6 Tips for Making Home Movies Look Great

Home movies are family treasures, as they capture important moments that can always be treasured. By following the simple tips below, you will end up with a home video that looks like a professional created it.

1. Familiarize Yourself with Your Camcorder

The simplest and first step to creating a great home movie is to familiarize yourself with the features and settings of your video camcorder. By understanding these, you will be able to maximize the features of your camcorder. It is also important that you are comfortable with the operation and controls in the camcorder before you start shooting.

2. Create a Plan

Although most home movies are much better if done spontaneously, you can still create some sort of a plan while shooting the video. Think of what shots you will shoot next or the story line for your movie. By creating a plan, your home video will end up being more entertaining and more coherent. However, if you already have an idea that you will be using your camcorder, then a plan will help you shoot scenes appropriately. You can list the scenes or events that you want to shoot. For example, for a birthday party, you can include the arrival of guests, the guests greeting the celebrant, the cake, the opening of gifts and other moments that you think will make the video more entertaining.

3. Use a Tripod

If you have a tripod, use it. A tripod is great for shots where the action is happening in one place. Set up your tripod in a location that will capture most of the area. The tripod is also a helpful tool to allow you to rest from moving around while holding the camcorder. This can also help minimize the shaking and moving of the camcorder. Nobody wants to watch a home movie that looks like an earthquake movie!

4. Always Hold a Shot

Although there are so many events or moments that you want to capture, it is important that you hold a shot for at least 10 seconds before you move to you next shot. This will help you greatly when you edit your video. Also, when you hold your shot for a certain period of time, you might be able to capture a moment that you might have missed if you suddenly moved to another shot.

5. Shoot an Establishing Shot

An establishing shot is the shot of the location where the event will take place. This is a great way to open your home video. An establishing shot will also set the tone of the movie, allowing others to identify where the event or party was shot.

6. Use All Types of Angle Shots

There are generally 4 types of shots you can use: wide, close-up, extreme close-up and medium. Try to use all of these shots to help create variety in your shots. You can use extreme close-up shots where a person is speaking and wide shots to capture the location or the crowd.