McThag's video premier!
Even though I say yards, I mean meters.
Sorry about the wandering focus, I'm learning this video stuff even slower than I am learning stills.
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My 2¢:
ReplyDeleteYeah, if possible, lock down your focus. Cellphones bone you that way, with little to do for fixing it.
(Now you know why pro productions have a camera assistant whose sole job is to pull focus continuously for every second of every shot.)
FWIW, I highly recommend How To Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck as a great basic reference, if you need one.
You've already avoided multiple pitfalls, so you're actually off to a great start.
1) It's A Video, Not A Lecture: Show me, don't tell me. You aced this with a 10/10. You showed me the sight while you talked, rather than filming yourself telling me about it. You have no idea how rare this is. Well done.
2) A good video is 90% sound, and 10% picture. (Think about it: Blair Witch Project made millions with deliberate amateurish shaky-cam, but you'll hang up on your wife or best friend with a crappy cellphone connection in about 3 seconds.) Your soundtrack was perfect. No dogs, cats, screaming children, background TV, lawn mowers, jet flyovers, or wind ruffle. Again, 10/10.
3) Edit Is Your Friend: Cut To The Chase. IOW, "Get on with it!" Again, nailed it. You posted everything right, and tight, with no extraneous b.s.
4) Have a script. That would probably have stopped the yards/meters thing. 9/10.
And your lighting was good, the sound level was good, and mainly only the wandering focus to quibble about.
The only other suggestion I'd make: clean out your background somewhat. Kind of like the hot chix who post selfies in lingerie, but their bedroom backdrop looks like hand-grenade-in-a-hoarder-hovel. Less is more when it comes to background, especially if you can't control depth of field to make it all a blur.
Keep it up, you're doing just fine, compared to 98% or worse of YouTubers.
The still work background is good training for video too. You know both Ridley Scott and his late brother, Tony, were still photographers before they broke into film directing, right? Watch Ridley's freshman effort The Duellists sometime, if you've never caught it, to get an idea of what still composition does for motion pictures. Every frame looks like a painting.
I think you get 25¢ worth of advice for that 2¢ here. Thanks.
DeleteMy intent with the videos is to illustrate my post rather than be the post.
I'm using a Canon M50 for the vid and I could have locked the focus... I even know how.
I also want a support for the end of the barrel trying to hold the gun in focus while I'm showing a feature.
My background was a choice. Not sure if I like my choice yet, but it was a decision rather than an incidental.
I'm learning and am well aware I am an egg.
Relax, man. You're doing fine, out of the gate. And you'll get better.
DeleteHollywood is the only billion-dollar industry where CEO is an entry-level gig, and you can swing a dead cat for years and never hit a PhD in the entire industry. And yet look what they turn out. Even most of the really sucky films are technically amazing.
Eyes + Camera are 2/3rds of the equation. After than, the only difference in Product between mediocre and magnificent is Intention + Experience. And one leads to the other.
My earliest efforts didn't go as well as yours, and had more at stake.