Getting Started: Do You Copy?

If you're starting out in videomaking, chances are you've got a still camera. It may be anything from a point-and-shooter to a single lens reflex with all the trimmings. And where there's a camera, there are slides.

Or, more probably, prints: prints in envelopes, prints in albums, prints in folders, prints in drawers, prints in shoe boxes--so many shoe boxes that your closet would make Imelda Marcos proud. And you unpack all these prints and enjoy them on at least a weekly basis.

Suuuuure, you do.

So why not use your intriguing new camcorder to make these photos more accessible? Why not turn them into video shows? Doing this is surprisingly simple, low-tech and cheap; and it shouldn't take all that much time either.

The first step is to organize the pictures you'll be copying for your program.

When people look through a photo album they decide which pictures to look at and how long to study each one. If a photo doesn't interest them, they skip instantly to another. Moreover, they don't expect to find much organization beyond something like, Family Photos 1994-96. They're content to page backward and forward, pausing to study whatever might catch their eye.

A video program--any video program--is just the opposite:

• Viewers must look at everything presented to them, for as long as it sits on the screen (or else endure the constant annoyance of fast-forwarding).
• Viewers expect the program to be about something: to have a subject presented with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A video that just goes on and on gets mighty boring, mighty fast.

To create a program that works well on video, you need to start by organizing your photos. First, select a topic, perhaps by thinking up a title for your show: "A month at the Shore," "Fang: from Puppy to Pit Bull," "Lydia's Seven Birthdays," and "Adding the Bedroom Wing," are examples of titles that do your organizing for you. If you can't settle on a good title, your subject is probably too diffuse to make an interesting show.

With the title selected, prepare to insert it into your program. The easiest way is by finding a photo that includes it, such as family posed around a sign reading "Grand Canyon" or the like. If you don't have that, you can produce a simple title yourself, say, by printing large type from a word processor to a sheet of colored paper.

Now: edit, edit, edit, until you've selected your very best shots. If each photo will stay on screen an average of 7.5 seconds (as we'll see in a moment) then a ten minute show has room for only 80 images. Why not make a fifteen or 20 minute show? Trust me: for this first project, ten minutes is plenty for you to produce and for others to watch.

Next, put your photos in sequence. Many topics, like the ones suggested above, unfold over time, so they suggest a natural order from beginning to end. As you lay out your show, look for visual variety. Twelve successive panoramas of the Grand Canyon begin to look identical. Instead, try for a mix of long, medium, and close-range shots.

With your show title created and your photos selected and sequenced, you're ready to decide how you will put your show together.

Basically, you have two choices:

1. Create the program in the camera, shooting each photo in sequence, and for the exact length of its intended screen time. The advantage is that you can complete a whole show in an afternoon with a minimum of technicalities. The disadvantage is that you can't second-guess the amount of time allotted to each image.
2. Edit the camera footage, shooting extra footage of each photo so that you can determine its precise screen time when you copy it to the final tape. The pros are that you can group photos out of sequence for easier shooting (say, all horizontal pictures, then all vertical ones). You can also adjust the screen times for your photos to achieve the best effect. The cons: you're committing to considerable time and effort in post production to finish your show.

You'll also need to determine how to handle the sound track of your program. If you're editing in the camera, it will be fairly simple to lay down ad-lib narration as you record each photo. (Hint: for family subjects, get other members to add their comments.)

If you're editing in post production, your approach to audio depends on whether your hardware can dub picture and sound on separate passes:

• The "insert" function allows you to record a complete music track first, and then insert your visuals, timing each photo to the rhythms of the music.
• The "audio dub" function lets you edit your photos to length (or use the tape you timed in- camera) and then add narration, music, or even both in a second pass.

If you don't have dub and insert functions, you can still narrate your show as you copy each photo to the finished tape, but this stop-and-start method makes adding music impractical.

With your program loosely scripted and your production method determined, you're ready to move from pre-production to production, where the first task is to display your photos.

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