focus Archives - Steve Stockman

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, If you’re new to video, Better Home Video, Your Questions Answered

Who Needs a Hero, Anyway?

I’m a pure novice at making movies, so your book was exactly what I was looking for! I made one diving video from a point & shoot underwater camera and tried to use your tips, but I struggled with “the hero” – the fish maybe? the turtle? Help!

–Kaidra M.

The “hero” thing can be tricky, but it still works underwater.

The idea of choosing a hero is to make your video about someone. To keep you from randomly pointing and shooting. The key concept: it doesn’t matter WHO the hero is.

Without a hero, your video is about … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, Video Marketing, Teaching and Training, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

“Lensing In” to Find What Your Video is About

So, @SteveStockman I’m ready for a critique of one of my videos. I’m interested in ideas for improvement.

–Paul (Mr. Adventure) @bcoutdoor via twitter

Pretty video, Paul, and I can’t tell you how much I love being inside on a nice day writing about it instead of breathing fresh air and paddling across a lake. Okay, not that much.

The entire basis for my critique of this video can be found in the description you posted on YouTube. It’s very accurate, and as goes the description, so goes your video:

Two weeks ago we spent the weekend hiking and packrafting … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, Video Marketing, Television

When somebody asks you what a movie is about, you probably say something like this: “It’s about a guy who decides to say ‘Yes’ to everything he’s asked to do” or “it’s about a girl who gets flown to another world in a tornado.”

Great movies are about someone. So are great videos. The person your video is about is your hero. By hero I don’t mean that they have to kill bad guys or become a vampire—rather, they’re simply the focus of your video. They’re the person who does something, or that something happens to.

Why are … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In If you’re new to video, Video Marketing, For Pros

Video vs. Real Life

Several readers forwarded this video.

It’s a great example of the principle of intrigue. Notice how the video sets up a game with the viewer– how will writer Charlene DeGuzman’s key point be revealed in each shot? Once we know what her point is, we watch in horror, recognizing our own behavior over and over.

Instead of telling us answers, telling us what to think, this video invites us in and allows us to think. Getting your audience to draw its own conclusions is so much more powerful than explaining.

And the point she makes about real life vs. … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, For Pros

Your new best friend, Specificity

Let me introduce you to specificity, your new best friend. You guys want to be buddies because being more specific about what you’re shooting automatically improves almost any video.

Instead of the random tourist shots of“Our Vacation,” shoot the video “Samantha’s first time out of the country”—which focuses specifically on what it’s like for 15 year-old Samantha to visit France for the first time—dealing with a new language, different money and jet lag.

Instead of “Our Company” how about a video about “How we deliver shoes to your door” or “Roz, the Customer Service Genius”?

If you’re shooting “a birthday … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Great Video Transcends Equipment

Great video transcends equipment. You can shoot an awesome film on your cell phone, or a terrible video on a Panavision digital rig with a crew of 200.

Case in point: This video, shot on a Nokia N8 Mobile phone. It surely wasn’t edited on a mobile phone, but that doesn’t obscure the big idea: great video comes from the brain, not the machine in your hand.

This video has a terrific sense of style, a clear organizing idea, and great music holding it together. A complete tale in under 2 minutes. Watch:

Thanks, Gretchen, for the tip!… Read the rest

Steve Stockman In 12 Tips to Improve Your Video NOW

Don’t Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes: 12 Video Tips #3

In the movies, on the big screen, we’re impressed by giant vistas. The stunning old West, where cacti and cowboys roam, or a panorama of stars and planets as we float through the vacuum of space. These amazing landscapes look great in IMAX, okay on our 52-inch plasma screens, and like tiny, blurry garbage on a Droid.

Which is okay because here on planet video, we’re more likely to be shooting people anyway.

If people are the stars of most videos, their faces are what you want to stay focused on. People communicate half of everything they’re saying with their … Read the rest