Remember the TV commercials recommending cameras for Christmas gifts, with the tag reading ”Open me first!”? When you give a video camcorder for Christmas, it, too, should be tagged ”Open me first!” Except that, unlike a snapshot camera that shoots right out of the box, a camcorder needs to be opened before it`s ever gift-wrapped.
If you`re the giver, you should discreetly read the instruction manual prior to Christmas Eve. That way you can coach the recipient while he or she captures all those great Christmas-morning shots on tape.
If you didn`t buy an extra rechargeable battery with the camcorder, run back out and get one now. The average camcorder battery lasts about half an hour. The recipient of your gift camcorder may capture the scene under the tree and miss what follows. If you can`t find the same brand of battery as the camcorder, don`t worry. Saft makes replacement batteries for most camcorders.
Before gift-wrapping the camcorder, remove the battery charger and the battery. Charge both batteries. If you live in the same household as the recipient, there`s no need to repack the charger. You can leave it plugged into an inconspicuous wall outlet, charging the spare battery so it will be ready for the next day. Attach a battery to the camcorder, and load a tape. Set the controls for the conditions the camera will encounter the next time it`s used. In general, leave settings in the ”auto” mode. Shoot 30 seconds or so just to make sure everything works. Rewind the tape and turn off the power. Now carefully repack and gift-wrap the camcorder.
If you turn out to be the lucky recipient of a camcorder, here are some tips for your first shoot, with special emphasis on the subjects you`ll encounter on Christmas Day:
– Remember that a little goes a long way. You may be tempted to start the tape running and record everything in sight. Viewing those tapes will put you to sleep more surely than a brandy at bedtime. Usually 30 seconds to a minute of any one scene or activity is enough. Current camcorder models make seamless transitions between stopping and starting. So if your 3-year-old takes three minutes to open his or her gift, you can record a few 30-second segments. The playback will look virtually continuous.
– Learn the feel of the record start (sometimes labeled record pause)
button quickly. Be sure you know the record indicator; usually it`s a red LED (light-emitting diode), or the letters REC in the viewfinder. The first mistake every video enthusiast makes is shooting the floor or a wildly careening room when he or she forgets to pause in recording or thinks that the tape is stopped while it continues to run. I know more about my feet than a podiatrist does from my first few weeks with a camcorder. Friends of mine have more video memories of the hospital-room floor than of their new baby.
– When possible, leave the lens in the wide-angle position. Most camcorders include zoom lenses, which invite motion sickness. Novice videomakers zoom in and out frequently, if not continuously, rather than composing shots and placing the camcorder at the most advantageous position. Just as the telephoto setting magnifies the subject, it also magnifies all your mistakes. Camera movement is amplified in telephoto and minimized in wide angle.
The 10 o`clock television newscast provides the best examples of picture composition. When going for a facial closeup, it`s better to crop the hair than the chin. Always lead the subject. If a person is looking to the right, then he or she should be on the left side of the picture and vice versa. If your child kicks a ball to your right, then the child should occupy the left side of the picture.
You may be excited with your new toy, but after your family or friends have shared your excitement, let them forget you have a new camcorder. Be unobtrusive. Mugging for the camera may be cute at the time, but the most memorable shots are the ones you get when you capture people unawares. People don`t always act like themselves when they know the camcorder is pointed at them-would you? Pretend to be inspecting the camcorder or just fooling around with it, while slyly shooting.
When shooting children, get down to their level (in height, not behavior). Shoot a youngster opening a gift from your knees or while sitting on the floor with your back against a wall.
You may not master the ”shooting blind” technique in time for this Christmas, but it results in the best candid shots. Set the lens for wide angle and hold the camcorder down at your side, as if carrying it. After some practice you`ll be able to aim the camcorder without looking through the viewfinder.
– To the human eye, the Christmas tree glows more impressively with the room lights dimmed. The camcorder sees the tree better in brighter light. Shooting the tree illuminated by its own lights alone results in a video with pinpoints of light and very little else. Even the colors of those lights may not be accurate if shot in near darkness. Camcorders boast of being able to record in candlelight, but even the best produce a dim, grainy picture on playback. It`s about the same as trying to read a book by candlelight.
To capture the family opening gifts or at the dinner table, attempt bright, diffuse (or reflected) lighting. If you have ceiling fixtures or track lighting, all the better. A number of table lamps around the room with 75-watt bulbs provide more even lighting than one or two lamps with 250-watt bulbs.
Avoid shooting into the light; keep the light at your back when possible. Never shoot toward a bright window. The ample outside light will cause the autoexposure to darken everything except what`s outside the window.
– To capture conversation for posterity, hold down background noise.
Most camcorders include microphones immediately beside or behind the lens. These mikes pick up sound from all over the room. So if a radio or TV is playing in the background, the soundtrack of your video will be an unintelligible jumble.
Because the camcorder adjusts the audio recording level automatically, try to keep the camcorder away from the louder people in a group or the softer ones may not be heard.
Musical accompaniment can be dubbed in later while you`re editing the tape.
”The Home Video Maker`s Handbook,” by Roland Lewis, contains the following quote from Charles Stewart, an award-winning British director and cameraman: ”The professional gets to know the equipment, works with it until all the functions are second nature, until it`s no longer necessary to think what to do to zoom out or bring the focus forward. It`s mastery of the equipment that frees one to be creative.”
That`s good advice for the amateur, too.
TRY THESE BOOKS FOR MORE TIPS ON TOP-NOTCH VIDEOS
Three recent books give more detailed information on camcorders and home videos.
”The Video Camcorder Handbook,” by Marjorie Costello and Michael Heiss
(HP Books, $14.95), provides the most general information on all aspects of camcorders, including accessories and how to connect the camcorder to your TV. This easy-to-understand guide is chock-full of photographs. If you`re still contemplating buying a camcorder, buy this book first.
It is available in bookstores, photography shops and video electronics stores or from the publisher (send $14.95 plus $1.95 postage and handling to HP Books, a division of Price Stern Soan Inc., Box 5367, Tucson, Ariz. 85703). ”The Home Video Maker`s Handbook (How To Make Your Own Videos),” by Roland Lewis (Crown, $11.95), is the most comprehensive guide to videography. This extremely well-written and well-illustrated book details creative techniques; topics, such as family parties, sports and travel; and effective presentation. Each section includes highlighted boxes with essential points. Color as well as black-and-white photos and diagrams accurately and clearly illustrate the text.
This book taught me a lot about creative camera angles and shooting with continuity. Even a family dinner has a beginning, a middle and an end. A good recording should convey that continuity. The book contains so much information that all but the most jaded professional will glean a few new ideas. Author Lewis doesn`t waste words comparing VHS, Beta and 8 mm. or discussing what brand of tape to buy. He gets right down to video photography.
”Video Family Portraits,” by Rob Huberman and Laura Janis (Heritage Books, $9.95), serves a special purpose besides teaching you the essentials of good videos. It describes itself as ”the user-friendly guide to videotaping your family history, stories and memories.” This is the book Alan Lomax would have read have he been videotaping rather than just audiotaping traditional folk music in his famous travels across the South. The book contains dozens of outlines and questions for interviewing both your own family and strangers. Preserving one`s family history is a prime but often overlooked use of a camcorder. However, the book lacks photos and includes very few illustrations. Should you have trouble finding ”Video Family Portraits” in a local bookstore, call 800-255-2665.
