I did my first video on December 30, 2010, when I was testing my new webcam. Since that time it seems I’ve created 13 videos, 12 from the webcam and one from my smartphone. I can honestly say I’ve learned a few things and I think I’ve gotten better since that first one.
The 5 lessons I’ve learned aren’t major things probably, but I think each of them are first steps towards figuring out how people want to put their videos together. Of course I’ve tossed my own flair in because, after all, it’s me.
I’m also doing something a little different for me in that I’m putting this same video on two blogs at the same time. I figure that in general the audience for each is different, but the video will work well for both. The video is below this, but for those who don’t watch the video, here’s the list of my 5 lessons:
1. Video’s not so easy to do.
2. One has to consider their background.
3. One has to figure out the best lighting to highlight their face.
4. One should rehearse their presentation before just sitting down before a camera and going for it.
5. If your video has anything to do with business, mention your website, including the domain, and spell it if necessary.
And now, video!
Hi Mitch
Enjoyed the video. I always find it interesting to hear people’s accents as they usually aren’t anything like I imagine when I just read their blog lol
Good on you for launching into something new to add to your blog too. Not something I have contemplated for the moment.
Patricia Perth Australia
Thanks Pat. I don’t have an overall strategy for using video yet, but I have been experimenting with it and, hopefully, I’m getting better. At least I’ve gotten good enough to share things I’ve learned so far.
really nice video! Which software did you use for editing? It seems to be very professional. Did you shot it really with a webcam?
Cindy, I know nothing from editing, but I used the Logitech software to create it, since the webcam is from Logitech.
Good tips. I’d like to add: think if the message is useful to people. Lots and lots of random videos these days…
There certainly are Harry, and it seems that most of those random videos actually end up with more viewers than anything I’m going to see.
Video is something I just cant do. Ive done a couple, made me cringe so any videos I produce are presented by someone else.
That’s a shame Peter, but I know after doing it that it’s certainly not for everyone.
Happy New Year, Mitch! Your video was nice. I think you have learned making videos well 🙂 It’s always nice to hear a blogger’s voice because it engages the readers more. I’ve always wanted to make my own videos but most of the time I am overpowered by fear or shyness. I hope I can start making them this year 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Mae. I often wonder about this shyness thing. After all, if you’ve ever talked to a mirror or to yourself in your own home then making a video shouldn’t cause any of that type of fear. Now, if you had to get in front of a lot of people I might understand that more, since that’s pretty common. You could at least try it and watch them on your own computer, just to see what you think.
Thanks for your response, Mitch. Believe me, I really am that shy even in front of the mirror 🙂 I don’t know what has caused me to act this way but I’m trying my best to be more confident with myself.
Mae, sometimes you just have to go for it. After all, when you leave the house people are going to see you anyway.
I know. Thanks, Mitch 🙂
Hey Mitch. Not bad for the first video!! Very helpful tips as well. I just may venture into the video world myself.
Ellie
Thanks Ellie, but that’s certainly not my first video, but my 13th.
Creating a good video is time consuming process, you’ve pointed the right directions, Mitch. About background – even the colors matter as some colors combined with low contrast and lights in the room may lead to color dropping and flickering. About presentation and to be prepared, absolutely right, I don’t really think that there are many people that can record a video in one go without prepare everything first. A good idea is to include logo in the video, short intro and outro.
Right now YouTube, offer excellent statistics and this data can be very useful to determine important information about the audience which can also be used as a reference for the company blog or website.
Carl, Ileane has shown me some ways to check stats better on YouTube, which is really cool. As to the rest, I don’t have the knowledge to add any of that stuff you mentioned, nor probably the creativity to even figure out what I might want to add. The best I can offer is to make sure people can see your face if you’re going to make videos.
I believe that you can handle it, Mitch. For example about the logo or URL, you can create a png image and use free software like VirtualDub to add this image. Intro or outro, I am doing it with professional software, but I am sure that this also can be done with Powerpoint.
Carl, I don’t know how to create a PNG image; I don’t even know what that format is or where it comes from, though I’ve seen them here and there. I just don’t have that kind of vision; that’s why I write. lol
I guess you have heard about GIMP, this is open source free graphics editor. By functionality is coming very close to Photoshop, but it is free. I guess you don’t have much free time to play with it, however you are doing very good job with your videos. I am also one of your subscribers on Youtube.
Carl, I’ve heard of it, and I’ll give it a shot, but in general I’m not very creative with stuff like that.
Thank you very much for useful information. I have long run my channel on YouTube and never neglect the advice of others.
Thanks Ann; I wouldn’t think you could learn anything from me after such a long time.
Mitch,
From the eye of a journalist here’s what I saw about the video:
There was too much head room.
The position of the flag should’ve been farther right (from the viewer’s angle).
But there’s the thing: To the amateur eye, it doesn’t matter, though, because people are more concerned about CONTENT than where things are positioned in a video. And you provided VERY GOOD content!
Thanks Bev. Unfortunately, I’m stuck because of where my monitor and camera are. I don’t have a way of moving the camera elsewhere right now. One of these days I’ll have to purchase a different type of camera to be more mobile.
I have to agree with you! I think that at first if you don’t have quality video then the webcam is going to be ideal. You also have to film in a place to where it is silent since you don’t want any disturbing background noises.
Pat, I’ve seen videos where you hear noise in the background, and some work pretty well. The idea, of course, is to hope that stuff isn’t too distracting from what one is trying to do, which I’ve also seen happen. Overall, I think if someone’s going to do video that they should try to set things up the best they can.
Hey Mitch, I thought the video looked great, these webcams are getting much better in quality -you used to always be able to tell if someone was using a webcam or not.
Normally I do screencast videos because I don’t really want to be on the screen, but I’ve been considering doing one or two “real life” vids and seeing how they’re received.
You can probably record a nice looking intro and outro using Animoto.com. I wrote up an article on using it to create my “Stupid Clowns” book trailer. Ileane mentioned in the comments that she used it for intros for her videos. (I linked to that article in the website field, so clicking my name should take you to it)
I can make up logo png files for placement in the vid, but you’ll have to have some software that’s capable of overlaying the file on the video. I think Windows machines come with Windows Movie Maker right? I’m a Mac guy so I never used it but you should see if that program can do it.
Failing that you can always use the YouTube “Annotations” feature to drop in text (your website name or anything else pertinent) on top of the video at whatever time and place you want. I’ve used this feature to encourage click-through to my next video. You can make it clickable if it goes to another vid on YouTube, but I don’t think you can make it click off-site.
I’ve learned the hard way about rehearsing. I’ll try to make up a little outline and keep it on my desk as I talk. It’s pretty painful when you do a 15 minute video and you mess up in the end. Then you either have to be handy with editing or start over. Either way it becomes a real pain.
Anyway I think this is a good looking vid, you don’t sound exactly like I imagined but no one ever does lol…
Thanks John. Course, I’m going to have to read this comment over a few times because you gave me a lot to try to take in, and at 1:30 in the morning my mind isn’t having it. lol I also pulled up the page you talked about and will be checking that as well.
I learned back in the 70’s that we never hear ourselves as others do, so I don’t even worry about that part anymore. Just getting comfortable in general; always more important. I think it would be neat to hear your voice; gonna have to find your channel to check it out.
great video creation uploads! People will forget what you said. People will forget what you do. But people will never forget how you made them feel.
hi Mitch
thanks for the tips : )
one of the biggest problems i had was with the script
whenever i used to make a mistake i had to start over until i learned how to edit the video :))
Farouk, I never even thought about using a script, but I will list my topics in order so I make sure I get to everything. And I’ve only once had to start all over, that being when the phone rang just as I was close to finishing; another lesson learned. lol
Video creation is very interesting work to do, but my interest in it has been increased after interacting with the details you have provided. Thank for all.