Every budding film maker has to start with his first film at some stage. They will sit back after all is done and be chuffed about their little masterpiece, but what about that wobbly zoom there and that strange pink blob in front of the lens. Sound familiar? Don't worry, nobody gets it right first time, nor their 1,000th time. Video making is a learning process which never stops. Every time you take your camera out of its case you will learn something new, but thats the fun of it all.
Quick Glance Guide
One of the most common faults is for the first time user to over-zoom, (continually zoom in and out). This is very unsettling for the viewer and can even make them feel quite ill - I should know as I sit through several amateur tapes a week from my students trying to work out how to edit it all together without getting sea sick! To use the zoom effectively first you should put the camera on a good tripod, ideally a dedicated video tripod rather than a photographic one as these cannot support the weight of the heavier camcorders and also do not have a fluid head, which allows smooth camera movement. Once set up zoom in on a subject, check your focus, (another area students have trouble with) and zoom out to the shot size you desire, the focus should stay sharp unless you or the subject are moving away from one another. Hold the shot without zooming, it will look better in the end, especially if you are going to edit it with similar shots.
Other first time problems include battery drain. There you are, filming the Grooms speech at the wedding and the little 'batt empty' symbol starts flashing and you have visions of the scene in 'True Lies' when it happens during the terrorists speech! Such problems can be avoided by using the manual functions, for example turning off the autofocus will increase battery life becouse the autofocus is always on, thus draining your battery. Using the motor zoom puts a heavy drain on the battery as it is operating a motor to alter the zoom lens. Just use the zoom lever on the lens barrel next to the focus ring - you will find your battery life extended by doing these simple things. Of course buying extra batteries will help, though you will have to edit around the changeover, or find a suitable point to swap batteries when they are nearing the end of their life. I use a battery belt which allows me to film for around 6 hours, the normal batteries last about 40 minutes before needing to be changed.
Another very common problem is for the beginning and end of a shot to be cut off. When you press the REC button to start and stop the video tape you have to allow some time (normally about 2 sceonds) for the tape to actually "get up to speed" (Film cameramen will often say "Speed" to let the crew know the camera is running at the right speed). I normally count to 5 after I have pressed the REC button until I cue an actor or move the camera, and then allow another 5 seconds after an action has ended before I stop the tape. This extra space either end of a shot allows extra space for editing and makes sure you do not miss a line becouse of action starting too early or the camera 'backspace' wiping the last line of speech on your tape. (A camera will rewind a tape by about a second when you press stop in order to have a clean start when you press REC again, this is called 'backspacing')