. Low light results in increased noise level ("snow") in the images and causes a disproportionate degradation in the compressed video. "Night" scenes in movies are often shot in daylight, and darkened during post-processing. You may want to experiment with this yourself.

Start shots early and finish late. You can trim when editing, and the extra sound can be a useful overlap. It's much better than discovering you've missed a vital second at the beginning or end of a shot.

Keep shots steady, avoid camera waving. If tracking a moving subject try to keep it central.

When panning do it slowly, keep it steady and don't reverse direction in the middle. Include a few seconds of steady shot at each end. The same applies to zooming.

A sequence of fixed shots is frequently better than a long waving one.

When practical, do re-takes and record more rather than less (tape is cheap).

If a second camera is available, record the same scene from different angles. You can then edit the results together. If your cameras have colour balance adjustments make sure to set them up. If they don't, record several seconds of the same static reference scene on both cameras under identical lighting conditions (e.g. at the same time). If possible, use a color calibration card. If it's not available, a scene with several distinct bright colors will do. You can later make calibration adjustments during capture or editing to compensate for any color differences.

Make notes of what you are shooting. If you can't make written notes, make voice notes on the tape. Record your notes between real shots, unless you know you won't need the sound in which case you can talk while shooting. Written notes should reference the time counter (make sure you know where it was zeroed!).

Sound is very important for continuity. It gives the audience a strong sense of location. If the sound is continuous, the video can cut fast and furious, but the sense is of one time and place. A sudden change in sound suggests a complete change of scene.

The loudest component of the sound should correspond to the subject of the shot. If someone is talking, the voice should be predominant. A good external directional microphone is always far better than the built-in microphones on nearly all camcorders. The built-in ones pick up far too much ambient noise close to the camera -- the sources of which are usually out of shot. Mono sound is best on the camcorder; a good spatial stereo sound image is difficult to record because you don't get it for free at the same time as filming.

Although a sequence of fixed shots is better than a long waving one, the way you do this depends very much on what you want to do with the background sound. Although you plan to edit the result from shot to shot, you may also want the sound as a continuous track. The best thing, of course, is to use a separate sound recordist but in a lot of cases this isn't practical. A solution is to keep the camera running between each shot, instead of stopping the tape with the pause button. When you edit the video later you can cut out the junk bits, or replace them with infill shots, but you will have a continuous soundtrack to work with.

These tips are by no means complete, and every videographer you ask would find something different to add. But if you're new to video and especially to the world of editing, we hope they prove a useful starting point.