A bad home video can be hard to watch, full of unclear shots and long stretches of poorly-edited downtime.Making a good home video isn't hard if you know how.You can learn from these steps.
Step 1: Get some equipment.
A video recording device is needed to make a home movie.If you already own a video phone, it's cheaper to use a cell phone than a digital camcorder.Unless you want the video to be shaky throughout, you should find a tripod for smooth still shots.There are tripods for both phones and cameras.A small microphone can be used for interviews.If you need any lighting elements, now is the time to get them.Smaller tripods tend to be used for phone calls.To make them taller, find a raised flat surface.A cap over the lens is one of the protective gear that your camcorder may come with.Before filming, be sure to remove the lens cap.
Step 2: Come up with a new idea.
Are you recording a special event, an ordinary day, or something else?Do you want to interview people or use them as actors in a play?Think about similar questions and come up with a plan.Even something mundane like filming a child playing or a wedding reception can benefit from a bit of advance planning.If you're filming a play or scripted scene, you will need a few more supplies, including costumes, props, and copies of your script.Special effects like muzzle flashes and laser beams can be created with a powerful video editor.The program is pricey.Physical props can be made cheaply.If you're filming a family function like a wedding, make a general plan instead of just filming everything in front of you.Take key people aside for interviews, or get some shots of the venue, and then interview someone about its history.A very watchable reel can be created by combining all these elements.If you're just filming things as they happen, plan to keep filming for a while, and then condense it down to the most interesting parts later.You have a better chance of getting something funny or charming this way.
Step 3: It's a good idea to set up before the event.
You should check the battery level of your recording device before you start.To make sure they're working, turn it on and off.It's a good idea to clear away any extra junk that doesn't need to be in your shots, and make sure the tripod is working properly.If you want to make sure the color and sound are okay, play the test video back.If you're using a microphone, make sure you check it as well.Light candles, angle desk lights, or open windows until you get the light you want.
Step 4: Write something.
It's important that you don't fall on the edge of your seat or in the climax.Your audience will get bored.All of the characters should be distinct.If the people are on a date and they get into an argument just sitting down and shouting "I hate you!"Make sure it flows.
Step 5: Assist actors and helpers.
Make sure the actors have talent.Don't draft them because they're cool.Try an off camera job if you want them to help.If someone gets sick, make sure to have an understudy.
Step 6: Cut the boring scenes from your script.
The plot should be established by the 5th page.
Step 7: Don't use a camera in dry film scenes.
It can take too long to film if some still don't work.The cast can read off a script.
Step 8: If you want to memorize the script, work on it again.
Have your actors memorize it.
Step 9: Start with shots of the area.
It's a good idea to get some shots of the place you're filming in, as they can serve as your test footage.The area shots give the videos a better sense of place.They can be used to give you a chance to add a voice-over or credits sequence.Shoot your area shots using a tripod.
Step 10: Use three shots to make a video.
A finished video that's more attention-grabbing than the average home video can be created by varying wide, medium, and close-up shots.To give the viewer a sense of the size of an event, or to establish a place for scene changes in your story, panoramic shots can be done from a tripod.If you're making a car chase video, a wide-angle shot with an acute angle to the road is ideal.Medium shots show action.Playing children, group dances, or people eating at a family reunion are things that can be captured from a moderate distance.Sword fights, stunt scenes, and sports plays can be shown in the medium shot.Close-up shots show emotions and reactions.They can also be used for dialog between characters.It's better to frame people to one side of your shots rather than the other way around.
Step 11: Scenes are recorded out of order.
It's fine to film things according to what makes sense at the moment, and then edit your video so that everything flows on the finished product.If you're filming a family event and you want to interview people, for example, you can do short interviews before and after the event, and then cut them into footage to create a running narrative.If you have people in costumes with props, film all of your scenes with those items first, and then switch to other pieces and film those scenes afterwards.Modern video editing software makes it easy to rearrange parts of your video.
Step 12: You can transfer video to your computer.
Put all the footage on your computer so that you can cut out the extra parts and finish the project.Use an external hard drive for longer videos because they take up a lot of space.If you want to get video from your camcorder, either hook it up to your computer with a cable made especially for that purpose or record it to optical media and then transfer the video to discs.If you want to get video from your phone, you can either e-mail it to yourself or use a cable to transfer the files from the phone to the computer.The e-mail method is too slow for longer videos.
Step 13: Excess footage should be cut out.
You can open your raw video file in either Windows Media Maker or iMovie.These are the two programs that most computer users are likely to already have installed, and they're both roughly equal in terms of power and usefulness.Go through the video's timeline and highlight any segments you don't need.It's best to be rough at this point.Don't cut things off too close to things you probably will use, and only cut out things that you will not use.The ends of your clips can be cleaned up later.
Step 14: Rewatch your video.
Separating each part of the video into its own chunk and moving them around on the timeline is still using rough cuts.You can use the video preview function to see how scenes will move from one scene to the next.At this point, spend as much time as you want.Try everything you can think of, until each segment flows smoothly from one to the next.It's fine to remove footage that isn't as useful as you thought it would be.Don't worry about the different shots until you follow a sensible narrative.You might end up with a lot of one type of shot in a row.As long as the video narrative makes sense, that's fine.
Step 15: The cuts need to be finished.
You can clip out excess footage on the ends of your segments if you zoom into your timelines.Check your work with the preview tool to make sure you've got all the footage.If you want, you can add video transitions between scenes by putting them on the timeline.There are things like horizontal and vertical screen wipes.If you want a more organic-looking video, skip the transition effects and play around with your program's library.
Step 16: If necessary, add effects.
If you have some skill, a copy of After Effects or a similar program, and footage that needs virtual explosions and gunfire, now is the time to add those elements.You will need to open the video file in your effects program.When you're done adding effects, save the video and open it again in your basic movie editor.The guide doesn't cover any specifics of how to create effects in After Effects or similar programs, but there are other guides on the internet.Once you've exported your video, it will open in your movie editor as a continuous file.You will have to do it manually if you want to break it into sections after this point.
Step 17: Add some finishing touches.
If you want to add music, you can import music files and drag them into your audio track.If you want to add emotion to an interview or speech, you can either leave the original video track on or mute it.Add a title card to the beginning of your movie or title it on top of the opening footage for a more active effect.Once you're done with your video, watch it with the preview tool one more time, and then export it to create a finished video.It will remain a video project file if you save it rather than exporting it.
Step 18: Share your video.
Share the finished video with people.If you want to distribute a video to friends or family, you can burn copies of it to DVD discs and mail them to them.You can share your video with the world at large by uploading it to a website.Don't use copyrighted music if you're uploading a video.Sometimes record companies will complain to get your video taken down for unlicensed use of copyrighted songs.You probably won't get into any trouble, but it's still frustrating.You can make your videos semi-private by only allowing people who have the URL to access the video, but there's always a chance someone will accidentally see it, so keep your content above board.