Sports video is more popular than ever. And why not? Today's easy-to-use camcorders make sports video a breeze for many parents. But sports video goes far beyond the proud parent syndrome. Football, hockey, basketball, tennis or swimming...today's technology gives sports enthusiasts of all kinds the chance to record the...
They're More Important Than You Think
Walk into any Radio Shack and wander through the sections for audio and video cables and connectors. Thousands of choices confront you. What do you need? What should you buy?
How should you buy it. Why should you care.
After all, a cable's a cable, right?...
If your footage sometimes looks as if you taped it during an earthquake, it's not your fault. No hand-held video will be perfectly steady; even shots made on a tripod can get the jitters when you're shooting at full telephoto. But you can banish bad vibes from your programs...
Manufacturers load camcorders with all sorts of electronic doodads that let the user create amazing effects like slow motion, freeze frame, fades in and out, picture-in-picture, strobe and superimposed titles.
But there's a feature on every camcorder often overlooked by professional and amateur alike. Whether controlled by all electronic switch...
Working Towards the Perfect Fit
Making the whole greater than the sum of its parts is a fundamental aspect of videomaking.
Making the whole greater than the whole fits, too.
0ne night, after a long but pleasant day of shooting, a member of the production crew and I went out for a...
Every time you point your camera you make choices: how much of the scene to include; using a still shot or movement involving pan, flit, tracking, or zoom; angle and position; length.
These are the same decisions that occupy the minds and time of filmmakers like Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese,...
Invite friends and relatives to see your latest home movie and count on a generous outpouring of stammered feeble excuses designed to keep them at a safe distance. If the assumed victimes are already trapped, simply threaten to bring forth your vacation video-then watch your guests scurry like...
If the director is the leader of the orchestra, the cameraman is the first violinist. The director may be able to inspire his shooting crew to produce an Academy Award-winner, but he can't make "music" alone. He must rely on the cameraman, with his camera violin.
I'll be so bold...
Minimal Investment of Time and Money Big Payoff in Quality and Convenience
If you're like most people, you have a shoe box or two hidden away in a closet, carefully tucked behind an old pair of ski boots. Every year during spring house cleaning you pop open the lid and...
A renewed interest in wildlife preservation has increased the frequency of animal "shootings." Fortunately, they're happening with video cameras!
There's no better way to capture the reality of the wilds than with the "aliveness" of video. However, taking a video camera outdoors to record animals in their natural habitats presents...
