Entertain or Die!

Mar 05
Love0

Toy Story: Learning to Use Video Tools

By Tips and Tricks, If you’re new to video, For Pros, Your Questions Answered Leave a comment

Recently I picked up a multi-rotor drone to carry my HD camera. I’m having fun flying my drone, but now my videos feel all the same: running along a straight line, go up and take a 360, fly really low almost touching the bushes. Pretty pictures, but not really good video. Any ideas on how to script/arrange/film better videos for subjects as simple as “last weekend with friends”? –Ed Basic drones are mostly good for scene setting and beauty shots. Think fireworks from inside the blasts; an establishing montage of New York City between segments on a TV show; or…

Read More
Sep 12
Love0

Better Call Saul: The Devil is in the Details

By Tips and Tricks, Better Home Video, Feature Film, For Pros Leave a comment

There is no better show on television than AMC’s Better Call Saul, from Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, ex of Breaking Bad. All four seasons are spectacular, but if you haven’t watched (or even if you have) it’s worth considering what makes it great.  Great writing and acting, sure, but for me the best part of Better Call Saul is that every shot, every sequence, every episode is about intrigue- built by lensing in to the details. Season 1, Episode 1 doesn’t start with anything as obvious as an establishing shot of a shopping mall, or a freeway sign saying “Welcome to Omaha.” Nor does…

Read More
Sep 10
Love0
Vacation videos suck, unless you follow these tips.

How to Shoot Vacation Video that Won’t Bore People to Death

By Featured, Tips and Tricks, If you’re new to video, Better Home Video 13 Comments

When I was a kid, the Armbrusters had a slide projector.  Which meant that after every vacation they took, we’d troop dutifully to their house for endless carousels of badly-shot Kodachrome slides, narrated  live.  The slide show always seemed longer than the vacation itself.  Washed-out, badly composed views of Disneyland or Paris—dotted here and there with the back of the head of someone we knew.

Today people record hours and hours of vacation video on a single chip.  Instead of making you visit their living rooms, they trap you at parties, work, on the train– anywhere– and make you watch.

Who would do such a thing?  Anyone with a smartphone.  We have met the Armbrusters and they are us.

Read More
Sep 04
Love0

Why Making Video “Ask for the Order” Doesn’t Work

By Video Marketing, For Pros Leave a comment

This week a post on Linked-In reminded me that all good video must “ask for the order” and contain a clear “call to action.” This concept was, as far as I can tell, invented by someone in an ad agency, maybe in the ’80s, and repeated enough that many people take it as gospel. The idea is that your marketing video must tell the customer exactly what you want them to do, and then request that they do it. Thus a TV commercial that includes the magic phrase “Buy a Toyota tomorrow and save $200!” is presumed to be way more…

Read More
Aug 06
Love0

Tricks to Storify Your Travel Video

By Tips and Tricks, Better Home Video, Your Questions Answered Leave a comment

I shoot videos and landscapes when I travel overseas. Obviously, I cannot shoot to a script or have much of a plan, since this is an unplanned vacation. How would I construct a story from random scenes in Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Budapest, etc?  Usually I end up with a string of shots without any story. This is not what you recommend in your book. My friend Wendy will be travelling with me, but how could I include her in the video? Shots of her looking at the Danube from Buda and from Pest don’t seem to have much interest. Shooting her eating sauerkraut, etc. wouldn’t cut it either. Any ideas? –John…

Read More
Jul 30
Love0

Yeah, But is it Any Good? Learning from Mediocre Video

By Teaching and Training, Feature Film, Television, For Pros Leave a comment

People hate going to the movies with me. It’s not because I talk or text during films, because I religiously don’t do either. It’s what happens after the lights come up.  “That was good” says my wife. “I enjoyed it” says my daughter. “The dialogue in the battle scene in act three sounded like it was cribbed from ‘Alien’” I say. And that’s when the conversation usually slows way down. As you get better at the film and video thing, what has happened to me may also happen to you: Your tolerance for mediocre work plummets. Terrible is terrible. Most…

Read More
Jul 16
Love0

The Curse of the Inactive Hero: Lessons from “Ant-Man and the Wasp”

By Tips and Tricks, Feature Film, Television, For Pros Leave a comment

A hero is who your story is about. A mute woman rescuing a monster she loves, a lawyer facing down the bigotry of his 1930s community to save a man’s life, a woman of color who wants to do math for NASA to save a mission– all great heroes. They each take big risks and strong actions. Seeing how that action turns out for them is what pulls us through the story. Generally speaking, the stronger the hero and the tougher the odds they face, the better the story. Which is why superheroes, who are larger than life by definition, make for exciting…

Read More
Jul 10
Love0

10 Tips for Doing Better Marketing Video

By Tips and Tricks, Video Marketing Leave a comment

You write a lot about movies, home video, story, etc. It’s all great, and I use it when I shoot stuff. But I need to convince my company to do better marketing videos and I’m not shooting those. Any advice? -Jackson D., Denver The only thing worse than shooting awful marketing video is paying someone else to shoot awful marketing video for you. Critical in this age of video overpopulation: A crash course in video literacy for companies. The more you know about how video really works, the less likely you are to waste money and time on something nobody…

Read More
Apr 20
Love0

Shoot Just Enough and No More

By Video Marketing, Feature Film, Television, For Pros, Your Questions Answered One Comment

Throughout your book you talk about cutting, trimming, deleting, editing until you’ve removed all of the bad, redundant, boring parts of your project. What happens when you cut out all of the bad stuff and then you realize that you don’t have enough good material to complete the project? Are there strategies to make sure you shoot enough great material to edit? It’s too late to fix my first project (a music video), but I’d sure like to make sure it doesn’t happen on my next one. –Fred Knowing how much to shoot may be the second biggest issue a director faces on the set (the first:…

Read More
Apr 11
Love0

Shooting Crew-Free

By Video Marketing, Teaching and Training, For Pros, Your Questions Answered Leave a comment

I make educational videos for computer enthusiasts on YouTube, but I have to do everything myself. Lighting, sound, script, talent, editing, posting, video description, video thumbnail, marketing…  Problem is, without a crew, shots have to stay static. I can use digital zoom, but it gets ‘blocky.’ I had a friend help me with this video (one static camera, one my friend is holding). What I can do to make a better video? Thank you! –Carey Holzman Nice video, Carey. I rushed right out to buy some old parts and built a cool gaming computer for my guest bathroom. Okay, I didn’t, but after watching I…

Read More
15585

Ready to take your video content to the next level?

Sign up now to get free resources and tips on how to shoot video that doesn't suck! Elevate your video production game and capture stunning footage that engages and captivates your audience.

AudibleAmazonKindleBarnes & NobleApple BooksIndieBound

Classroom and Corporate Orders

Copy link
CopyCopied
Powered by Social Snap