When I started making videos, I made a lot of amateur mistakes.
However, they are easy to avoid if you know about them before trying to film.
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One of the most common mistakes novices make is something called firehosing.
It's when the camera operator sweeps the camera around erratically producing jerky footage.
People who do this don't know what they want to shoot and just film at random in the hopes
of getting something useful.
You don't want to do this.
Instead, plan your shots carefully and use a tripod to hold the camera steady and then
record the action happening in front of the camera.
A second common mistake is to overuse zooming.
Many cameras have a zoom feature, which is tempting, but is a waste of time.
For example, you might be filming someone working in the lab or in the field and want
to show a closeup of their hands or face.
Instead of zooming, stop filming and reset the camera for a closeup and then resume filming.
The time spent in a zoom is wasted time and will simply add to the length of your video.
There may be instances in which you want to slowly reveal something with a zoom out or
a zoom in, but these are rare.
Another common error is backlighting, which is when someone shoots against a bright background
such as a window.
Stay aware of the lighting and either position your subject so that the light is falling
on them or use extra lighting if shooting indoors.
If you are unsure how to frame your shots, use the rule of thirds.
Those of you who are photographers already know this method.
You can set the view on your camera to show a grid that divides the scene into thirds,
top to bottom and left to right.
Where the lines cross are called powerpoints.
The idea is to avoid centering your subject in the frame.
The rule of thirds helps you compose a shot that is more interesting to watch.
If you watch professional interviews, you'll see that in most cases, they used the rule
of thirds to frame the interview subject.
This requires being aware of all the elements in a scene: the subject, the foreground, and
the background.
Novices often shoot too wide, that is, they are too far away from their subject.
Don't do this unless you are trying to establish perspective, as in this image.
Most of the time you want to be close to the action, close enough to your subject to see
their facial expressions and gestures, for example.
I think everyone knows that scientific jargon is a no-no in a video.
Even if your audience is scientifically literate, you want to avoid acronyms and highly technical
language if at all possible.
Not everyone will understand.
If you must use a technical term that only specialists know, be sure to define it either
verbally or with a text title.
Minimize the use of talking head footage in your video.
This is probably the most common mistake novices make, that is, shooting an entire video with
someone speaking on camera.
It's really boring.
Instead, you want to insert additional footage to show what the speaker is talking about.
B-roll footage will help you avoid this mistake.
B-roll is secondary footage that you film of plants, animals, people, landscapes, equipment,
and other things the speaker is talking about.
In other words, it's better to show rather than tell.
Ask people to demonstrate something that they are talking about instead of verbally describing
it.
Another important aspect to be aware of is the audio.
Video viewers will put up with shaky footage and bad lighting, but will stop watching if
the audio is bad.
Be aware of ambient noises and avoid sounds of traffic, machinery, people talking, the
wind blowing, and numerous other distracting sounds.
Use a lapel microphone when speaking on camera...it makes a huge difference in the audio quality
of your video.
Avoid having people introduce themselves on camera.
It sounds awkward and arrogant: Hi, I'm Dr. Hotshot and I work on a very important topic.
Also, it wastes time.
The person on camera should be talking about their topic.
So instead use a text title to identify people and their affiliations.
It's much more efficient.
You may find footage or other media online that you want to use in your video.
But you want to be careful to only use media for which you've obtained written permission
from the copyright holder or media that is in the public domain.
I recommend that you study up on copyright and be certain of your rights both as a creator
of intellectual property and as a potential user.
My rule of thumb is to assume everything posted on the internet is copyright protected unless
I can find clear evidence to the contrary.
Just citing the source does not cut it.
And it need not have the copyright symbol to be protected by copyright law.
You need permission or pay a license fee to use an image or other media.
Keep in mind that it may not be obvious who the copyright holder is.
I try to use mainly my own material that I've filmed personally; secondarily, I will use
media in the public domain, such as that found on US government websites.
Any media recorded by a Federal employee in the course of their job is automatically in
the public domain.
What might happen if you violate copyright laws?
At best, you will be forced to take down your video if it is found to contain infringing
material; at worst, you'll get sued.
Be particularly careful about music.
You need the permission of the person who wrote the score and lyrics as well as whoever
performed the piece and also the distributor.
Well, those are a few mistakes you want to avoid during filming.
This is Karen McKee, The Scientist Videographer.
Thanks for watching.
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