With Home Movie Day coming up on Saturday, we decided to post some quick tips on getting the perfect home movie. Make sure your scene meets three quick criterion: action, sound, and lighting.
Action
Without action, you might as well take a photo. Ever see movies of a baby’s first feeding? Twenty seconds or so is ok, ten minutes is complete overkill. Even better, the action could be captured in one messy-faced photo.
Sound
I’m sorry, did we timewarp back 90 years? Without sound, we’re in the realm of silent films. If you have a lot of action (think football game) this could be ok. If it’s your kid’s play, you absolutely need the dialogue, so tap into their mike system or skip the shot.
This one is especially tricky on a point-and-shoot camera. Many cameras capture the sound of the file writing to the flash card. If the movie you are shooting is not louder than the camera mechanism, you’ll notice the background noise more than the dialogue.
Lighting
Most consumer camcorders and point-and-shoot cameras can not take decent video in low light situations. Even if you use the low-light preset, they still get grainy. DSLR’s with video function are the exception to this rule.
Ever try to watch 10 minutes of video shot in near darkness? It’s almost as painful as watching 10 minutes of video with bad sound. Don’t waste your time.
If your scene has enough action, sound and lighting, go ahead and shoot video, otherwise capture your memory with a photo. Everyone you invite to re-live the event will thank you for it.
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