Improving your video shooting technique

No matter what type of camera you have, a large factor affecting the quality of your video is technique. Fortunately, there are a few simple things that you can keep in mind to improve the overall quality of your videos without having to worry about upgrading your camera or buying fancy accessories.

One thing that will help you no matter what kind of video you're shooting is to get lots of video. Always shoot more than you think you'll need and, if there's an important scene you want to get, do retakes. Having a number of options to choose between will allow you to create better videos once you're in the editing process.

Speaking of editing, you should always leave a few seconds of video before and after a scene. Even if the camera is focused still on something unimportant, these seconds allow you to create a smooth transition from one scene to the next. So when you start shooting leave a few seconds before you jump into the action and start moving about. Another good thing to do to help with video editing and transitions is to shoot b-roll. B-roll is a series of shots of less important subjects or other video that you can easily transition to between takes or to fill-in spots that didn't work out.

Another thing to keep in mind is that digital zoom is nowhere near as good as optical zoom, especially when it comes to video. With each level of digital zoom, the video you shoot will get more grainy and the quality will decrease. Optical zoom is a better option because it won't affect quality, but it will increase how much your camera will shake when moving from subject to subject. A better option is to simply move closer to your subject whenever possible, and to try and keep the camera as still as possible.

One last point is that some cameras, like the iPhone, can change orientation from portrait to landscape. It's important to note that the vast majority of these cameras can't as easily change orientations while they're actually shooting. That means that once you're shooting portrait, rotating the camera 90 degrees will only cause your subjects to look like they're sideways and won't actually change the orientation of the shoot.