Section 3.4. Speeches

3.4. Speeches

What to worry about when filming talks, presentations, and speeches: the sound. Exactly as when filming live stage performances , your camcorder's built-in microphone does a lousy job of picking up a speaker more than 10 feet away. To remedy the problem, use a tie-clip microphone on extension cords, get a wireless mike, or run an external microphone to the loudspeakers (if the talk is amplified) or even directly to the sound system's mixing board.

Otherwise, the only other problem you'll encounter is the question-and-answer session, if there is one. In an auditorium situation, not only will you have a terrible time (because there isn't enough time) trying to train the camera on the person asking the question, but you won't pick up the sound at all. You can only pray that the guest speaker will be smart enough to repeat the question before providing the answer.

Tip: Capturing audience reaction shots for use as cutaways is a great idea when you're recording a talk. Splicing these shots into the finished iMovie film can make any speech footage more interesting, and gives you the freedom to edit the speech if necessary.If your goal is to capture the entire talk, and you've got only a single camcorder, you'll have to get the reaction shots before or after the talk. Don't just pan around to the audience while the speaker is speaking.

3.5. Sports

Filming sporting events is, in general, a breeze . Most take place outdoors, neatly solving all lighting problems, and the only sound that's important at a sporting event is usually the crowd 's reaction, which your camcorder captures exquisitely. Most of the time, you'll be zoomed out all the way, because there's too much motion to worry about closeups. (And when you do want closeups, you'll know exactly when to zoom out again, thanks to the structured nature of most sports. Every baseball play begins the same way, for example.)

If your aim is to film a player for training purposes, or to study a golf swing or tennis stroke as it's played back in slow motion or frame by frame, consider using your camcorder's high-speed shutter feature. When you use this special recording mode, the camcorder records the action in a strange , frame-flashing sort of way. When you play this footage back, you can use the slow-motion or freeze-frame controls on your camcorder with sensational, crisp, clear results.

CAUTION

The high-speed shutter is effective only in very bright, sunny, outdoor light. If you try to use it indoors, outdoors when it's overcast, or in shadow, all kinds of unpleasant side effects result. You may get flickering and stuttering motion, the autofocus feature may stop working, colors may not look right, and the picture in general will seem too dim.

3.6. Photos and Old Movies

Most people associate video with moving images, but video "slideshows" can be extremely satisfying to watch, especially if you add commentary or music in iMovie, as described in Chapter 8. With a tripod, a music stand, and good lighting, your camcorder is all set to preserve your family photos forever.

If the photos were taken with a digital camera, there's nothing to it: Just import them as described in Chapter 9.

The challenge is what to do about photos that aren't digitalthe old kind, the paper kind, the kind you'll confront if you put together a biographical video about anyone who's more than six years old.

3.6.1. Old Photos

Tactic one: Get the old pictures into the Mac using a scanner. As described in Chapter 9, you can then drop them into your iMovie storyboard electronically , without having to mess with lights, focus, tripod, and so on.

Tactic two: Film the photos with the camcorder. Take each photo out of its frame, prop it on a music stand or tape it to the wall, and slip a big black piece of cardboard behind it. Set up the camcorder so that it's directly aimed at the photo ( otherwise , the photo may look skewed or distorted when filmed). Use the manual focus on your camcorder, zoom in an appropriate amount, position the tripod and lights so that there's no glare, and begin shooting. If you're getting glare from the photo, use two lights, one on each side of the photo, each at a 45-degree angle to it.

Scanning produces a more professional effect. Still, filming the photos gives you some interesting creative possibilities, like surrounding each photo with meaningful memorabilia, capitalizing on late-afternoon sun slanting in through a window, and so on.

3.6.2. Shooting Slides

You can transfer slides to your movie in either of two ways:

Project the slides onto a slide screen or white wall, and then film them with your camcorder. To make the slide's image sharper, put the projector as close as possible to the screen. Position the camera right next to the projector, so that it doesn't wind up filming the projected slide at an angle.
Have a Kodak shop or a local service bureau scan your slides, transferring them to a CD-ROM. (If your scanner has a slide attachment, you may even be able to do this yourself, although it can be a finicky procedure.) Then you can import the slides electronically into iMovie, as described in Chapter 9. This method ensures the highest possible quality and saves you a lot of setup hassle.

3.6.3. Transferring Old Movies to DV

Transferring old movies to the camcorder is another good idea. If these older movies are on videotape, such as VHS cassettes or 8mm videotapes from an older camcorder, you're in good shape. Transferring them onto your DV camcorder is fairly easy, if you have the right equipment (see Chapter 4).

Transferring old film to your camcorder is a more difficult proposition. Photographic catalogs sell mirror-based gadgets just for this purpose. In essence, this apparatus lets you run the film projector, which projects the old movie onto a tiny movie screen. Your camcorder simply films the film. Unfortunately, the camcorder can pick up quite a bit of grain and picture deterioration in the process.

You can also send your old reels out to a commercial transfer shop. Most local photo-developing outfits and camera shops will handle this transaction for you.