• Do you want crappy audio, kids?

Of course you don’t.  I’ll tell you right now how to dramatically improve your audio- without having to spend a dime!

Pay attention.

We’ll Begin With Audio Acquisition Tips- Record Better Audio To Begin With.

1. Put a homemade windscreen on your camera’s microphone.  This will prevent those annoying wind “pops” from ever being recorded.
   • cut a patch from an old cotton sock that’s the size of your camera’s microphone.
   • Do likewise with an old pair of pantyhose.
   • Layer the sock and then the pantyhose on top of your microphone and adhere to camera with gaffers tape. (You can use duct tape as well-but it may leaf adhesive on your camera body.)
2. Pay attention to the sound levels of your camera while recording.
   • If your camera has audio meters- turn them on.  Adjust the mic level input accordingly.
   • Many cameras don’t have this feature.  That’s ok.  Get a pair of headphones, and plug them into the camera.
     • Put the headphones on and start shooting the way you normally do- except this time you’ll hear what is getting recorded adequately- and what’s not.
       • Adjust your shooting style accordingly.
         • If you self narrate a lot- then you’ll know if you have to speak softer or louder.
         • If your shooting subject can’t be heard, ask them to speak up.
3. Avoid noisy shooting locations
   • Seems obvious, but sometimes you don’t realize just how noisy a place is because your brain will try to filter noise out automagically for you.
   • If you have to shoot your BFF at the food court next to the wishing fountain- make sure they either shout to camera- or they have a hand-held microphone.

Well Done.  Next, We Have Tricks For Better Audio in Edits.

4. Do An Audio Pass- for cryin’ out loud.

• • Once your done editing the picture- Your still not done-done.
    • Go back and use the audio gain tools to level out all the audio.
      • Adjust everything so each audio clip is the same perceived audio level when playing it back.  (Turn off the music tracks until all the spoken words are level.  Then, go back and adjust the music so it sounds good with the spoken word.)

5.  Double The Audio Track

• • If you’re using editing software, like Final Cut Express or Sony Vegas, then it will allow you to double up the audio segments.
    • Very useful for when you have cranked up the audio gain already to the maximum, but it’s not enough.

Do these 5 things for your next video, and people may actually watch it.

Now, get out there, and make an awesome home movie!

• The 4 types of recording media
• The Pros and Cons of each
• How to make an informed camcorder purchase

Now go out there, and make your old teacher proud!

(Makes you want to see Scar Face again, doesn’t it?)

Make sure there’s enough light on your subjects.

Many camera manufacturers claim that their camcorders perform well in low light.

Don’t let your camera’s tech specs fool you into ignoring your environments lighting.

If you’re shooting inside, and it’s dark, then you should try to light your scene.

I bought an inexpensive work light at the Home Depot to handle this task.

Halogen Workshop Light.

Don’t let your camera’s tech specs fool you into ignoring your environments lighting.

• If you’re shooting inside, and it’s dark, then you should try to light your scene.

This sort of Halogen Light can be found in home centers and department stores.  They’re pretty cheap, and they throw A LOT of light.

Indirect Light is Right.

To use a light like this:

• Bounce it off of a wall or ceiling.
• 2 of these lights bouncing off the ceiling in opposite corners of the room are even better!

Check out the difference lighting can make.

This video shot with room's overhead light.

OK, class.  Notice the graininess when using only the light from an overhead fixture…  I’ll wait.

Now, LET THERE BE LIGHT!

This is the same scene with one Work Light Bouncing off of the ceiling.

You can see that there’s much less of a grainy effect.

The subject is brighter, and the colors are allowed to really come out.

Very good, class.  Now go out there and shoot!

He was suspended 20 ft. above the ground, and he was scared stiff- he was frozen to the point that he would not be able to get himself to safety.

From Ryan’s perspective- he was a goner for sure.  For the 150 spectators, however, he was just the 12th little kid in a row to succumb to THE WALL of DEATH.

Of course, this whole mess was because his big sister had braces.

What the?  Scott, what does this have to do with making awesome home movies?

I’m glad you asked…

What I should have told you up front was that my daughter and her family were invited to a huge outdoor party.

In fact, every kid who had braces fitted by Dr. Kadar in South Jersey last year, were all invited.

They had some pretty fun activities for everyone- including a bouncy house and pedal cars.

Of course, the ONE thing that my son wanted to do was to conquer the rock wall.  I named it the WALL of DEATH, and I guess that got into his head.

Now for the Home Movie  How-To:

How did this home movie come together?

1. Once I arrived at the location, I made a point to get big wide shots of the different rec areas.
2. I handed the camera off to my father in-law when it was my turn to play.  (And I instructed him NOT to zoom in and out all the darn time.)
3. I got some shots as close to the action as I could.
4. I was careful to just let the kids play, and not try to DIRECT them.

The last tip here is important.  Don’t try to make your family “act” for the camera when they’re out trying to have fun.

Just let them play, capture some good footage, and enjoy yourself while you’re at it.

Everyone has fun! Especially when they come back and watch the video you put together.

I have some great advice for using those in your own home movies.

Don’t use Digital Effects.  They’re not cool.

You may say:

Now, you’ve gone too far, Scott.  It’s cool to shoot stuff with the “Sepia” filter.

No.  No it’s not cool, faithful blog reader.

Here’s what you need to know about shooting with digital effects:

They only look cool while you’re shooting.

In reality, you want your footage to look as good as possible all the time.

Stop and consider that when you shoot with the “Sepia” filter turned on,

you have told your camcorder to throw away color information.

You can never undo a digital effect.  It’s permanent.

That’s color you’re never getting back, people!

Also, the cool sepia effect on the left will not look good when you edit it together with footage from another time that had no effects.

Other effects to avoid using:

• Mosaic – Do you really want Jr. to look like he’s in the witness protection program?
• Black & White – Go ahead, just throw your color away.
• Art – (It creates harsh contrasts in your image)  They call it art, because nobody understands it.
• Fade Transition – Dips to black and up from black every time you start and stop recording.  This is a great way to miss some action that you wanted full frame.  Please, just add fades with your editing software.
• Wipe Transition – See above.

So, avoid the noid, and keep shooting straight.  (You can always mess it all up in edit if you really want to.)

even though you know you had many minutes of video already recorded to tape.

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO YOU:

You most likely (or maybe it was your friend; why do I always blame you?) switched to playback mode on your camcorder to review some of your footage.  Then, when you were done, you cued the tape back up to approximately where you left off on the tape.

You (or your buddy) thought you were at the end of the last scene, but you actually cued the tape forward just a little too far. (Usually the screen turns solid blue when it runs past the end of picture)

Once cued past the tape’s data, the camera will assume that it to prepare a new tape for recording.  Then, it correctly starts back at time 00:00:00

Solution: Cue your tape to about a second BEFORE the last scene is over on your tape.

Super Solution: Really plan ahead here, and roll each shot about 3 seconds longer than you think you need to.  It’s a good habit to get into- so that you have plenty of extra data on the tape for the camcorder to be able to read when you are cuing the tape.