Anyone Edit Home Movies?

[NorthernWoods]

Anyone here make their own home videos and then edit them? I’ve been thinking of really getting into this myself. I’ve been looking at video cameras for quite awhile and so far have narrowed it down to a Canon. Kind of vague, but that’s as far as I am. I’m not sure what model I want yet but almost sure I want one with flash memory. Not sure if I want a HD one yet.

But I live a fairly exciting life and would like to save some of it for later years. I’ve come across some videos on YouTube and one that caught my attention the most was a hound hunt in West Virginia (sorry I can’t find it again). But they edited it in an old-fashioned, overexposed stop motion way that looked AWESOME! Kind of like the intro to Band Of Brother but better and quicker. Best I can describe it.

I would like to make some good videos of my job and post them up for all to see on YouTube. I could potentially be propelled into superstardom since there really aren’t any power lineman instructional videos! I’d like to get some instructional videos up; I know it would be a hit. That and I’d like to make some good hunting videos.

Share your experiences

[Harry Chickpea]

I once (a number of years ago) shot and edited video for a tv station. It is a lot of work and is really a skill. One location shoot we did ended up with nowhere near enough decent footage, and the package I put together was too short for the time slot, making the host have to ad-lib to fill up the dead air. Needless to say, even though I wasn't in charge of the shoot I lost the job because I couldn't do magic in the editing. Rightly so, and I could kick myself to this day for not sneaking in some extra footage or repeating a scene or two.

My advice to you is to start with a list of shots or script and shoot five times the amount of footage you think you'll need. You MIGHT end up with enough good stuff to make a video. It is fun, especially at first.

[Wisconsin Ann]

I don't know if you're looking for advice on video cameras or on how to do a specific type of editing...or how and what to shoot...but I can share what I learned in journalism school...shoot shoot shoot and then edit edit edit. meaning just what Harry said...shoot 3times the amount youthink you'll need, and then edit it down drastically.

Vary the camera angle to increase interest. Say you're shooting a dog trailing a scent....well, that can get pretty old after a few seconds. BUT if you start off watching the dog, then go down to ground level following the dog...then turn the camera INTO the dog (complete with the snuffling and movement sounds), then from the side.....nothing for longer than a few seconds...you're up to 20seconds and still have your audience.

A lot of people think that what they do is really exciting and others would enjoy watching it. A lot of people are wrong. Some are right...but more often than not it's just not that great to outsiders. Not saying YOUR life isn't interesting enough to film since I don't know you, but in general.

Also...keep it simple, make it fun. that gets people noticed. A quick clip with high energy. or a quick clip with great inspirational message of some sort seems to get you noticed.

[sirquack]

It is fun and easily done if you have the time. I bought a nice digital video camera and got a decent computer so I could do some editing of video for friends. I am pretty heavily involved in martial arts and we film our tournaments and fights. We then put together little snippets of fights and competitions that we post on youtube.
If you have time, it can get as complicated as you want. There are so many good quality programs out there to do editing with.