PureBlogging

This weekend some friends asked me to lend a hand in shooting a web video, and I had the privilege with some truly skilled and fascinating people. When the project is finished, I’ll drop a shameless link to it into one of the link roundups. But for now, I’ll share a few simple tips for making great video blog posts.

1. Have a second camera handy, but don’t feel compelled to use it. If you’re working on a big project, it might be a good idea to have two cameras handy in case you run into problems with one, or if you find yourself wanting to get multiple angles of the same shot. But having several cameras on one project sometimes leads to snap decisions (“Let’s shoot ourselves shooting the subject! It’ll be so meta!“) that create more work than you need to be doing. On small shoots, you’ll rarely need to use a complicated, professional-looking camera report. But having a plan and sticking to it can make the whole shooting process a lot easier.

2. When you’re choosing a camera, universality matters a heck of a lot more than new-fangledness. A few months ago, a friend of mine emailed me in a tizzy — he had just bought a swanky new hard-drive camera, and now he couldn’t import the video files into any of his editing apps. Hard drive cameras often save all their files with bizarre proprietary file extensions in an attempt to confine users to their own software (It’s as if Trader Joe’s encouraged you to use your own grocery bags, but only ones that have the TJ’s logo on them).

As a result, my friend had to go through a Byzantine process of finding, downloading, and learning to use various file converters. In the end, I think he just bought another camera. The lesson? Right now, miniDV is probably the best way to go.

3. Remember that your interviewees are on camera, but you may not be. Don’t lose sight of your purpose when you’re interviewing, but keep editing in mind. It always helps to request that your interviewees include your questions in their answers for ease of editing. You may even want to practice this to get them used to doing it:

Q: What is your name and title?
A: My name is Amanda Simmons, and I’m the executive director of the Breaking Barriers program.
Q: What is the goal of Breaking Barriers?
A: The goal of the Breaking Barriers program is to get free wireless Web accessibility into low-income neighborhoods where people might not be able to afford it.

This way, you can edit yourself out of the interview — leaving the focus on your subject, but eliminating the risk of context loss. Of course, one easy way around this is to always include yourself in the shot. A good example of this is Dr. Kiki Sanford, who regularly interviews scientists about various topics.

Another good idea is to ask your interviewees to try, as much as possible, to speak in a slow and measured tone with plenty of pauses. Again, you’re not looking to alter reality — just to make things easier on yourself in the editing room.

4. If you ever do man-on-the-street work, prepare yourself for rejection. A few years ago I worked on an archival project which involved interviewing residents of a small town, picked at random on the street, about their reactions to a new Wal-Mart opening in their community. We probably got responses from about one in five of the people we approached — and that was a great percentage. Man-on-the-street (or MOS) projects can be rife with rejection. Just don’t take it personally — lots of people just don’t like how they look on camera. I’ve found flattery helps.

5. Have fun with it. Of course, if any of the pointers I’ve given you here — or any of the rules or guidelines or suggestions you find around the web — make the whole process less fun for you, feel free to ignore them. If you’re not having at least a little bit of fun on a shoot, it’ll show in the final project. So have fun. Make that your number one rule.

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