1. Use the best camera you can.   Three-chip is better than single-chip.
2. Use the best format you can.  Quality from best downward DVCam, mini-DV, Digital 8, Hi8, Super VHS, regular VHS, and 8mm.
3. Use a tripod.  Shots must be steady to be edited.  If you must hold the camera, use the wide- angle position. (Instead of zooming, come in closer to your subject, and it will be more stable.)
4. Resist the urge to move the camera.  Instead, let the action occur within the viewfinder frame. An editor can use only a few pans and zooms, and they must be smooth to be usable.
5. Shoot in sequences a wide shot to establish scene, a medium shot in closer, then close-ups. Don’t be too shy to ask people to repeat their action so you can get a complete sequence.  Your editor will love you!
6. Count to 10.  Stay on each shot long enough for the editor to find the best part of it and to get in and out of it.  Let the shot roll a full 10 seconds.  Remember, tape is cheap.
7. Set the stage for your viewer.  Shoot “local color,” and always include natural sound to transport your viewer to the location.  Watch for markets, scenery, street scenes, and typical buildings.
8. Video is a close-up medium.  Therein lies emotion and TV’s power to motivate, to touch people. Expressive faces are the heartbeat of your video.  Capture character, moods, ethnic differences that would appeal to your audience or heighten their sense of reality.
9. Interviews.  Use close-ups and medium close-ups.  Allow only a little headroom; put the top of the head near the top of the frame.  Use a separate clip-on microphone for cleaner audio.  It’s critical for the words to be understood, so use headphones to help you listen for a problem.  If you have two audio channels, it helps to set one on automatic level control.
10. Keep your viewers in mind.  Develop a heart for where the impact is.  If something grabs you, it will probably grab your viewer, too.
11. WEAR HEADPHONES!!!  Turn OFF the DATE CODE stamp on your camera!

Have some more specific questions about video gathering in the field?

Please contact David Stembridge here!