2.6. Keep the Camera Steady Here's another difference between amateur and pro footage: Most camcorder movies are shot with a camera held in somebody's hand, which is extremely obvious to people who have to watch it later. Real TV shows, movies, and corporate videos are shot with a camera that's mounted on a massive rolling base, a hydraulic crane , or a tripod . (There are a few exceptions, such as a few annoying-to-watch Woody Allen movies. However, they were shot with handheld cameras for an artistic reason, not just because it was too much trouble to line up a tripod.) It's impossible to overstate the positive effect a tripod can have on your footage. Nor is it a hassle to use such a tripod; if you get one that's equipped with a quick-release plate, the camcorder snaps instantly onto the corresponding tripod socket. Tripods are cheap, too. You can buy one for as little as $20, although more expensive tripods have more features, last longer, and are less likely to nip your skin when you're collapsing them for transport.
Tip: If the camcorder on the tripod isn't perfectly level, the picture will start to tilt diagonally as you pan (the car will appear to be driving up or down a hill instead of across a flat plain). To prevent this phenomenon , make sure that the camera legs are carefully adjustedslow and tedious work on most tripods. But on tripods with ball-leveling heads (an expensive feature, alas), achieving levelness takes just a few seconds: Just loosen a screw, adjust the head until it is level, and tighten the screw down again.
Of course, tripods aren't always practical. When you're trying to film without being noticed, when you don't have the luggage space, or when you must start filming immediately , you may have to do without. In those instances, consider one of these alternatives: -
Turn on the image stabilization feature . As noted in Section 1.2.1.5, every modern DV camcorder includes an image stabilization feature, which magically irons out the minor jiggles and shakes associated with handheld filming. Using electronic/digital (as opposed to optical) image stabilization drains your battery faster, so feel free to turn it off when you're using a tripod. But at all other times, the improvement in footage is well worth the power sacrifice. -
Make the camera as steady as possible . If you can steady it on top of a wall, on top of your car, or even your own knee, you'll get better results. If there's absolutely nothing solid on which to perch the camcorder, keep your camcorder-hand elbow pressed tightly against your side, use two hands, and breathe slowly and with control. When you pan, turn from the waist, keeping your upper body straight. Bend your legs slightly to serve as shock absorbers.
Tip: Regardless of your camcorder model, you'll get the best and steadiest results if you use your free hand to brace the bottom of the camera. Holding both sides of the camcorder isn't nearly as steady.
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Zoom out . When you're zoomed in to film something distant , magnifying the image by, say, 10 times, remember that a one-millimeter jiggle gets magnified many times. When you're zoomed in a lot, it's easy to produce extremely unsteady footage. Keep this in mind when deciding how much you want to zoom; the most stable picture results when you're zoomed out all the way. BUYER'S GUIDE
How to Buy a Tripod | | A tripod has two parts : the legs and the pan head . The camera attaches to the pan head, and the legs support the head. You can buy a tripod with any of three pan head types. Friction heads are the simplest, least expensive, and most popular with still photographers. Unfortunately, they provide the bumpiest pans and tilts when used for videotaping . Fluid heads are the most desirable kind; they smooth out panning and tilting. They're more expensive than friction heads, but are well worth the money if you're after a professional look to your footage. Finally, geared heads are big, heavy, expensive, and difficult to use. These are what Hollywood productions use, because they can handle heavy film cameras. The tripod's legs may be made of metal, wood, or composite. Metal is light and less expensive but easier to damage by accident (thin metal is easily bent). Wood and composite legs are much more expensive and are designed for heavier professional broadcast and film equipment. The bottoms of the legs have rubber feet, which is great for use indoors and on solid floors. Better tripods also have spikes, which work well outdoors on grass and dirt. Good tripods also have spreaders that prevent the legs from spreading apart and causing the entire apparatus to crash to the ground. If your tripod doesn't have spreaders, you can put the tripod on a piece of carpet, which prevents the legs from slipping apart. In general, you adjust a tripod's height by extending the legs' telescoping sections. Some tripods have a riser column, too, that lets you crank the pan head higher off the legs. Remember that the higher the camera is lifted up, the more unsteady it becomes, so sturdiness is an important characteristic. |
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Consider a monopod . Despite the enormous boost in stability that a tripod gives your footage, you don't always have the time to unlatch, extend, and relatch each of the three legs. If the kind of shooting you do frequently requires such fast setup and takedown, consider a monopod . As much as it sounds like a creature from a sci-fi movie, a monopod is actually a closer relative to a walking stick. It's a collapsible metal post for your camcorder. When using a monopod, you still have to steady the camcorder with your hands (jiggles are still possible), but the monopod eliminates motion from one of the three dimensions (up and down), which is much better than nothing. And the monopod, of course, takes very little time to set up and take down. -
Get a clamp . You can also buy viselike clamps equipped with camera plates. You can clamp them to car windows , chair backs, tops of ladders, skateboards, and so on, for even more stable- shooting options. (Put a piece of cloth between the clamp and the surface to prevent scratching.) |
