Ugg… How To Avoid Some Technical Difficulties

Have you ever experienced technical difficulties?

Ridiculous question, right? We all have. We live in a world of technical difficulties. Video production is riddled with them. The equipment we work with everyday could fail at anytime. The trick is how you deal with it.

Hello, this is tech support

I’m trying to work some through issues right now. I’m serious. As I write this, I’m on hold with technical support for a product to broadcast a meeting live to satellite locations.

We did a dry run this morning. Checked out the meeting space… got a feel for the needed equipment. Tested the video stream… worked fine. Audio… not so much.

Freak-out time

Time to freak-out? Nope. That’s why we did a dry run. If this were the day of the meeting, it would be freak-out time. Today, it’s merely an inconvenience. Now I have a full week to solve the problem.

You can’t always do a practice or dry run before a shoot, but when you can it often helps make technical difficulties easier to deal with.

–Tony Gnau

Interview Locations Don’t Matter

Have you ever had food poisoning? If not, I don’t recommend it. If you have, you know what I’ve been going through the last couple of days.

No gory details, instead, something that caught my attention over the weekend, and something I stewed over the during two days on the couch. Interview locations really don’t matter.

This is something I’ve blogged about in the past, but it was driven home to me while watching the ESPN documentary, The Marinovich Project.

The good, the bad, and the storytelling

The movie was a contrast in interview shots. Some “good”… Marinovich out on the beach. Some “bad”… NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long in a nondescript hotel room.

And you know what? It didn’t matter.

Why? Because the storytelling was so good. See, a good story is far more important than simple visuals like an interview location. It’s not to say you shouldn’t look for the best location possible, but it’s not something to freak out about either.

A good videographer/storyteller will make it work one way or another.

–Tony Gnau

 

Don’t Sweat The Interview Location

I was talking with a prospect the other day about how we would shoot interviews with his people when he asked if we have studio space. I said, “No.” He was confused and wanted to know where we would shoot the interviews, and I told him at his offices.

Not what he wanted to hear. In his mind, his offices wouldn’t look good, but I assured him we were capable of making almost any space suitable for an interview.

This is a common concern for a lot of business people… the interview location. Which is funny to me because when you’re a production pro and know how to light and shoot an interview, you can do it pretty much anywhere.

You have to be kidding

Here’s my favorite example. One of our first clients is California-based Sovereign Healthcare (watch their video). During our first shoot with them, we had a tough time scheduling the CEO for his interview… CEO’s tend to be pretty busy… so we agreed to meet him at his home one night.

It was a beautiful house, plenty of options for the interview location, only there was one problem. High ceilings and hard tile floors meant lots of echos. We did some audio testing and it was a mess, so we moved to the backyard. It was backed up to a road, so we heard cars going by.

Finally, we walked around to the driveway out front and it was silent. I picked a spot and started setting up. The CEO came out for the interview and was shocked. He said, “You have to be kidding.” I told him to trust us, and to his credit he did.

Take a look at the photo above. That wall behind him is a privacy wall for his garbage cans. Not only did he love the end result, he had a great story to tell people about the making of the video. Sovereign remains with us to this day.

I’m telling you… production pros can make just about anything work.

–Tony Gnau

The Big Apple On Minimal Gear

Okay… I think I’ve recovered enough to blog about last week’s day-trip to New York City. If you missed it, I posted about my extended stay. The short story is storms pass through, flights cancel, hotels fill-up… equals a long night at LaGuardia.

I have never been awake for a longer time… 41-hours.

Now you know why it took me a while to be ready to blog about it.

Today’s post isn’t about storytelling. It isn’t about shooting or editing techniques. It’s about being able to do a lot with just a little.

When you’re shooting somewhere close to home, you can bring everything and the kitchen sink. When you’re traveling, you can’t do that. You have to pick your gear carefully and know how to make things work.

I went on the New York trip solo. That meant I could only take what I could carry, and it also played a big role while getting around the city. I shot in Brooklyn and the Bronx and took the train from location to location.

Take a look at the photo. The only thing I had with me that it’s seen is a small bag that carried my DSLR. Otherwise, I had a backpack carrying a video camera and audio equipment, a hard case for my light kit, and finally, a baseball bat bag on wheels I use for my tripod and miscellaneous other things.

That’s it. Funny thing is I didn’t even use the light kit. We shot the interview outside and the indoor b-roll was fine with the room’s existing lights.

You don’t need the kitchen sink to create good videos. Minimal gear will never be a problem when you know how to use what you have with you.

–Tony Gnau

Easy Way To Improve Your Videos

May I take a moment to write about microphones?

Amateur videos are easy to pick out for an array of reasons, but one of the easiest ways to spot one is bad audio. How do you know if your audio is bad? The number one way is if you’re using the built-in microphone on your camera.

You might be thinking… I don’t know… sounds pretty good to me.

No. It doesn’t. Investing just a  little money in a good quality microphone will improve your videos big time.

–Tony Gnau

 

Basic Shooting Errors Sink Your Videos

I get it. I really do. If you’re working at a small business and you don’t have the money to commit to a professionally produced video, I understand.

What I don’t get is when a major corporation puts a video out on the cheap. I just watched one by Subaru. I looks like an amateur production, but it’s a good teaching tool.

I love Subaru vehicles. My wife and I were recently talking about what we’d consider for our next car and I mentioned the Subaru Outback. So… I went to YouTube to check out some video and came across this one on the company’s channel… Subaru and United by Blue’s Cooper River Cleanup.

I love that Subaru is giving back. I love that they decided to put out a video about it. The problem is the video just isn’t compelling.

Pay attention to the way it’s shot. I counted one… that’s one… tight shot. Videos need a mix of wide, medium, and tight shots. That mix stimulates the eye. Virtually every shot here is a medium shot.

The same could be said for the interview shots. Everyone is framed up on a medium shot right in the center of the picture. There’s no visual interest in that sort of framing.

These are basic shooting mistakes. I would have loved to have seen this story in the hands of a video pro.

–Tony Gnau

Don’t Leave This Out Of Your Video

Just because you have an HD camera, doesn’t mean you can shoot good looking video. Actually, high-definition will actually shine a light on many of the things you’re doing wrong.

One of the biggest mistakes most amateurs make is not lighting interview subjects. I’ve seen a few videos like this lately, so I thought it warrants a blog post.

If you’re in a room with overhead fluorescent lights… you need to break out your light kit.

If you don’t have a light kit, get creative. Find window and use the natural light. Find a room with a lamp and figure out a way to use that.

I’m not here to post a lighting tutorial. Jump on Google and you’ll find plenty of them there. This message is simply an educator and motivator.

Don’t be lazy. Those overhead lights are terrible. Bad lighting… ugly video… no matter what kind of camera you use.

–Tony Gnau

Advice For Those Who Can’t Afford A Pro

Not every video has to be a masterpiece, and amateurs shouldn’t try to fake a professional production. Sometimes it’s enough just to give people a look behind the curtain.

Are you launching a new product? Did you hire a new employee? Are you extending a promotion? Pull out your FlipCam and shoot us 30-seconds.

Sure, a video pro can do it better, but if you can’t afford one, I rather see a short glimpse at what you do rather than a poorly edited amateur production.

–Tony Gnau

Who’s Shooting DSLR Video?

I think I have the DSLR bug. The more video I watch that’s been shot with DSLR cameras, the more I like it. The depth of field is AWESOME!

Having said that, I’m still hung up on the audio factor. To record quality audio, you need a separate audio device. Inconvenient for sure, but does it outweigh the great images you can capture using the DSLR cameras?

I need some feedback here. If you have any experience shooting DSLR video, please weigh in and let me know your thoughts.

–Tony Gnau