Basic Suggestions for better video

[Video rookie]

We all post our videos and ask for suggestions, but if you are like me you don't really want to put down someone elses hard work, especially when you know you have lots to improve in your own (my own) videos.

But I though it might be good to post some our biggest pet peeves, and these are not to be aimed at anyone directly, so please lets not use any names (especially mine), so I'll start...

1. White balance. If you can't do it with your camera underwater, then at least try to fix it during editing. Not everything underwater is blue...

2. Move slowly and smoothly, I don't want to feel sea sick if I'm not on a boat.
I really like Macro, but I myself am having a hard time with it, especially keeping steady, so I have not posted any.

3. Get close, and then get closer, and try to avoid the "zoom" button.

4. Try to keep it short. Watch a movie or TV, and you will notice that most clips are only about 10 seconds long before they move to another camera. We don't have other camera angles, so maybe 15-20 on a clip might be OK, then move to something else. Of course this is just my thoughts, others will disagree.

 

[balls]

Good thread!

Agree with previous post. Plus..

1. Keep the "horizon" or water column in the background when able. I get tired of "looking down" at all the subjects.

2. I too am not happy with Macro. I think I'll insert my spouses beautiful stills where I want macro??

 

[lemon]

Agree on the White Balance comment, but I personally find a lot of underwater shots are too heavily red corrected. Purple water and pink surface shots. Some day (in the not too distant future) we will hopefully be shooting video in RAW file formats and underwater white balancing will be a thing of the past...

 

[ronscuba]

Good tips.

I like to shoot macro, but it's tough and if the conditions are not right for it, I don't bother. For me, I'll only shoot macro if I can set the camcorder down on the sand or a rock.

 

[Gombessa]

I am NOT a videographer, I just point my P&S at whatever is interesting and try to document the dive for me and my buddies.

But a couple of tips that have really helped my short vids be more tolerable:

1. Watermanship skills: being able to hover motionlessly, kick smoothly, and back kick, all while holding the camera, makes for the best steadycam possible, short of a tripod.

2. Keep the camera still and let your subject swim across the frame. Or if shooting a landscape, pan slowly and smoothly.

3. KEEP FILMING. I have more of a photography background, so I tend to frame, snap, move on. That doesn't work with filming, especially once you begin editing. A lot of times, I've wish I had a couple more seconds at the beginning or end of a clip to help sync music or pace or transitions. So now, I shoot a scene, and then try to count to 5 before I stop recording.

Total newbie observations I'm sure, but hopefully they'll be as helpful to someone else as they were to me!

 

[aquaspider]

Good points by all on this thread. I am a relative newcomer to u/w video with two years experience. I cannot honestly say I am happy with anything I have shot but some of my friends have not been so critical. I just bought a camera with a zoom function. The zoom really helps with small critters and scenes where you simply can't get close. Go ahead and zoom if it is the only way to get the shot, but in post editing cut the zoom in and start the scene zoomed. When you zoom out at the end of the clip, the viewer can get a better idea of scale and the surroundings.

Hanging motionless can be tough when there is current and/or surge. On coral reefs and protected areas where I usually shoot, you will be in trouble if you settle down on the coral or set up a tripod. I have not yet figured out how to compensate.

If your video looks really bad, please consider keeping it for yourself and not posting. I violated this rule in the begining because I was anxious to have something to show.

Edit, reedit, come back a few days later, and edit again. Have someone who will tell you the truth take a look at it and give feedback. Later you will be glad they did.

 

[Teamcasa]

Hold still. Shoot more. Take longer on every shot. Slow your pans down to "painfully". Don't zoom in on anything you can swim up to. Did I say hold still?

More importantly, have a buddy that understands and can appreciate just what you are doing. Instant buddies need to be talked to in detail before splash down. Did I say hold still?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Unless you are diving in unlimited vis and spot a school of Hammerheads or a Whaleshark, use lights. There are tons of blue tinted videos on the internet. I don't get to dive in vis of more than ten feet often, so I try to light up every subject to show its natural colors.
In still photography, one rule is to look up. That doesn't always work with most camcorders. Having a nice shot of a kelp canopy or baitball blown out by the sun gets the shot into the deleted file right away.
Holding the camera still applies to all shots. A nudibranch crawling over hydroids can be as exciting to watch as a shark approaching if done correctly.
When filming, think about how the shots will look on the final edit. Shoot a subject from several angles to get the multiple camera effect.
Fancy transitions such as wipes, rolls, explosions and such look OK on a vacations video for your friends and family, but if you want to make a pleasing video stick to dissolving between subjects or straight cuts between angles of the same subject. Watch a lot of movies and television shows and you will see how distracting any other transition will look.
Do not zoom in while recording. It is as distracting as camera movement. Frame your shot first, then hit the record button. Unless you have un underwater fluid head tripod, try not to pan.
Do not use a red filter unless you are shooting in clear water without lights. Shooting with a filter in visibility of less than 100 feet will often give you red tinted shots.
I like rock music as much as the next person, but it just doesn't go with underwater scenes. Find background music that either compliments the video or is hardly noticed. I use Pinnacle Studio 12 to edit my videos. You can generate music to match the length of your videos or individual shots. If you choose to use copyrighted music and post your video on YouTube, there is a chance the music will be removed or at the very least, an annoying popup will appear.
Don't overdo color correction in post production. A little goes a long way. There is nothing worse than seeing a beautiful woman wearing too much makeup. The same thing applies to images.
When shooting a scene underwater, stop recording about five seconds after you think you should. Most scenes should be 5-15 seconds long, so having a lot to work with is a bonus. Besides, the subject always does something cool right after you stop filming.
If you aren't in a position to set the camera down or brace it against a solid object, bend your elbows and shoot video in much the same way you would shoot a gun. Surge and current won't matter if you are moving the same as your subject. Don't try to fight the water movement. Keep your subject in the frame and let the water take you and the subject in the same direction.

 

[mrhulot]

I use a simple inexpensive housings without controls so have to rely on getting much closer for "zoom" and "macro".which is why I don't zoom or macro very often.

The tape is left running so to help editing I hold two fingers in front of the lens at the start of a planned clip and 4 at the end of a clip. Having to shoot a clip mentally helps the filming as I have to focus on taking clips instead of just letting the tape run.

In editing it is quick work to search for the hand cues as to where the shot was intended to start and finsh. It is good to practise editing film in camera. This takes work but will make you smile in the editing.
Try to predict the movement of sealife and film in front of its path while you follow. Vary your shots in angle, direction, duration,etc. use natural features in reefs etc. to frame shots or to put in foreground to create depth of field. Foreground is your friend.Use the light from above to silhouette objects passing above you. Use light any way you can, use reflections bounced off objects or in the mask of a dive buddy etc,
Shoot many short clips of a few seconds each unless the shot contains something very interesting. Have shots of the predive and after dive to create a beginning and end.
My favorite ending is still bubbles playing in the light ascending from below me or past me looking up in a silver cloud of bubbles.
Music, if done very very sparingly and matched to the action can make a little video into a work of art. There are numerous sites on the web now where you can get free music to add to your video. I have found some good royalty free music here at

incompetech


Don't forget movies record action, try to move the camera very little and film what is moving. If nothing is moving in your clip why didn't you just take a photo?
I always enjoy having people in the majority of my shots, no matter what is on screen adding a person or a part of a person in the frame tends to make the shot better.

Finally, sometimes people forget their housing needs to be monitored for leaks immediately after submerging and on a continous basis no matter how mnay times you have used it with no leaks, never take it for granted. Always discuss your video plan with your dive buddy. watch a lot of other video and steal their good ideas and learn from their bad ones.

All of this is subjective, make up your own rules.Have fun. You will end up capturing memories you will treasure more than most other things you own no matter how old you get.

regards,
Robb Moffett

NEMO HOUSINGS

 

[mobula]

Addition:

1) Work on the housing buoyancy to obtain steady shots
2) Use Manual focus
3) Don't save money when buying a wideangle lens