In my day job I work as a TV Director making Reality and Factual Entertainment TV.

This gives me an instant focus to my work. Although I love shooting home video on my Flip it’s great when I film for work with a goal in mind: to shoot and shape hours of footage on a topic into a (hopefully) entertaining show for others to watch.

So you got your Flip for Christmas, and you’ve randomly filmed family activities, fun and games for the past few days! This type of footage is precious to keep for years to come as people grow older but it can easily get swamped amidst the thousands of clips you will shoot.

I find that more Produced films can really stick in the mind. So I recommend setting yourself a more defined project for the New Year.

This is what ‘Producing’ Video is all about: having a plan before you shoot. Here are just 4 examples of the type of projects I mean, but I am sure you have some of your own. Please add a comment or link to share your ideas.

1. Sit your Kid down in front of a plain background, think about the lighting (add some desk lights if you don’t have a lighting kit). Stick the Flip on a tripod or wedge it steady on a chair and interview your child. Plan a few questions in advance, name, age, favorite colour, favorite toy, what they want to be when they grow up? etc. You’ll get a really nice record of your child and it will be shot differently and more focussed than grabbed soundbites in the kitchen.

2. As above, but make a record of an elderly parent or relative. Old people love to tell stories from earlier life, you’ve probably heard them 20x but how great to record them for future generations.

3. Your House. Maybe 2010 is the year when the housing market picks up? Who knows, but it’s always great to make a film about your house so when you move you have a record of where you lived. You could even shoot one as part of the sales pitch if you are selling. You could simply walk around (slowly and steadily) and narrate the features of the house behind the camera. Even better shoot lots of cutaways of details and sweeping shots of the rooms and cut them in MTV Cribs style! Use fast motion in the edit to speed up slow bits as you walk between rooms.

4. Friends chat show. How often do we just grab the camera and shoot random chat with friends, but when you watch it back it seems all over the place. Next time you have gathered a few friends at home or in a Cafe, produce the conversation. What I mean is like any Chat Show Producer you need to introduce themes and topics and focus the talk around that. So for example, you could ask everyone to talk about the “The first time I met you I thought ….” or “The funniest time we ever had was …” You get the picture.

Do you like the designer Flip Mino pictured above? If you are in the US you can find it here.

So you got a Flip, join the gang! (If you haven’t then check out the best prices I’ve found on the right hand column.)

Seriously, I’ve enjoyed shooting with the Flip Video, I found it’s simplicity made me shoot more video than I did previously, it’s so effortless that filming family memories doesn’t seem to get in the way of the actual event itself. I don’t want to get so involved in the filming that I actually forget to experience the event for myself.

As I make TV for a living and shoot films at work I thought I’d offer 5 quick tips to getting the best out of your Flip Video Camera.

1. Keep it steady and fluid. As you cover your subject watch out for shake but also move steadily between your subjects, slowly and decisively. If you miss some dialogue don’t panic just keep the camera moving back and forth and you will pick up enough of your subjects to make the narrative and grammar of the scene work.

2. Hold shots longer than you imagine. One mistake people often make is not holding their shots long enough on the subject. The mind plays tricks, impatience sets in and you may think you have held the shot long enough. When you view back it can feel too short. Count to 10 in your head before reframing shots, especially those that need time to take in eg. buildings, details, text.

3. Prepare before you shoot. Before you start shooting think about how you can improve the location and where the best position is for you to be. For example, switch on room lights, get your back to the window so you are shooting with the light and not against it, position your subjects where you want them not where they want!

If they are spread out in all four corners of the room it’s hard to cover them. Put three on the sofa and one on a nearby armchair so you can pan between them. Although you want to capture the action naturally even documentary cameramen given a chance will reposition people if it doesn’t effect the content of the scene or completely stop the flow.

4. Prepare your questions. You might be planning to put questions to friends or family on camera. It helps if you can think about the questions in advance and jot them down. If you can keep things on track and on message it will make your video easy to watch and more succinct.

5. Don’t forget the audio. I have posted about Audio before on this site. It’s easy to get hooked up on the image and forget the sound. Try and get close into your subject to eliminate background sound. Turn off unnecessary and distracting noise like dishwashers, fans and TV sets. Unless you are making transport videos avoid filming near busy roads and railway lines!

Any questions please send me an email using the address on the right.