While much of the United States' east and west coasts are getting rain this week, videographers everywhere are gearing up to keep cameras dry for the winter. Certainly, waterproofing has its applications year round, but now's a fine time to address it. The first item to cover rarely makes it

A runaway train speeds uncontrollably through a snowy, barren mountain pass, halted only by a devastating explosion. Its violent shockwave hurls the train from the track, careening over a cliff, and tumbling into the chasm below. A few feet away, the Director yells, “Cut!” Then, she hudd

Let’s face it, as much as we tout the use of tripods in Videomaker, we can’t always use one every time. Sometimes a tripod isn’t convenient, other times the shoot is very casual. Then the economics get in the way: you might not have the funds for a good one, so you use your cheapo

Cinematography is a term that may be intimidating to many of you. However, since you are reading this, you are probably a cinematographer. When making decisions about lighting and camera choices while shooting, you are practicing the art of cinematography. You might not be a member of the American

A wedding videographer is always conscious that a couple's wedding is one of the most important days in their lives, so he knows that they will choose a form and venue with a special meaning for them. Some couples hold them in unusual locations — not just in parks or gardens, but even stor

Want to learn how good cinematography can elevate your video project to the professional level? Videomaker has asked a professional video director to share the tips and techniques that an aspiring video director or cinematographer needs to understand in our latest free report: Cinematography Techniq

Video Production Handbook, Fifth Edition I wonder where Video Production Handbook, Fifth Edition by Jim Owens and Gerald Millerson, has been all my life. I could have saved a lot of money in college and a lot of stress on my back from carrying hoards of books if I’d just had a copy of this on

“Check out this awesome video!” bellowed Chet from across the yard. He was waving a DVD at me. “It’s of the Gollywog Hotel being dynamited last week to make way for the new bypass! I took my family down for a picnic!” If I hadn’t been laying in a lawn chair daydre

A young couple walk hand-in-hand into a lonely alley, giggling… then… they stop…they both look at the camera in horror, and their gaze moves up, and up, and up – far above the camera and then they scream. Cut to a giant scaly eyeball. What happened? Anybody who watches movies

Pros have a long list of DOs and DON’Ts in their heads so deeply ingrained they don’t even think of them anymore. They walk into a room and immediately know what belongs in the shot and what doesn’t. They know this because they made these mistakes over and over when they were begin

No matter the movie at the multiplex, chances are you’ll be offered the chance to see it while wearing big funky glasses that would have looked really hip back when bellbottoms were in style. With that much exposure, it’s only a matter of time before a client will ask the question, ̶

Videographers are not just storytellers, they’re also the keepers of our memories – which is an amazing responsibility. While a director producing a fictional piece can reshoot a scene again and again until it’s captured perfectly, real life doesn’t afford us the ability to

There are times when serendipity plays a role in our productions but more often than not we need to be a bit more prepared when we want to create a quality production. Otherwise, we tend to overlook or forget something crucial. Having a plan more often than not works better than guerrilla-style run-

The master producers follow an established set of rules for a reason – to move the story along in a logical way that won’t confuse the viewer. There are many things that we “know” about movies simply from having seen lots of them. We “know” for example that when t

If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t thought much at all about shutter speeds on your camcorder, in fact, you don’t lose any points if you hadn’t even considered that your camcorder has different shutter speeds. Most modern camcorders do an excellent job of settin

In the early days of filmmaking the camera didn’t move very much and this was for several reasons. First, no one had yet thought to put them on wheels, and secondly because directors believed that moving the camera would confuse people trying to follow the narrative. As moviemaking progressed,

On big-budget productions that scene sometimes plays out. In the low to no-budget realm of independent video production the “scene” will be far more modest. Despite real-world limitations facing indie video producers, there’s nothing limiting you from creating a visually artistic a

The name YouTube has become so well known that it is no longer techno speak, but a huge part of the popular culture. Most people with a computer and Internet access have visited the site to search for videos ranging from how to tie a necktie to the antics of cute puppies, to crowd-sourced news from

I’ve noticed that while watching the “Coming Attractions” previews on DVDs anything that looks like it was shot on video automatically gets bumped down on my “have to see this” list. Why is that? Growing up, as I did, in the age where home video technology first became

Video is a perfect example – it uses processes developed for sound recording, motion picture and still photography, and television, and combines them to form a new technology. But as with any technology, there’s no magic involved in how a camcorder “sees” light, just engineer