We got an early release of Motorola’s new Droid phone and took it for a quick test drive to see if it’s got what it takes to be a competitive camcorder.
Charlie Fulton, our Tech Guru had the chance to play with the phone and was surprisingly pleased with the quality of the video it recorded. The Droid can upload video directly to YouTube, so when you shoot it now, you can share it with the world in only seconds, a cool feature if you’re the first one to catch the return of Elvis from an extraterrestrial spaces-ship. Now that’s a video the world will want to engage in! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: android, cell phone, Droid, Google 2.0, iphone, mobile phone, Motorola, Motorola Droid, shooting
Posted in Apple, Online Video, Videomaker, shooting | No Comments »
Recently, Videomaker completed its first-ever Basic Production Techniques webinar and we couldn’t be more pleased with the turn-out. There were so many good questions, but, unfortunately, not enough time to answer them all. Here, at Videomaker, we value every question presented and aim to answer each one of them. One question we were unable to answer within the allotted time was regarding basic tips for composing, lighting, and shooting a talking-head corporate video.
Great composition is vital to any video production. Generally, you always want to observe the rule of thirds. If you divide your frame into three equal parts, both vertically and horizontally, you’ll end up with a basic guideline for good composition. The goal here is to place your subject, or points of interest, on one of the intersections within your imaginary grid. In the case of shooting a “talking-head,” you will want to place the subjects eyes on an intersection located in the upper-third of the grid. If you can’t fit your entire subject into the frame, be sure to crop the top of the head and not the chin.
Since corporate videos are pretty straightforward, you don’t need to create an extravagant lighting scheme. A basic 3-point lighting setup – a key light, fill light, and hair light – should do the trick.
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Tags: 3-Point Lighting, Composition, Corporate Video, Lighting, Rule of Thirds, shooting, Talking-Head, Unanswered Questions, video production, Videomaker, webinar, Youtube
Posted in shooting | 2 Comments »
We just got out of our Videomaker Lounge and conference room feeling the glow of our first webinar with our partnership with YouTube. We’ve watched webinars, but have never conducted one ourselves, so this was a new learning experience for us here at Videomaker. We feel everything went well, the only hitch was not enough time for the live Q&A session at the end of our seminar. But isn’t that always the case?!? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: audio techniques, Lighting, mics, shooting, training seminars, video produciton, Videomaker, webinar, Youtube
Posted in Camcorders, Editing, Lighting, Online Video, Producers, Videomaker, shooting | No Comments »
Don’t forget, sign-up for the joint event we’re producing with YouTube. We are going to give you some tips on shooting, lighting techniques, and the best way to record audio.
Tags: Add new tag, audio techniques, lighting techniques, shooting techniques, training, video training, Videomaker, Youtube
Posted in Audio Recording, Camcorders, Lighting, Online Video, Producers, Videomaker, shooting | No Comments »
Grab your camcorders and mics, (and maybe some zombie make-up!), and get ready to video-tape the first of what promises to be an annual event: the world’s largest “Thriller” dance!
In tribute to Michael Jackson, and because it’s good clean fun, someone started up the international Thriller dance-a-thon that is supposed to go on all over the world - at the same time.
A website, Thrill the World, was created just to organize this event, and you can find out there where the Thriller dance is going on in your neighborhood, or try to get one started… but hurry, the dance is happening this coming Saturday.
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Tags: Camcorders, line dancing, Michael Jackson, shooting, synchronized dancing, Thrill the World, Thriller, Twitter, Video, video sharing, video shooting, Videomaker, Youtube
Posted in Camcorders, Online Video, Producers, contests, music, shooting | No Comments »
How many times have you heard or uttered the phrase “The Show Must Go On!” in your video-producing world? It gets our blood pumping to know we can make the impossible possible.
This weekend we hosted one of our Basic Production workshops, and launched our newest class as well: our 3-day intensive Lighting Workshop. Everything was going well until about 11:15 in the morning when everything… raced… to… a… complete… halt.
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Tags: Lighting, teaching, Videomaker, workshop
Posted in Camcorders, Directing, Editing, Online Video, Producers, Videomaker, shooting | No Comments »
It’s finally October, my favorite month of all! It’s the time of year when the sun turns to gold, shadows stretch across all surfaces, and dry leaves begin their dance along the roadside. With Halloween just around the corner it’s the perfect time to get those cameras rolling and shoot some zombies.
White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi, marked the emergence of our interest in the living-dead and their insatiable hunger for the living. With Zombieland currently at the top of the box office, and grossing $25 million in its first weekend, there’s sure to be an onslaught of zombie movies in the days to come. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bela Lugosi, Blood Effects, Box Office, Bwains, Fido, Halloween, Horror, Movie Making, movies, Scary, Shaun of the Dead, White Zombie, Zombie, Zombieland, Zombies
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Hard to believe, but we just shipped the December issue off to the printers. This has been a busy week at Videomaker Headquarters, we’re also getting ready for another terrific workshop this weekend.
We’ve been getting all the gear together for the two upcoming workshops: Basic Production and Intensive Lighting. It’s going to be another full house at VMHQ!
We have a nice collection of HD cameras and Lights, tripods and other accessories to teach with, and have been teaching the Basic Production Class for several years. It’s usually a great success. Having the chance to meet and greet other video enthusiasts and spend the weekend working on a video project is great fun. 
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Tags: Basic Production Workshop, Camcorder, Editing, Intensive Lighting Workshop, Video, Videomaker, workshop
Posted in Lighting, Videomaker, shooting | No Comments »
Schneider Optics is now offering their well known and liked diffusion filters in easy to install round sizes. Read on for more details.
Schneider Optic’s renowned Classic Soft®, HD Classic Soft®, Black Frost™, and Hollywood Black Magic diffusion filters are now available in popular round sizes specifically for today’s leading SLR, digital SLR and DV cameras.
A favorite tool of Hollywood cinematographers thanks to their ability to “hide the trick,” Schneider precision optical glass diffusion filters are routinely requested by top talent who appreciate looking their best. And getting the image right in-camera also means big savings over costly, time-consuming post-editing. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Camcorder, camera, diffusion, DSLR, Filters, Schneider Optics, video sharing, Videomaker
Posted in Camcorders, shooting | No Comments »
Part of my duty as Technical Editor here is wrangling the annual Best Products of the Year. Basically, any product that has passed through our doors is fair game, but the products must do what they do very well. It can get sticky from year to year and from category to category, but we always make it happen.
Nine of our 16-or-so categories have been chosen (no, I’m not telling you which ones.) In a break from years past, we are running the Best Products of the Year in the January issue this year. So think of it as a second holiday gift guide, if you will–we start with the camcorder buyer’s guide in December, and the Best Products story in January, combined with our first-ever pocket camcorder buyer’s guide (you know, those little cams that look like cell phones? Yeah, those. Generally speaking, the ones with fixed focus and no optical zoom that otherwise wouldn’t qualify to run in the full buyer’s guide.)
Anyway–back to writing copy. But we hope you enjoyed that little preview of what’s coming up. Stick with us in ‘10… we think you’ll like what you see. (And if you need to renew, give our friendly customer service reps a buzz at 1-800-284-3226!)
Tags: best products of the year, bpoty, preview, renew
Posted in Opinion, Videomaker, shooting, software | No Comments »
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