Producing online video offers a lot of possibilities for creative visual storytelling – even for news items. But if you’re just starting out, honing your basic camera and editing skills and being able to produce simple formats competently will help you to take the next steps.

So far in our Getting started with video for the web series we’ve introduced you to some standard video equipment and accessories as well as discussed how to produce simple video clips and interviews.

In our final post we’ll take a look at producing short reporter dispatches and get you started with shooting simple video sequences.

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In our first post on Getting started with video for the web, we looked at some of the basic equipment for video production you would need to think about using; important considerations for filming such as lighting and audio; as well as some of the essential skills to practice before hitting the record button.

 

Remember, your camera is a tool for telling stories and no camera is perfect for every situation you’ll encounter. Importantly, try to become familiar with the operation of your camera.

– Know how to operate the focus controls
– Know how to manually adjust the main exposure settings of  S-I-N-G: shutter speed, iris, neutral density and gain;
– Know how to adjust audio settings
– Know under what conditions your camera produces its best images
– Know the limitations of your camera: this will help your planning and workflow

Really, what it comes down to is practice. Video for the web offers you the chance to use almost any camcorder. But no matter what camera you have, you need to start clocking up the hours of using it under a variety of conditions. Practice. When you are comfortable and confident in using your video camera you can concentrate more on your story.

In this post, while you’re still practicing with your camera and equipment, we’ll introduce some basic video for the web formats that will hopefully offer some ideas that you could apply or adapt to your online stories and newsroom workflow.

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