Want to learn how to shoot cool? 9 free tips

1. Shooting on a flat surface

Avoid shooting on a flat surface, i.e. do not place the camera perpendicular to the subject. If you're shooting a person sitting on a couch facing a wall in a small room, don't point the camera at the couch. Look for the right angle where you get the best perspective. The camera in front makes the image look dull and boring.

2. Shooting against the light

Shooting against the light outdoors or toward a window in a room - some of the subject's surroundings "burn out." White spots appear in your video material. The information lost in this way cannot be restored in post-production, even with the most advanced software. The best solution is to change the place where you put the camera. If you don't have room to maneuver and you need that particular angle, use a gray ND filter. This will reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor and will not "burn out" the brightest parts. If you're not sure if an image is being recorded correctly, the "zebra" feature will be a useful tool for you as it's available in some cameras.

3. Depth of field is too shallow.

A shallow depth of field seems very attractive, especially in photography. Our eye likes the bokeh effect because it is a natural phenomenon for the eye. However, it is important not to overdo it. With bright lenses, it's hard to control sharpness, and on a small screen, most things look sharp. After dragging material onto your computer, you may find that only a small area is clearly visible and other important elements are blurred. Don't be tempted to shoot everything at an aperture of 1.8.

4. not stabilizing

A rig or tripod is the foundation for good footage. Built-in image stabilization systems get better and more accurate, but will not eliminate all vibrations, even if you use a good camera when shooting manually. Take care of a smooth, stable image with the right accessories, because a stable image will make your film more professional and give viewers a comfortable viewing experience.

5. Improper microphone selection.

This is a topic that has one important rule: don't record sound with dynamic microphones! Dynamic mics are mostly used for singing karaoke and performing on stage. It's best to choose condenser microphones. Warning - all condenser microphones require extra power.

6. Incorrect frame.

With cameras nowadays, we often have a choice of how many frames per second we want to record an image. Usually it is 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 frames per second. 30 and 60 are American standards (NTSC). It's best to set the standard recording to 25 frames per second, and the portions we want to slow down should be recorded at 50 frames per second. The number 24 is also a good choice. That's how movies are recorded.

What is the point? If you want to combine images shot at 25 and 30 frames without changing the recording speed, you will have a problem. If the output file is 25 frames per second, a piece of material recorded at 30 frames will be unnaturally compressed. A jerking motion of the camera and objects in the frame may appear.

7. Use of unsuitable memory cards.

What do you mean by "unsuitable"? Too slow or with too much/small capacity. Too slow are those that cannot keep up with data recording and playback. The higher the video resolution, the more megabytes of data per second the camera sends to the card. A class 10 card is enough to record FullHD video. For 4K footage, you should look for a card with the number 3 inside the letter U (the new U3 speed class provides a minimum of 30 Mbps, and the upper limit is usually over 100 Mbps). As for capacity, it's better to use two 32GB cards than one 64GB card.

8. Using recording zoom

Zoom is handy, but very unnatural to our eyes. Check out Quentin Tarantino's film Django. The director often uses zoom, instead of zooming in on the camera. Such moments are very noticeable, and are a feature of this film. Brightest at [1:04:10]😊 Specifically in this case it's a deliberate move, but if possible it'sbetter to get closer with the camera than to shoot close-ups with the zoom. This will avoid perspective distortion, which is unnatural to the human eye.

9. Shooting in portrait orientation.

Finally, I left out the most specific point. This is obvious to many people, but there are still films recorded this way. Vertical orientation is only used for photos. Not only does it look bad, but it greatly reduces the quality of the final image. All televisions, Internet players, such as YouTube, have a horizontal orientation, so when the image is recorded vertically, there will be two black bars on the sides of the screen, taking up most of the screen. Keep this in mind even when recording a concert with your cell phone.

Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

About Author

Hi, my name is Vladimir! I try to give more knowledge and experience with my articles, so that you don't repeat my mistakes. I hope you like my articles)

Recent Articles
Oct 2, 2024, 3:51 PM Shilpa Biswas
Oct 2, 2024, 2:59 PM Shilpa Biswas
Oct 2, 2024, 1:02 PM Shilpa Biswas
Oct 2, 2024, 11:49 AM Shilpa Biswas