Let’s start with a brief history of recording media from as far back as many would care to go and finish out with a more recent look at some of the video camera technology that is presently being used and developed.

Antiquated Video Formats

Back in the days when consumer cameras were first coming onto the market, most devices available to the general public were bulky shoulder-mounted monstrosities that shot in either VHS or Beta. That’s right, these cameras were big enough to hold full-size video tapes in their guts. They’d plug into an external output via RCA jacks and you could watch your home videos on television.

Following these large format cameras came slightly more compact models and tape formats including VHS-C. This was a miniature VHS tape that could be put inside a larger, VHS-sized adapter and played in any standard VCR. This format was still somewhat bulky, although the cameras themselves had become significantly smaller.

Eventually the VHS-C tape gave way to 8mm and Hi-8 formats, which used an even smaller tape. The Digital-8 tape was the next incarnation in 8mm technology, and these cameras started to be produced with digital USB and Firewire output jacks as computer capture became more common.

Eventually most 8mm formats went completely out of style, and while you might still be able to find 8mm tapes in some places, they don’t manufacture cameras that use them anymore.

The 8mm format was eventually replaced by an even smaller digital medium called the MiniDV tape. The MiniDV was the first true digital medium, and it was characterized by sharper image quality with better color reproduction, generally speaking.

Almost simultaneously with the MiniDV camera came a wave of DVD cameras that recorded to – you guessed it – a miniature DVD. These were popular because of their ease of recording and re-write capabilities. They were compatible with some DVD players as well.

Today’s Formats

High Definition cameras with onboard memory and/or hard-disk recording functionality are the current trend. Flash and SD memory cards eliminate the need for tapes and provide extremely compact means of capturing and storing video footage.

As computer hardware and graphics processing catches up to HD, and broadcasting standards have now met the standard as well, we’ve seen a complete shift toward the HD format in video camera technology. You’d be hard pressed to find a standard definition camera on the market anymore, outside of special cases or used equipment being resold.

This shift has allowed digital indie filmmaking to come closer than ever before to achieving viable results in the filmmaking world. Consumer camcorder manufacturers are now producing HD cameras that are literally just as small and lightweight as the MiniDV and DVD cameras that used to shoot standard definition, and with Blu-Ray media it is now possible to view and record feature film-length video to a single disc in High Definition.

The Future’s Looking Bright

Digital video still hasn’t reached the resolution of true film, but with the advent of high-definition video, we’re getting closer. Faster transfer speeds and internet technologies combined with new algorithms for compressing and streaming high quality video online are bringing the days of pixelated, blurry video to a close. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, many of today’s digital SLR cameras are the perfect tools for an independent filmmaker on a budget.

Read up to find out more about how these new options in digital video camera technology will open up new pathways for how you make films. If you dedicate yourself to the craft, you’ll find that your future as a filmmaker will keep getting better and better!

Behind the Camera – 5 Tips For Framing Your Shots

Following is a list of rules to remember when setting up your camera and selecting the viewable area in each of your shots. These suggestions can be applied to any situation, whether you are filming an action movie or a documentary, a still frame or a motion shot.

1. Put Your Subject Where It Belongs

Know where your subject should go from left to right. If you are filming an informational video, “talking head” piece, interview or documentary, centering your subject on camera can work. But putting a person dead-center in a dramatic piece can take away from the dynamic of the scene and will make things look plain and uninteresting.

The proper way to frame a person who is interacting with their environment is to place them off-center and give them some look room. Look room describes the framed area to either side of the subject that gives them space to look at whatever it is they’re paying attention to.

This is somewhat of a stylistic choice, but the most important thing is to be consistent with how you’re shooting each close-up.

2. Use Close-ups to Capture Emotion

The basic theory here is that showing close-ups and reaction shots of your most prominent characters connects them to your audience best. You don’t need a close-up of every passenger on a subway car, but you might use close-ups to show your main character’s discomfort or fear of being on the train late at night as his dodgy glances and furrowed brow might indicate.

You’ll notice that in a less dramatic production, like the evening news, everyone is framed in a medium shot with the occasional wide angle showing the entire news desk with all the anchors and any guests on the show. The emotional condition of your local news anchor isn’t exactly the most important thing on your mind when you’re watching them report the news, is it?

3. Change Camera Angles To Change Your Viewer’s Perspective

Remember that the height and angle of your shot is just as important as what’s in the frame. A high angle still shot can emphasize a person’s small frame, whereas a low angle shot from the ground looking up can make someone seem larger or taller in relation to their surroundings.

A slightly off-axis camera is useful if, for instance, it’s a character’s-eye view. They are lying down and the camera is placed sideways on the floor. As they get up, the camera lifts off the ground and rights itself. Another sort of cliché angle shows the ceiling, with several inquisitive heads popping into the frame as they panic over someone who’s passed out or dazed, lying on their back.

When choosing your angles, think about your viewer’s perspective overall. Do you want them to be right in the action, or should they be taking stock of the action from a distance? If the main character in your scene is a spy observing a public meeting or transfer of goods between suspects, the distant shot of their furtive handshakes is the best way to depict the action from his point of view.

4. It’s the Motion of the Ocean

Ever seen a sweeping crane shot that zooms across a group of travelers from above? A shot where the camera angle starts below the subject and then rises over him? Camera motion, so long as it effectively captures your subject or transfers the viewing area from one subject to another, is a great way to add interest to your scene.

A crane shot may be difficult to do if you don’t have some way to get up high, but there are plenty of other ways to move the camera that will let you use dynamic motion to enhance a shot. Take a look at my Basic Video Camera Techniques page for tips on how to hold and move your camera.

5. Zoom, Zoom. Or Not.

The Office is one of my favorite shows on television. It’s filmed in a mockumentary style, so that both the characters and the audience are meant to be aware that the cameras are in the room. Occasionally you’ll see a quick zoom in from one person to another, or during an interview the camera will zoom out from someone to show that there’s another person in the room for comedic effect.

In this circumstance, zooming is an effective way for the creators of the show to convey the idea of action happening spontaneously. Even though each shot is planned out to some degree on the set of a network TV show, the rapid pans and zooms the camerapeople use make it seem like they’re constantly having to adjust their framing to capture these spur-of-the-moment situations.

In most other cases, though – in fact in every other case I can think of – zooming in and out is not a good idea. It’s one of those Amateur Alert moves that says “hey, I’m using a consumer-grade camcorder and I have no idea what I’m doing,” especially if your zoom is shaky and inconsistent. So try to avoid zooming in and out during your shots if at all possible. Use the zoom function on your camera only to frame your shots before you hit record.

Choosing a Video Camera for Filmmaking

Are you looking for a video camera buying guide? Would you like me to tell you everything about all the latest models and then advise you on which camera to buy? Well, let me explain to you why this isn’t what you actually want, even though you might think it is. There’s this old saying about fishing.

Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.

Well my friends, today I’m going to teach you how to fish.

If I were to write camcorder reviews for every model out there, not only would I be duplicating the stuff that’s already on tons of other websites like epinions and camcorderinfo; keeping the list up to date would be a full-time job in itself, and my camcorder buying guide would become obsolete faster than a flat tire on a unicycle.

There isn’t a magical formula for “the best video camera ever,” because there isn’t one.

I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear, but I think you’ll benefit more from knowing the specifics about what to look for in a camera, rather than me just telling you which model you should like.

The camera you buy has to fit your needs and fall within your price range, right? So instead of me telling you that Camera Brand and Model X is priced at Y dollars and has Z features, I’m going to show you what features are important when it comes to getting a camera for filmmaking.

Then I’m going to tell you what those features mean, how they work, and what effect they could have on the way you use this piece of equipment after you buy it. After all, that’s the important part isn’t it?

Camcorder Buying Guide

Some pretty significant advances in technology have resulted in an almost continuous shift between formats in the consumer grade video camera sector. If you’re interested in what’s happened recently with camera technologies and formats, click to go over to the Video Camera Technology page. If you’d like to read on, let’s take a look at my list of features to keep in mind while shopping for your camera.

Choosing Your Camera

Knowing what I’ve explained above, you should also realize that as with any new technology, the prices of HD cameras are high but are coming down quickly. It may be wise to invest in an HD video camera if you can, but you can achieve fantastic results with a standard definition camera as well.

If you decide to go with HD, realize that your editing workstation and hardware package will need to be robust enough to keep up with a fairly intense processing load. Keep the following features and specifications in mind while you research the cameras available to you.

Color Quality

The image captured by a video camera is determined by two pieces of hardware on the camera itself: the lens, and the charge-coupled device(s), or CCD(s).

A CCD is basically a light sensor. Most consumer video cameras have a single CCD in them, but some higher-end models have up to three. When a camera has only one, this CCD handles all of the light and color information in the entire spectrum. A 3-CCD camera, however, uses one for Red, one for Blue, and one for Green, which results in sharper and more true-to-life color reproduction.

Lenses on consumer camcorders are fairly standard across the board; you’re not going to find a lot of them that come with wide-angle fisheye lenses or anything. Instead look for features such as zoom and focal length to determine the scope of what the camcorder has the ability to capture.

In many cases you can purchase add-on lenses that change the depth of field or the aspect ratio of your picture in some way. But unless you’re after a really stylized video, these shouldn’t be a major consideration on your list.

Image Optimization

Aside from how your camcorder deals with color, the other part of the picture is the way it handles light. The human eye adjusts to different levels of light and darkness when the iris, which controls the muscles surrounding your pupils, expands and contracts those muscles.

When there is more light reflected into your eyes, the iris closes these protective shields around the pupils so that less light reaches them The iris opens up and lets more light in when it’s dark, which is why your eyes can adjust after you’ve been in a dark room for awhile.

The iris on a camera works in a similar way, adjusting to let different amounts of light through the aperture to hit the lens. An appropriately adjusted aperture keeps the camera’s picture clear and level so that it isn’t over- or under-exposed. It works in conjunction with the camera’s shutter speed, or how quickly the camera’s shutter opens and closes each time it records an image.

Another feature to look for is white balance. This is how the device adjusts its color temperature to compensate for different types of lighting. Fluorescent bulbs tend to cast a more blue-ish light while incandescent bulbs are more yellow. An image that has not been white balanced will appear off, as the whites will not be true white and instead have a more blue or yellow tint.

Virtually all consumer video cameras have auto-focus, which coincidentally operates the aperture and white balance functions automatically, as well as setting a standard shutter speed (normally 1/60). This is all fine for most applications, but if you are an advanced user and you prefer to have more control over some of these settings, look for the ability to set each function manually, including white balance.

Inputs and Outputs

Trends in the I/O schemes included on new cameras often follow the most commonly used hardware specs available at any given time. When it comes to outputs, it’s fairly simple: just make sure the camera has a port that matches your computer, and opt for firewire if you’re in standard definition and HDMI for high-def if you can afford it.

Other common outputs (or outputs you might find on your older cameras) include USB, AV/DV, and S-Video. These could all be options for you based on the computer you are using to capture video.

Inputs can be a topic you don’t think twice about, or something that you should look at closely, depending on your needs. The main input you would use would be for an external microphone. This can be an extremely useful feature, as it will allow you to connect a simple shotgun or lapel mic directly to your camera’s audio feed and will eliminate the need for a separate device just for audio recording.

If you choose to go that route, know that it’s pretty rare to find a camera with an external mic jack. For whatever reason, manufacturers have stopped making as many models with this feature as they used to.

Bang For Your Buck

Read reviews written by other consumers. Especially in the world of electronics, reading reviews will give you a better idea of how a camera performs than any promotional brochure ever could. People who have chosen to buy camcorders and have been using them for awhile will have useful information to share with you.

But be conscious of the fact that many negative reviews are written by people who, for one reason or another, ended up with a faulty product and got so angry they decided to fault an otherwise good brand or model.

I’ve also seen technical specs that people would use for camcorder buying listed incorrectly, even on their own manufacturers’ websites! The most important thing is to know what you’re looking for when you set out to buy a camcorder, which hopefully this article has helped you with.

One Final Tip

If you can’t afford to buy a camcorder that’s on the prosumer or high-end side, one way to achieve good quality that you may not have thought of, is to look into buying a digital SLR instead. An SLR is the kind of camera you’d see a professional photographer carrying around. These were mainly used for snapping still photos in the past, but now many digital versions of these cameras have the capability to record full-frame, high-definition video in exquisite quality that meets or exceeds that of many digital camcorders.

The benefit of having one of these at your disposal is that, as I mentioned above, these cameras generally allow you to manually control most of the visual and light settings that a photographer or high-end filmmaker would. In essence, the quality of these cameras is such that each frame looks like a high-resolution photo taken by a professional! You can affix any zoom lens you could buy for a photography camera and achieve great depth of field and color reproduction, too.

There are new models coming out all the time, but most digital SLR cameras on the consumer market today are perfect, relatively low-cost options for filmmaking.

This beginner’s guide will teach you how to hold, operate, and move your video camera so you get great results. Learning these basic video camera techniques is going to improve the look of your footage immensely.

The footage you capture when you press record is only as good as the sum of its parts – what’s happening on camera, and what’s happening behind it. There are certain ways to handle a camera that will take a little while to get used to, but if you master them you can go from shooting shaky, amateurish home videos to smooth and polished, professional-looking products.

How to Hold a Camera

Let’s discuss the best way to hold a camera in your hands, free from other support of any kind. Unless you have a shoulder-mounted TV camera, it’s going to take more than one hand to stabilize. Most people simply slip their fingers through the hand strap and wave it around.

Let me explain something to you: your camera is not a magic wand.

You’re not going to make great videos by whipping the thing around haphazardly and getting an epileptic’s-eye view of your scene.

Standard Camcorder Grip

If you’re shooting at eye level, the hand strap will allow you to keep a firm grip, but your off hand needs to be there too in order to keep it level. Put your hand through the strap and make sure it feels right. If you need to make it tighter or looser, put the camera down onto a flat surface and re-adjust the velcro, clasp or buckle.

Next, place your non-dominant hand on the bottom of the device, using your thumb and fingers to support the weight of the camera. Your dominant, “grip” hand should be used to operate all of its functions: your thumb operates the record button and the on-off switch while your forefinger changes the zoom to frame your shots.

Loose Handle Grip

Certain shots may require you to be more flexible with your camera technique than the standard grip will allow. For instance, you might start with a low-angle shot and tilt or pedestal the camera into position. In a shot like this you can’t have your hand through the strap and your elbow extending out underneath – that simply wouldn’t give you enough room between the camera and the ground!

A loose grip is maintained by again using your off-hand to support and cradle the camera, but this time the fingers on your dominant hand go down through the strap and wrap around it instead of coming up through the strap and wrapping around the camera.

When using a loose grip you may find that flipping out your camera’s LCD screen is not useful because the angle between you and the camera changes as you adjust your shot. Use the thumb and forefinger of your supportive off hand to adjust the tilt of the screen periodically, while keeping your other fingers beneath to support the camera.

Be One, My Son

Practice these two grips and pay close attention to your viewfinder or LCD screen and how the framed area moves as you hold the camera. Get used to balancing the weight of the camera in your hands so that even if you’re one of those fidgety people like me, you maintain a natural and composed grip.

Also be aware of your posture; you may even need to get on the ground and lie prone depending on the situation, but otherwise your steps and the arch in your back should allow the rest of your body movements to stay fluid and smooth. Keeping good posture will allow you to use just the two basic video camera techniques outlined above to get much smoother shots. Your projects will benefit as a result.

Steady Now…

For a still shot you can always use a tripod or other flat surface to rest the camera on. Too many action shots in a row can get kind of overwhelming, so for quieter or more relaxed moments in your video you’ll want to throw in plenty of good old “picture frame” moments. The camera – along with your viewer – can just rest there, in place, and soak in what’s going on.

A good, sturdy tripod will let you get smooth pan or tilt movements, but for any other movements you could benefit from a home-made steadicam or another type of weight. I like to use the pendulum metaphor – if you think about what makes a pendulum continue to swing, it’s because from a physics perspective, adding weight to the bottom of an object stabilizes it and lowers its center of gravity.

The simplest way to do this with a camera is to fold up or retract the legs of your tripod and keep the camera mounted on it. This gives you a good amount of weight beneath it and will prevent it from wobbling around to as great a degree as it would otherwise. Using your grips we learned earlier, your support hand goes around the legs of the tripod instead of resting underneath the camera. I’ve written some other tips for things you can use to achieve smooth camera movement.

Practicing Good Camera Technique

Without an electronically operated crane or a professional train track dolly, you’re never going to get an absolutely flawless shot, but with practice and planning you can get pretty close. The key to getting down your basic video camera techniques is to learn to flow with the camera and let it become an extension of your movements. Keep things fluid and smooth and you’ll be heading in the right direction, no matter where your camera is going!