Marketing Starting your business is easy, it just costs money. Getting ‘business’ is the hard part and there is no right way to go about this. If you have taken the leap and decided this is the business you want to be in, then odds on you already have one or two (or even more) […]
So, what do you need to run your own video business? Like any business you need the tools of the trade. Here’s my start-up list: Tools of the trade Mid-range video camera and good quality tripod. You may already own a camera, but it needs to be able to shoot the sort of projects you […]
This is the first in a series of blogs about starting your own video production business, based on my experiences over the past 11 years. My hope is that you’ll find these posts helpful and that they’ll get you on your way to running your own successful and fulfilling business. So – where to start? […]
I love shooting video and for the last 11 years I have made a living through my video production business. Before that I worked in television and community organisations in Communications and media. Over the past 11 years I have shot videos ranging in length from less than one minute to half-hour television programs. You […]
Back in the ‘old days’ when you had finished editing the film you’d shot, it was stored in metal cans on a shelf. When videotape took over, the tapes were stored in large plastic cases. Whilst one of the proposed advantages of videotape was that it could be re-used, often it wasn’t because of the […]
After being behind a camera for over 15 years and directing and producing for another 15, one of the things I have learned to do is to visualise how I’ll shoot or direct a video, often before I’ve even seen the location. Whilst a good pre-production routine is to always visit the location before shooting, […]
Shooting sequences is the key to capturing editable footage. I’ve talked about this a number of times in previous posts and I have used this example before, but a number of readers have asked for a bit more detail, so I have broken it down into a series of stills. In some ways, that’s what […]
Shooting on location in developing countries is always a challenge for the videographer. You need to travel light and be able to adapt quickly to different environments and locations. Over the last 8 years I have made numerous trips to film aid projects in Asia and Africa in seven countries. Given that video is more […]
This is probably one of the most asked questions in the world of digital video. The answer is not always simple as it depends on the answers to a number of additional questions. 1. How will you show/use the video you shoot while you’re away when you get home? 2. What sort of video are you making, a […]
This post is the best place to start if you work overseas and have decided to shoot some video to send back to the home office for editing. What are you going to shoot? Work this out before you pick up the camera. Ask yourself, “what images best illustrate what you and your team do?” […]