This is an archive of the random video tips I've been posting to www.digitalmediathoughts.com.

Tip #6: Stripe Your Tapes

Originally posted: 2004-09-16

Of all the video tips I've posted so far this is the only one that I kick myself for not doing on our trip every time I fire up Adobe Premiere. I learned this one from the Total Training DVDs for Premiere Pro AFTER we got back.

If you've used a DV camera before you've noticed the little timecode values that run as you record. Here's what you might not have noticed: every time you start recording on a blank spot on the tape the timecode values start again at 00:00:00. This means if you rewind to watch what you just taped, and then fast forward even a frame past the end and leave blank tape, the next time you whack record your timecode for that clip start be zero.

Why does this matter? Because when you're in an editing application like Premiere you no longer have a complete, unbroken, timeline on the tape that you can use to identify clip locations. Want to get the clip at timecode 00:05:00? That could occur three times on the tape!

So, how do you fix this? "Stripe" the tape. Put the tape in your camcorder, leave the lens cap on, press record, and walk away. Let the camcorder record nothing on the tape all the way to the end. Rewind, and you now have a lovely tape ready to use that has a complete, unbroken, timecode sequence stored on it. I now have a stack of striped tapes on my shelf ready to use whenever I need.

Tip #5: Make a Shot List

I know, you're saying "man, what kind of whacked vacation did this guy go on? A shot list? Is he insane?". But wait! Hear me out!

I'm not talking about a crazy detailed list of shots with actors, camera positions, etc. On our trip we had a crumpled piece of paper from a notepad that lived in the pocket of my shorts. It was really valuable as a reminder of things we wanted to take video of. When we were out driving around and saw something funny or worthwhile to tape, we wrote it down so we could come back later and do it.

This was really helpful at preventing the camcorder from invading our vacation. Not only could we enjoy a ton of non-camera time, when we did set out to use the camcorder we had a nice list of the things we wanted to video, and could even start piecing together in our head how the final product might look when we got home. It also helped keep track of the b-roll (tip 1) we wanted to get.

Tip #4: Shoot From a Different Camera Position

When you repeat a shot, say to change the distance from the subject (tip 3), change the position of the camera slightly. Move it to the side a bit, or shoot from a lower angle. This will really help cover up jarring jumps when you edit your movie together. If you keep the same camera angle it's nearly impossible to cover up any slight movement of your subject during the editing process.

As with tip 3, now that I've read some books on cinematography, I know this is just a basic activity that any director does by default.

Tip #3: Shoot at Different Distances

Once you've got the shot you want, walk back a bunch of steps and shoot again. Then walk forward past your original position and shoot one more time. This will give you increased flexibility in editing to tell your story. A classic move, I've found out, is to start with a wide shot to set the scene, then move in to a closer shot for the action. Now that I've found this trick out I see it in movies and TV shows all the time!

Note that you have to be careful when positioning things in the viewfinder when you shoot the sequence. If things are slightly out of place from where they were in the first shot you'll have problems when you edit where the subjects look like they jump around. You can cover this with b-roll from tip 2, or use the next tip in the series!

Tip #2: Shoot an Extra 10 Seconds on Either End of Your Clip

Whenever you start recording something wait 10 seconds before getting into the action. Whenever whatever you’re taking video of is done wait another 10 seconds before you stop recording. Even for 1 second of action record 10 seconds on each side!

Tape is cheap and the extra 10 seconds on either end give you a whole bunch more freedom when you’re editing. The 10 seconds makes it easier to split the recorded video once you’ve got it into the computer. It also gives you that little bit of extra time to get smooth fades between clips that don’t stomp on the core action. You also get some timing latitude to trim the clip to fit a piece of music exactly right without being forced to cut off the main subject or action of the shot.

Tip #1: Shoot Lots of B-Roll

B-roll is an old TV term that covers all the background footage that you see in news stories while the news announcer is talking about the story. A great example of b-roll footage is at the US Census Bureau’s site. It’s just a bunch of random shots of census-related activities that can be used in news footage.

Why is this useful for home movies? When editing you’ll often find that you need a few seconds of something to fill a gap, or to cover for some goof in a shot. B-roll is the duct tape that can make everything fit together! If you’re on vacation, take a ton of 10-20 second shots of trees, flowers, buildings, cars, people, etc. from different angles at different zooms so you have a host of filler to pick from. My wife and I thought we went overboard when we shot b-roll in Hawaii, and now that we’re editing we’re kicking ourselves for not shooting more!