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How to Improve Your Home Movies
HOW TO 
Tags: Home Movies, Taking Home Movies
I know when I go back through my parent's home movies there are long periods of nothingness and horrible lighting. Well, here are some tips that you can use to avoid these amature home movie mistakes.
| 1. | Plan the shoot. It's always good to go in with a plan. that way, you know what you're doing, and don't end up taking way longer than you meant to, or end up with a beginning and an ending, but nothing to tie them together. |
| 2. | Learn basic composition. Basically(pun intended), divide the screen into thirds(like a tic-tac-toe board). The focus of the shot should be at an intersection of those lines, or at least as close as it can be within reason. When shooting people, it's the eyes. Remember to leave ample headroom, meaning don't cut off the top of their heads. Also, leave look-space. If someone is looking even slightly to one side, you shouldn't cut off that side. You should have the people on the opposite side of the middle of the shot than where they're looking. |
| 3. | Shoot from more than one angle. Get as many shots as you can from as many directions as possible. This is called coverage, and it makes your film more visually interesting. |
| 4. | Use music as a band-aid. You can't cut your unintelligible mother-in-law out of a birthday party scene by saying, "The running time is a bit long." Instead, dub music over her. Set anyone to the right song and they come off looking pimp. |
| 5. | Remember that, as with most things, content is king. No one wants to watch a two-hour video of your vacation. But you can dazzle viewers with five Michael Bay, cut-heavy, chopped-up minutes. |
| 6. | Stay well lit. Indoor shoots have big problems with backlighting and shadows, so film outside as much as possible. |
| 7. | Don't be afraid to tell people what to do. You're not making a real documentary here. If someone stutters or slurs, ask them to say it again. This is especially helpful with kids. |
| 8. | Get an external microphone-- your built-in mike just won't cut it. Try a nice shotgun model that you can mount on the camcorder. This way, you won't have to rely so much on music. |
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I love that digital cameras allow you to film short clips.
Comment by: buccicone.2
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