There's a great deal of truth in the saying: "You never get a second chance to make a good first impression", and this applies particularly to the first scene of your video.
In order to enhance the value of your product, it's important the introductions to your videos and dvds are filmed against a professional looking background. A carefully thought out movie "set" gives that professional look. It's also important you maintain continuity between one video and another - particularly if you are creating a series of videos around a single theme.
One way to achieve this continuity is to leave the set area untouched and unused ("locked down") between sessions.
However, it's not normally practical to maintain a "locked down" set, so you need a way of being able to reproduce the same set, whenever you need to tape a new introduction.
The way to do this is to:
Design a universal set:
This will be a set that will look good and relevant no matter what type of dvd you are taping. So consider carefully the whole range of subjects you intend cover. Therefore, if you are only covering computer based subjects, a computer screen might be a standard feature of your set. However, if you are planning to cast your net wider, you might settle for a fairly plain background, with perhaps just a pot plant to one side.Avoid distractions, such as pictures, or shelves of books and dvds behind you.
Test your set: The way you will see the set will be different to the way the camera views it, So dress the set – and yourself – and then tape a short sequence.
Then carefully review the tape, either by loading it into your editing software or playing through a full sized TV - most digital movie cameras allow playback of the tape this way. This will highlight any problems, not readily apparent on the tiny camera monitor. Examine this footage carefully to make sure there's nothing in the shot you don't want to be seen.
Locking down the set: Once you are happy with every aspect of your set, make a careful record of every aspect. This includes the position of the lighting and camera – including photographs, as well as converting your final test "take" to a still photograph, so you can include this in your records. If possible, stick squares of Duck Tape on the floor and other surfaces so you can easily re-position the camera tripod, lights and the items on the set, later.
Copyright © 2008 InternetMarketingMagician.com and Paul Hooper-Kelly
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