Last week , as part of our Macworld 2011 reporting , we put together a series of video highlighting unique and interesting intersection on the show base . ( you’re able to see some of the fruits of these parturiency in the Macworld Video provender . ) Though the tools for shooting and redaction have gotten better in the last few days , it persist a challenge to reckon out how to put these pieces together on the fly ball — so many things can ( and will ) go wrong .
With the right equipment and planning , however , you could leave the stress of the event behind , and focus on the show itself . Here are a few tip we ’ve found that work ( and some that do n’t ) when shooting video on a show floor — or in any fast - pace crowded environment .
Plan ahead
As someone who often shine dupe to cunctation , I ca n’t emphasize this enough . When you ’re heading into any kind of high - stress environment , it ’s always adept to have a plan go in . Without it , you ’ll pass more sentence worrying and delaying your shoot than actually producing content .
Macworld editor program Serenity Caldwell and Heather Kelly , heavily at study , as take in through the oculus of the gargantuan iPhone 4 roaming the floor .
Crew and equipment : The first thing you ’ll require to forecast out ahead of metre is your workflow . How many thing do you desire to film in a day ? What equipment are you using ? Do you have a gang , or is this a one - individual amour ? How do you want to arrange your remainder product ? It ’s implausibly important to have — at the very least — an oral plan for all these factors , if not one that ’s write down .
Macworld editors Serenity Caldwell and Heather Kelly, hard at work, as seen through the eyes of the giant iPhone 4 roaming the floor.
Crew , format , and equipment are the liberal questions you ’ll need to conciliate ahead of time , as they order what your needs will be . For representative , if it ’s just you man the tv camera , you plausibly wo n’t be able to do any sort of on - television camera work yourself without a tripod ( or a willing stranger)—neither of which I ’d recommend using on a show floor . If you ’re working with a crew of two or more , then you ’re able to have more flexibleness in what you fritter away .
see a format : After you ’ve figured out your crew needs , you ’ll want to pass with flying colors down your format as soon as possible . If you ’re spud newsworthiness , it ’s usually adept to have a stock open and faithful to your videos , for uniformness . On - the - floor broadcasts are often chaotic , and without any sort of launching , your viewer may not understand what ’s going on . ( Look no further than some of the videos bring out every year at deal shows like CES for an representative of this . ) Even if it ’s just a simple voiceover where you say , “ Hi , my name ’s Serenity , and I ’m here to see [ this product ] , ” you ’ll be do it clear to your audience what they ’re looking at . think back : even if it palpate like you postulate to rush — and it will — it ’s always good to take the superfluous five minutes and increase output quality . You ca n’t split a story if your spectator does n’t have it off what you ’re showing them .
On that note , if you ’re coordinating multiple groups who are buy the farm to be filming simultaneously , and you desire the eventual video yield to look similar , verify everyone ’s using alike equipment and has been briefed on right piece structure . You ca n’t be everywhere at once on the floor — do your homework ahead of time so you do n’t need to be .
Serenity Caldwell edits video in the media room after a day of shooting on the show floor.
Workflow is key
Serenity Caldwell edit video recording in the media way after a day of pip on the show floor .
When consider format , you ’ll also want to view your workflow and equipment . When we shot at Macworld 2011 this year , I was lucky enough to have a cameraman and an editing studio apartment off - land site for some of our spots . We settle to film our coverage two ways : for foresightful , more in - profundity spots , we used his gear — an HD camcorder , lavalier mic , and camera rig — while for our short , 30 2nd magazine , I had another crowd appendage — intrepidMacworldintern Stephanie Kent — wielding an iPhone 4 .
Our appendage go as follows : the cameraman and I would fritter away for three hours in the morning , then he would return to the position and put these more - produce clips together while I continued to scour the floor for fabric and pip those unretentive spots . For post - yield , we had two freestanding piece of work - stations going : I had an iPhone and my MacBook Air to bring on speedy bout - around pieces on the scene , while he was put the more - produce segments together in his studio off - land site .
Shoot in portrait mode, and expect black bars on either side of your final footage.
While it ’s prissy to have someone take on care of post - production off - site , chance are you ’ll rarely get this chance when covering a show . More likely , you ’ll be carrying all gear on the show floor , then run up to a bare room — or , if you ’re favourable , a mechanical press place — to put everything together . Therefore , when you ’re make up one’s mind how to shoot your coverage , keep these suggestions in mind :
Pack light : Sure , a spot filmed with a HD prosumer camcorder and read with an external boom mike will look and sound great , but unless you have a decently - sized crew willing to carry equipment , you ’ll be weighed down and miserable by hour three . On top of that , the more complicated your train , the longer your post - production process will take ( and the larger your file size will be ) .
contrive around three thing : your gang size , carrying capability , and final product goal . If you have a small gang and you ’re going to require to lug around your redaction studio , keep your equipment light and simple . In the last few years , diminished HD camcorders , video - adequate to DSLRs , and smartphones have undergone a spectacular growth in image quality ; if you ’re just looking to shoot 15 - second spots , you may well trade the little dip in caliber for the convenience .
Editing a spot on Ten One Design’s Fling Controller using iMovie ’11’s Single-Row View.
Sound is the most of import matter : In my experience , viewers will put up with profligate picture timber ( thanks in no small part to YouTube ) , but they wo n’t put up with inaudible phone . To make certain you do n’t descend dupe to this trap , remember these two things : craft shows arenoisy , and most portable camcorders have very miserable microphones . We ab initio tripped up on this when shooting our first video by holding our iPhone 4 too far from the person talk ; as a result , we had to memorialise a freestanding voiceover to be lay in during post - yield , which delayed the segment and ask an additional hour or so of audio rejiggering . While we stave off any further audio mishaps by holding the camera closer to the guinea pig , the next time I make with an iPhone or Flip camera , I ’m investing in an external microphone or mic arranger .
Shoot in portrayal mood , and expect black prevention on either side of your last footage .
Vertical video recording is vertigo - stimulate : When you ’re shooting on any portable camcorder or camera earphone , your first instinct is to shoot in portrait ( or vertical ) mode . It ’s how we harbour our phones on a casual fundament , after all . Unfortunately , magniloquent - sieve video recording has yet to be accept as a valid YouTube embed shape , so unless you prefer your video small and surrounded by black BAR , you ’ll probably want to flip that camera into landscape orientation .
Make a playscript : In an idealistic world , you ’ll have metre to get a line about the products or events you ’ll be film before heading out onto the floor . unluckily , more often than not , you ’ll end up have to think ( and be briefed ) on your feet . Even if you do n’t be intimate anything about the product or the field , you could keep muck up takes to a minimum by creating a introductory “ fill in the blanks ” script to cohere to . When covering products , for instance , make a listing of what you want to cite in the video — name , feature article , ship day of the month , and price — and create a basic template incorporate all of these . One of the structures we used read something like this : “ We ’re looking at the [ product name ] , available at [ booth name / companionship ] . The [ intersection name ] has [ x , y , z feature ] . It ’s available [ when ? ] from [ where ? ] . you could hear more entropy [ where ? ] . ”
If you ’re live on to be utter on - tv camera about a product or flying field you are n’t familiar with , do n’t be afraid to take head from PR representatives or employee on - bridge player . It ’s their Book of Job to recognize about these matter — apply their noesis to your reward . If it ’s a intersection that ’s technically complex , make a written tilt , and phonograph record insurance coverage of the Cartesian product while you bring home the bacon a voice - over . Do n’t be afraid to discover the information up into multiple takings if you ca n’t get it out all at once ; it ’s loose to stitch together brusk tenacious clips than to try and compensate for one long error - filled take .
Keep post - production simple : bed ahead of fourth dimension what data format you ’re last to require to carry your videos in , and set up your computer accordingly . For our short iPhone video , we wanted to focus on fast - hit piece that call for just a few ill-tempered - dissolve clip stitches , so I ended up creating a projection template in iMovie ’ 11 . We initially debated the merits of using iMovie for the iPhone , but eventually make up one’s mind against it , as we needed finer audio frequency controls than those available within the app . Additionally , our videos needed to be in a variety of formats for uploading to our Website ; as such , it made more sense to do our post - output on the figurer . Were we simply uploading to YouTube with no concern about sound , the app would have been a better fit .
blue-pencil a billet on Ten One Design ’s Fling Controller using iMovie ’ 11 ’s Single - Row View .
Our unconscious process went as follow for the short pieces : pip what we could on the show floor with the iPhone , then head on up to the exposition mass medium lounge with a MacBook Air to upload and delete the video with iMovie . The Air — Apple ’s 11 - column inch “ ultimate ” fashion model — proved more than competent for this variety of workplace , and kept my shoulder joint detached of pain that my 15 - inch MacBook Pro would most certainly have inflicted . If we were editing longer videos , the information processing system might have slowed down during the transcoding procedure , but by focusing on creating little cartridge holder , we avoided this problem . Once the editing process was complete , we encoded the video and drop it on our server , where our ace aged Web producer Curt Poff made trusted it got upload to our Website .
Obviously , your editing workflow will vary wildly depend on the berth , but training and procession planning can keep you organise and in control . Even if you ’re stuck being a one - person post - production automobile , you’re able to make the secure of it by solidifying your process too soon on and keep it as basic as possible .
Don’t stress out
Shooting in a alive video environs is excruciating . When you ’re out on a show floor with a tv camera gang — or even just your iPhone and a microphone — you have to be present and “ on ” constantly . People will gawk at you like they do the Cartesian product . You ’ll have to cover with wading through crowds to talk to a example or get that consummate shot . That said , it ’s important to remember that live filming is a marathon , not a dash — you do n’t have to let yourself get overwhelmed . Take breaks , salute water , and — while it sound like a silly thing to put on a reminder list — ensure you eat ; otherwise , you ’ll notice yourself light - headed and lose Christian Bible . In the end , despite the frustration and the stress , if you remain patient and conciliatory , you could expect to have a great meter making great videos .
[ Serenity Caldwell is a faculty editor at Macworld . ]
