| When you're shooting, you may think you'll remember that the panda bears were located at roughly the 24-minute mark of the tan Panasonic tape, but in reality you'll find yourself scanning through the footage and wishing you'd taken the time to take notes. Get a simple binder and make columns for the tape, timecode, and notes. Then as you're shooting, jot down what you've just filmed. It doesn't have to be complicated, as long as it offers a quick reference to where your scenes occur. Taking notes is also essential when you need to keep track of locations and the names of people who appear in your video.  Tips
Label your tapes. They add up quickly, tend to look alike, and are guaranteed to fall off your desk in a cluttered heap just before you need to grab the right one in a hurry. I hate taking notes, too. With digital video, however, you have an advantage: before or after a shot, simply keep the camera running and speak your details. It won't help you find a clip in the middle of a tape, but it will give you the important details of what was recorded.
Shooting Video Without Disruption I'm always a little self-conscious when I'm shooting, because often I have to make myself conspicuous in order to get the shot I want. On vacation, this isn't always a problem (my little camcorder is much less intrusive than that other guy's honkin' 35mm lens), but some occasions for example, weddings call for discretion. There are a few different approaches to shooting without disruption. For one, you don't have to shoot with the camera in front of your face. You can rotate the LCD screen and film from your hip (or even shoot behind you). If it's inevitable that your camera is going to be noticeable, don't be rude about it. People will understand if you need to step softly into view for a few seconds to get a shot, then retreat to a neutral location. Depending on the circumstances, try to ingratiate yourself into the scene so the people involved will trust that you won't be obnoxious. Or, you could take the route of a professional still photographer who was on a recent vacation I took: not only was he taking great pictures, he offered to sell the resulting photos to fellow vacationers. People (at least the ones whom I assume bought the album) no longer seemed to mind so much if he blocked their view. |
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