We're going to spend this section teaching you about Hollywood's production model: Lie, cheat, and then steal. We're kidding. While Web shows are revolutionary in many ways, the basics of good video production are timeless. Hollywood has spent the last hundred years learning about creating great video. Their process looks something like this:
Pre-production. The work you have to do before shooting starts. Scripts, rehearsals, raising money, and scouting locations.
Production. The actual shooting of the content. Cast and crew head for the set or location and start working.
Post-production. When the shooting is done. Editing, sound work, special effects, and music.
Pre-production
Concept. Remember your concept. Keep it in mind throughout your pre-production planning process. Consider watching the "director's commentary" you will find on some DVDs to help prepare for the production process.
The industry standard software for writing scripts is Final Draft.
Script. Like with most creative endeavors, a lot of the most important work you do in producing a show is done on paper. Your script is the flushing out of your concept. Even if you don't need a formal script, you should write something down. Write notes about what you want to talk about for your personal videoblog. If you're doing interviews, do some research and write down some questions in advance. If you're producing a drama, comedy or a documentary you'll probably want something closer to a formal script.
If you're doing a sitcom or something similar you may benefit from doing "table reads" of the script before you start shooting. If you need help writing check out an interview with master storyteller Ira Glass from This American Life on his story-telling advice for video bloggers. an interview with Steven Prigge, author of "Created By: Inside the Minds of TV's Top Show Creators."
Storyboard/Shot list. The more complex the show, the more you'll want to storyboard or at least make a shot list. A storyboard is like a crude comic book with each of the shots you want being one frame. A shot list is a text list with descriptions of the shots you need. Even a simple show can benefit from a shot list, including "B" roll insert shots. This is particularly important when on location, because often times (especially when you need to most) you can't go back and get shots you missed. Storyboards help immensely if you're using one camera, in different locations, doing multiple takes, or doing a tricky stunt. Special effects and stunts are often storyboarded using 3-D software to make "pre-visualizations," for the cast and crew to follow. Here's a story board how-to, and a bunch of storyboards to look at.
Go widescreen? Video in general is slowly moving away from a square aspect ratio (like old TVs) to widescreen. Traditional TV is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio while HDTV and much modern WEb video is moving to a wider ratio of 16x9. If you have a high-end video camera that can shoot in 16x9 we recommend doing it. Otherwise stick with 4:3 — you have no real choice.
Release Schedule. You should plan your release schedule before you start your show. We find that the most successful shows on blip.tv release new episodes on a regular basis: Every Tuesday, or every weekday, for example. Traditionally producers drastically underestimate the time they'll need to make each episode of their show. Don't make this mistake. Figure out how long you think it'll take you — and then double or triple that figure. Remember that once your show is shot, edited and exported you still need to write descriptions and tags, create thumbnails and test your upload. You may want to start out with a bi-weekly release schedule and then go from there — it's easier to start doing episodes more frequently than it is to pare back and disappoint your audience.
Location Scouting. Now here's a fun job! Before you shoot anywhere, send one person with a still or video camera to the location. Have them shoot at the same time of day you'll be shooting, and have them report back on what the light looks like and what the ambient sound is like.
Gear. Charge your batteries. Grab the duct tape. Check your lights. Plan for rain, earthquakes, locusts!!!... you get the picture.
Production
Cameras are sensitive electronic instruments that record light and sound. Focus on this simple fact. Be the lens, Grasshopper. See the flag pole coming out of your subject's head. Be the mic. Hear the air conditioner roar.
Video
Here's a condensed to-do list to consider when shooting video:
White Balance is maybe the most important piece of shooting good video that you've never heard of. White balance is a complicated concept, but just know that it has something to do with "color temperature." It's called white balance because white is the baseline color used to determine temperature. You can learn more on Wikipedia.
Keep the camera at the subject's eye level, unless you have a good reason not to.
If there's bright light, make sure it is behind you and not behind your subject.
Use manual focus if you can. "Catch focus," meaning zoom to subject, focus on the glint in their eye. Zoom back and...
Wacky White balance demo by Temple University graduate students.
Shoot a wide establishing shot of the scene, or travel footage of getting there, a medium shot, and then your content.
Shoot "B" roll (close-ups, environment, subjects being referenced, hands moving)
Start recording at least 10 seconds before action begins and keep rolling a while after the action stops.
Avoid zoom and movement. This breaks the spell of the video and attracts attention to the camera. Move when subjects move. Pan the camera to a specific place or cut to your subject in motion.
As your show grows you may want to consider using multiple cameras. Multi-camera shoots are common in traditional television, and more and more Web show producers are starting to use the technique. Don't do this too early though — you're best off starting simple and growing into more complex techniques later. Here are two short articles by Video Maker Magazine to get you started, Multicam Shooting and Multicam Editing.
Audio
The key to video! External mics are better than built-in mics because they can be close to the subject's mouth, even if the camera isn't. Boom mics float just out of frame above a subject's mouth. Lapel mics clip to shirt collars near vocal cords. If you must use built-in mics, stay very close to your subject. Digital Juice has a short video on getting good audio.
Use headphones to monitor the quality of the audio while you are recording. Turn off refrigerators and air conditioners.
Record a minute or two of silence. You can use it when you edit to bridge gaps in audio.
Run a test. Make sure you are recording audio.
Lighting
Three-point lighting method demonstration by Temple University's Media Arts and Sciences Department
Try to use diffused, flattering light, from multiple directions and lots of it! The simplest lighting trick is to use natural light from a window, but indirect light, not sunlight. Sunlight has harsh shadows.
The next simplest method is to turn on all the lights in the house and move lights closer to the subject. You can also use brighter household bulbs. Getting into the $50 dollar budget land, you can buy some clip-on construction lights, "natural light" household bulbs and make a three light kit. This brings us to the first basic lesson of lighting for video or film - the "Key, Back, Fill" method of lighting. Basically this means having three lights.
A bright main Key light in front, and off to the side, of the subject.
A dimmer Fill light in front, and off to the side, of the subject.
A bright Back light, behind and off to the side of the subject.
After you learn the basics of lighting you can move to learning more complex techniques. Here's a thorough video on lighting from Digital Juice. It starts with classic 3 point lighting, but moves on to more complex subjects like shadows, filters, and lighting tough subjects. While you may not have all the equipment that these professional video makers have, you can often use the same techniques.
Stills
Don't forget to take still photos for thumbnails and media kits! Use the still function of your video camera, or better yet, a good digital still camera. Study this sage advice from Kodak's photo pros. And since video is after all a series of still, most of Kodak's time-tested advice is true for video too!
Post-production
Archive.org has "public domain" video you can use in your shows for free. Blip.tv enables you to also put copies of your shows here automatically every time you upload, but you can Creative Common license them and keep them out of the public domain.
The key to "post," as it's called, is organization. Before you even start to edit, organize your folders and files with accurate names. Create folders for each episode that use the same file naming system. Everyone is different, but starting with the year, month, and day helps folders appear in series and be organized. Inside your project folders, create sub-folders for content such as thumbnails, stills, logos, and music. Start a text file where you keep each episode's full text description, tags and title.
Video To Computer
Beginning editing software keeps the user shielded from seeing where the actual video files are located. If you move to more professional software (non-linear editing software), you'll need to understand where the actual video files are kept.
Editing is an art and a craft. It is a million little decisions strung together to frame the painting that is video. Ah...wasn't that lovely? Or, here's another perspective:
"Editing is the process that transforms a miscellaneous collection of badly-focused, poorly-exposed and horribly-framed shots containing reversed screen direction, unmatched action, disappearing props, flair, and hair in the aperture (but not containing any close-ups, cut-ins, or cut-aways), into a smooth, coherent, and effective visual statement of the original script, for which the director gets the credit."
Seen on the wall of KTLA-TV, in LA by editor Larry Jordan. Source.
The best way to learn how to edit besides, you guessed it, editing, is to watch television shows and movies from an editor's standpoint. Next time you're watching TV, turn the sound off and watch just the edits.
Editing Techniques
The trick is when to cut. There are 30 frames a second to choose from. Good editors make seamless cuts, keeping the focus on content. Learn to use basic edits (cut, fade, dissolve), and rhythm, like you use punctuation when writing. Each different kind of cut communicate different things, just like commas, periods and exclamation points. Watch this video on editing punctuation from Digital Juice.
Try to work with audio first. Some editors like to put down audio tracks first, as a complete story with smooth transitions before working with video.
If you see strange horizontal lines in your video, especially when there is movement, you need to "de-interlace" your video. QuickTime Pro will do this, as will most editing software. Any video that is not shot on "progressive scan," uses interlaced fields for more efficient storage and recording.
Try cutting into audio a moment before you cut to its corresponding shot.
Cut on motion or action. A hand moving, someone turning, eyes rolling... you get the picture!
Beginning editors often catch a case of "Techno-itis" and find themselves using all kinds of nifty special transitions, filters and effects. The water swirl, wipe, or dreaded flying credits. There's a cure! It's called the straight cut. Watch any random TV show or movie and you'll notice that most of the editing is made up of humble straight cuts.
Editing Audio
You will quickly reach the limit of video editing software's ability to deal with audio. Editors often "extract" the audio from their videos and use software to normalize, filter, and generally improve the quality. Audacity is a great free audio editing software for Mac and PC.
Thumbnails
Thumbnails should be the same dimensions as your video (or a little smaller) and in JPEG file format. They should survive being shrunk to 1" x 1". If the layout of your web site is changed by a thumbnail, make it 480 by 360 pixels and see if that helps. Fonts at about a size of 48 seem to survive most scaling down in size. Good Night Burbank has good Thumbnails.
Glossary of Terms. Nicely done glossary of production terms and acronyms.
Multimedia Reporting tutorials. At the Knight New Media Center, an excellent grant funded site by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and USC Annenberg School for Communication.
Make Internet TV. From gear to promotion from the people who make the Democracy Player.
Avid Podcasts. Interviews with editors of TV and films. See specifically #003 & 004, "Norm Hollyn, Editing Track Head at USC's School of Cinematic Arts." 27 April 2006."
The Learning Center is for those new to Web show production on blip.tv. Check out our Help Section for more information about how to use the blip.tv service.
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