Wendy,

The Flip is a great tool and can function quite well for video bloggers and more. Like anything we put on the web, content is king and video content is no exception. In the case of the Flip, the limitations of the camera can be overcome by the quality of the content and relevancy to the audience. If you nail it on content and relevancy your video blogging experience will be a positive one. Now that all said, the art of visual storytelling is just that “an art,” and it is not to be minimized. So, when hiring a future Spielberg is not an option here are some tips I found and can share that will allow you to be the best Spielberg you can be with your Flip. These tips are geared to users of the Flip.

A few ideas to improve your videos when shooting with a Flip camera …

1. Keep the camera as steady as humanly possible. Always, always, always use a tripod. Really. Unless you really know what you’re doing, hand held shots that tilt from side to side pretty much never work. Lock it down and hold still. If you don’t have a tripod – get one they’re dirt cheap for these cameras! Okay, okay. If you’re sitting, rest your elbows on your knees and hold the camera in both hands. If not, find something to rest your elbows on. Concentrate on your breathing keeping it steady. Repeat in your head over and over, “steady, steady”. Stay relaxed. Don’t zoom in.
2. No zooming. Really. None. Get your shot where you want it, then hit record. If your subject is moving follow carefully keeping them in the “rule of thirds”.
3. Keep the rule of thirds rule: Think about the scene you’re looking at on the back of the camera and imagine it is divided into, well, thirds. Keeping the action to the left or right of center adds visual interest to your shot. If it is a person and they are talking or moving, give them space in the direction they are looking or moving. Are they looking left, make sure there is space in front of their face. Are they looking at the camera or looking both left and right, put them in the middle.
4. Video (television) is a close up medium. The closer you are to the subject the better. If you can, get physically close to them. If you have to, use the zoom on your camera to get close (then hit record). Just keep in mind, the more you zoom the shakier the video will be so if you’re zoomed in, that camera must be on a tripod.
5. If you do zoom in or out while you’re recording (please don’t, but if you must) do it excruciatingly slowly. Oh wait, you can’t control the zoom on the Flip camera so refer back to rule 2. Don’t do it more than once.
6. Get lots of different shots when you’re interviewing someone (adjust the camera between questions). Get close ups, medium shots, and wide shots. Make sure there is a big difference between each of those shots. There is a complicated thing that applies here too called the 180-degree rule. Google it, I never do a good job describing it.
7. Don’t shoot a subject in front of a window. You need experience and equipment to pull that off. Having said that, the more light you have the better. The Flip is not great in low light situations.
8. Control the sound in the room whenever possible. Eighty percent of the success of your video is in the sound – people will put up with rotten video, once the sound goes, your audience will bail quickly. FYI – the sound quality on a Flip is limited — only about as good as the sound on an average cell phone so controlling the sound in your shooting environment is even more critical.
9. Gets lots of shots of people doing things. It never ceases to amaze me how people will pose for a video camera and wait for a flash. I never know what to say. Got it, thanks? If you can catch them doing things they were talking about in the interview or at the event, that’s gold.
10. Hand the camera to a video editor. Okay, you can plug it into your computer and there is an editing program you can download from the camera to your computer but I’ve never used it. I bet though, that it’s pretty easy. Take the bad parts out, drop some music under and Shazam! You’re a producer!

Happy video blogging!

Dave
StoryFirst

What do you think the value is of some of the quick Flip video to capture a quick message for video blog posts. I will be starting to do this and perhaps there are some tips for this low tech area that can make it more successful that you could offer.

I would love to do better stuff, but like anyone else will be starting with low tech and try and prove its worth before doing some professionals behind the camera stuff. Your tips would be helpful to many who are trying to get the hang of video in the DIY realm.

Wendy Soucie
https://www.xeesm.com/wendysoucie