Part of my brain is going “Oh really, Sarah? You’re going to write a blog post that starts with ’18 [blah blah blah] I’ve learned…’ Wow. That’s very imaginative of you.” And then the other part of my brain is saying “But I really did learn 18 things. And it’s important that people know that.”
Because honestly? Two months ago, I was woefully ignorant about how to do video. Yes, I had read all of the articles on making screencasts and using your webcam. I had a vague idea that lighting was important. I knew how to edit using Screenflow with the best of them. I did the Gold-Digging Excursion, for pete’s sake. In capitals!
But I was an idiot. Now that I’ve produced three episodes into our web series, I am fully aware of my video shortcomings. Here is proof.
I used to think that my crappy videos gave me an approachable, honest feel.
And I’m nothing if not approachable and honest, right? I would rather help people than impress them. I felt like professionally done videos were corporate and fake. In order to be real, you had to film yourself staring at your webcam, completely impromptu-like. Ways that this was totally wrong:
- Staring at the webcam actually makes you look more like an infomercial than if you look slightly away from it.
- There are so many factors that determine whether a video has an approachable, grassroots feel. Crappy quality is not one of them. The script, lighting, camera shots…yes.
I used to think that video was appropriate for all kinds of information
I thought video was used for a more visual learning style, but beyond that, anything done in text form could theoretically be done in video to capture a broader audience. Again, wrong.
- Although you can use video to reverse-transcribe a message meant for text, doesn’t mean that you should. When people say they don’t like video, it’s usually because they don’t like this type of video usage (or abusage, as the case may be). Being forced to listen to a half hour lecture that you could have read in 5 minutes is not the funnest way to spend your time (and believe me, I’m preaching to my former self here). Audio is a much better use for lecturing, since people can listen on the go.
- It’s hard to explain what does work really well in a visual medium. Think “anything that you need to see with your eyes to get a full grasp of”. (I never said I was the queen of definitions.)
I used to think that the sound captured by the camera was great.
Well, not great, but I couldn’t really tell why I sounded like I was in a box. Or why the refrigerator humming sounded nearly as loud as my voice. So I figured that was just normal and nothing to concern myself over.
- Built-in microphones pick up crappy sound quality, and an otherwise professionally-done video will feel like it sucks if the sound is bad.
- There is this little thing called “ambient noise” that I’d never heard about before. It’s basically the noises in a room (or outside) that we pretty much block out of our regular hearing. You can’t get rid of ambient noise altogether, but using a separate microphone (for instance, a boom mike) to capture sound helps eliminate it.
- Unless you own or have rented the whole block of where you’re shooting, capturing good sound outdoors is a challenge. Unless you have the chutzpa to tell every one of your neighbors to stop screaming on trampolines, mowing their lawn, and driving down the street during the shoot.
I used to think that adequate lighting could be achieved by sticking my bedside lamp by my head.
Now I know why I always looked a little orange. Or stark white. Or slightly green. Bad lighting can make you look like you are starring in an old 80s video. Or worse, in an old 80s video about vampires.
I don’t pretend to know anything about lighting even now, but I do know:
- Achieving consistent lighting outdoors is really, really hard. The reflectors get blown around by the wind, so you get this weird disco ball effect. The sun and the clouds keep moving around without your permission. Lighting is much easier to control indoors.
- If you wear white, it’s really hard to get the right lighting on you. Even if it’s off-white. You can easily end up looking like you are emanating an angelic glow.
I had no idea how long shooting a video would really take.
Our shoot for the first 2-minute episode was supposed to be four hours. It ended up being eight. We took a much simpler approach for the second two episodes, and did both of those in 9 hours. Still, we’ll end up with 4 or 5 minutes of film total for those two episodes.
- If you want to shoot a 2-minute film in four hours (which is probably some kind of record if you’re using one camera and a tiny 4-person crew), limit the number of camera shots you are going to use. Every time the crew has to set up the camera and lighting in a new place, it takes a good 60-90 minutes of setup time.
- In the same way, limit your camera movement. Any time the camera has to dolly (which means setting up the camera on a roly-cart sort of thing so it can move smoothly), it takes a lot more tries to get it right.
I never believed I had the resources to hire a film crew.
Filming without a crew is fine if you’re setting up the camera and lighting yourself and then filming yourself in one stationery location. Especially if you’ve got some video skills of your own. But you can hire a crew. If you’re filming a web series or something like that, you’ll definitely want to.
Actors and crew are usually paid on a half-day (4 hours or less) or full-day (8-10 hours) basis. If you’ve got a university or two in your area, it’s very likely that you can find students who are building their portfolios who will work at really reasonable rates (or free). Or you can find people who do this as a hobby who are wanting to make some extra money on the side. Often, if you find one person, they’ll already have a crew of people that they’ve worked with before and can recommend.
- You’ll need someone to write the script. This could be you or a team. Just make sure whoever’s doing it is good at writing dialogue that sounds natural and not contrived. (Go Julianne!)
- You’ll need someone to do all the pre-production work. This could be you or someone else. This means settling on the location, gathering the props, planning meals (if you’re doing a full day, you usually provide breakfast and lunch to your crew, which can be as simple as doughnuts and coffee for breakfast and pizza for lunch), and basically making sure all of the people are there at the right time.
- You may need actors. Make sure you find people who are easy to direct. Novice actors who can take direction can give great performances if they’ve got a patient director who explains things well.
- You’ll need a director. (Again, all hail Julianne!) It’s really important to get someone who knows what needs to be done and is organized enough to do it. They’ll make all the important decisions that result in the video’s outcome.
- You’ll need a camera operator. If you’re lucky, you can find someone like Jeff who is really more a director of photography. They’ll be responsible for the overall feel of the film, so it’s important to get someone who really knows what they’re doing.
- You’ll need a sound operator. If you’re lucky, you can find someone like Ashley who has mad sound design skills. Sound is a lot more complicated than you think. They will be capturing the sound, putting together the sound files, and also mixing the sound once the editing is in its final stages.
- You’ll need a gaffer. The gaffer is the guy who does the lighting. Ultimately, the director and camera director tell the gaffer what they want, and then the gaffer makes it happen.
Obviously, I still have a lot to learn.
We are using a really small crew on a small, but adequate budget (and if you’re wondering what “small” means, approx. $1500-$2000 for a full day’s shoot, not counting the time that Julianne and I spend). It can be done cheaper. It can be done simpler.
For what we are doing, I think we’ve pared it down pretty much as far as it will go. But I’m getting ready to re-shoot all of the Gold-Digging Excursion videos for v.2 that will be coming out (I’m super-stoked!), and those will go a lot faster and could theoretically be done with just me and the camera operator if we can pre-set the lighting and sound.
Do you have any questions about filming for the web? I probably don’t have answers, but I now know the people who do. 
