A self-critique of a self-shot video project

Right before the start of spring semester, I was charged with creating a short instructional film that succinctly explained our COVID safety guidelines to students. This was my first time doing a multi-scene film shoot where I was both the filmmaker and the one being filmed. I shot the entire video solo (although my son held my laptop as a teleprompter). I wanted to record (pun intended) and share what I learned.

The Final Project

Gear I Used

  • Camera: Sony A6000 mirrorless camera
    • Manual mode, Wide Metering, Custom white balance, Wide Focus
  • Lens: Sony 35 1.8 . Used to shoot the talking head shots
  • Lens: Sony 16-50 : Used to shoot a wider angle shot with me sitting in a study area (1:13), also me at the book pickup location (2:21)
  • Audio: Lavalier Mic plugged into my Android phone with Recording App
  • Tripod
  • Laptop: Used PowerPoint as a teleprompter
  • Video Editor: Hitfilm Express (free or very low cost)
    • This free video editor is a great tool. It allows you to automatically sync audio from two separate sources.

Gear that would have been nice to have

  • Lights
    • A few of the shots indoors would have benefited from video lighting, rather than just relying on the available light. Our 2nd floor of the library is quite poorly lit. Lights would have made it much easier to match exposure and white balance across all of the inside clips.
  • White balance card
    • I used a piece of white paper to set my custom white balance with each shot. I’ve since purchased a white balance card set.
  • An external monitor
    • Having an external monitor to frame, setup and review shots would have helped me identify areas to improve the shot.

What I learned

I learn something new with each project. Here’s what I picked up this time around.

Working with a short deadline

I was given the assignment on Monday, had a script and shot list ready by Tuesday, and filmed and edited on Wednesday. The video was posted to YouTube on Friday, which was my deadline for inclusion in a news story that would be emailed to all students in the campus newsletter. If I had more time, I would have returned to reshoot a few of the clips.

Shooting earlier

The outside shots at the beginning of the video were bit overexposed. I shot this sequence around 9:30, and this was actually the first sunny morning in many days. If I had filmed the outside shots closer to 7:30 or 8 while the sun was lower, or if it had been a bit more cloudy (as it had for the past week) the exposure would have been a bit easier to get right. In the spring or fall, the leaves from the nearby trees would have helped to diffuse the light as well.

A screenshot of a video frame of the author, shot outside, in front of the library.
The left side of my face is very bright. Shooting earlier while the sun was lower (or on a cloudy day) would have helped.

Correcting exposure

In addition to the outside shots described above, I was also not happy with the shot in the book stacks. I was facing a window, which was ideal, but the shot was still very much over exposed. The cause of this did not seem obvious at the time, but I realized when editing the video what I did wrong. When framing my shots, I had my son stand in for me to frame the shot and set exposure. He was wearing a very dark blue shirt. I wore a light blue shirt. Setting the exposure using him in the frame caused me to be overexposed during the actual recording. Next time we’ll wear similar colors, and I will shoot multiple takes.

I also set the camera light metering to “wide.” While this worked okay for most of my shots, the outside and book stacks shots were overexposed. Next time I will use center-weighted metering for the shots where I am in center of the frame.

The author, Chad, in a video clip that is overexposed
In this shot I was facing a window, which was ideal. Setting the metering to center-weighted would have helped me to not be overexposed. The white balance was also a bit orange in this clip as well.

Staying in focus

For the shot in front of the book self-pickup area (2:12) I used the Sony 16-50 kit lens as I needed a wider angle for the shot. Unfortunately, the lens decided to focus on the book shelves behind me and the sign to my left, resulting in me being a little fuzzy and out of focus. It’s not bad, but still noticeable. Next time I will set the focal point manually, though this is challenging to do when you are filming yourself.

The author, Chad, in a video clip that is slightly out of focus
In this frame, the books over my left shoulder are in focus. This resulted in both the sign and me being a bit fuzzy. Next time I will set the focal point manually.

The Final Take(away)

Unfortunately the video never made it into the all-student email newsletter. The video is posted on our “safe study” page on our website, and has been viewed about 70 times so far. Nevertheless, I learned from the project and got to practice my filmmaking skills. As a matter of fact, I applied what I learned just last week, where I had the opportunity to film a colleague. Learning from prior successes and failures helps to make future projects better. It’s also a lot easier to film someone else!

What can Instagram teach you about photography?

I've been posting pictures to Instagram for almost two years. Some photographers might think that Instagram isn't where “real” photographers would post as the pictures are generally lower resolution compressed files and/or the pictures are just camera phone selfies. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I have found Instagram to more than just a social network for posting pictures of food. As a budding hobbyist photographer, here is what I've learned from Instagram.

 

What you shoot isn't necessarily what you post

Filters can make you more creative. Not only do Instagram filters have the potential to make your pictures look better, but the practice of using filters can get you in the mindset of editing almost all of your pictures. Before using Instagram I really never took the time to do any sort of post processing. I now do some sort of editing to almost all of my pictures that I share.

Square format can help you with creativity

The square format of Instagram does limit how much you can squeeze into a picture. However, the square format can also force you to think more creatively about how you compose a picture. Likewise, the square format can also encourage you to be more creative in how you crop pictures before editing and posting.

Practice makes you better

The more pictures you take, the better you can get with photography. It's often said that the Best camera is the one you have with you, and a mobile phone is always with you. While most phones today take some great pictures, it's important to understand that you aren't going to get dslr quality with a phone. Be content with what you can capture while on the go with your phone, and do your best with the camera's limitations. Sometimes the picture is more about how you frame the subject and use available light than the size of the sensor. Even if the picture you capture won't be good enough of a poster-sized print, what you learn in the process of framing, capturing, and editing the picture on your phone can help you with your “real camera” photography skills.

Sharing helps you learn

Instagram makes it very easy to tag and share your pictures and connect with others on Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr. It is also incredibly easy to find and follow others on Instagram. Connecting and sharing with others is a great way to learn from others and develop your photography and editing skills. Getting feedback and recognition from others when they notice one of your best shots is very rewarding.

While Instagram makes it very tempting to share every picture you take, try not to over share. Rather, only post your good, unique, or interesting stuff. I've taken tons of pictures I just deleted because no matter how I edited them or used a filter, they weren't worthy. At the same time, an interesting or unique photo that tells a meaningful story doesn't necessarily have to be a work of art.

What have you learned from Instagram? Has being active on Instagram helped you learn to take better pictures?

 

Feel good moments via social media

The past two days I received two very nice compliments via social media.  Both of them made me feel especially valued and appreciated, even if the kind words came from people I have never met in person.  I’m posting them here for those days where things aren’t quite so rosy.

The first comment came out of the blue from another librarian on Twitter.  This really made my day, especially given  that I am submitting a few proposals to speak again at the Computers in Libraries conference next spring.

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The second comment came this morning from a random person on flickr.  I can only assume that he found my pictures via one of the flickr groups that I’ve been posting to lately.  I’ve become really interested in photography over the past year, and have been working to get better.  It’s always nice when someone “favorites” or “likes” your pictures, but this fellow went out of his way to give me a very kind remark.

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It really doesn’t take much to make somebody’s day better.  Simply giving someone a compliment can be a huge boost to their confidence and can make them happier.  I appreciate these two folks giving me a shout out, and now I’m very encouraged to pay it forward.

How to edit videos shot on your Android phone on your iPad

I have a foot in both camps. I have an Android phone, but I also have an iPad. I occasionally shoot video on my HTC Evo 3d, but video editing options on Android are pretty sparse (hence one of my reasons for choosing an iPad for a tablet). The problem is getting your video off of your Android and onto your iPad can be a bit of a bear, although it’s not impossible. It can take quite a few steps to get the two ecosystems to work together, but this post shows you how to move your videos from you Android phone in order to edit them on your iPad.

1. First, you need to shoot some videos with your Android phone. So go out and shoot, but make sure your videos don’t suck.

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