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by Bronwen Grady
July 1998

Tic-Tac-Toe
 Try this trick to aid in composing and framing your shots in the viewfinder. Cut a piece of clear plastic to fit over the viewfinder's glass face. Draw a tic-tac-toe grid on the plastic and tape it over the viewfinder. This serves as a guide to observe the famous "rule of thirds" that is always mentioned in articles concerning composition. As long as you're doctoring your viewfinder, this is a good time to blow off those pesky dust spots with a soft camelhair brush.

Bill Southworth
 Moorpark, California

Use What You've Got
Titling gives a polished look to any video, but not everyone has a titling feature on their camcorder. I found an easy solution by using a computer with a standard software application. Use a paint program to type characters of any size, style or font on a black background. Using a tripod, you aim your camcorder at the computer monitor to record a slick-looking title. Because of the scan rate difference between the camera and the monitor, there will be horizontal lines rolling through the picture. If your camera has still frame ability, you can freeze between bars, or just include the bars as a neat effect. With experience, these simple computer-generated titles can be creative and fun!

Michael J. Nasvadi
 Canal Fulton, Ohio

Shoot Your TV
For an exciting MTV effect, try playing some previously shot footage on a TV, then videotape the TV using pans, tilts and zooms. Add in-camera strobe, black & white and paint effects for an artsy look.

Robert Soltero
 Internet

Off the Wall
 When shooting video of people outside, keep your eyes open for large white objects to reflect light, such as large white walls. Just stand with your back against the wall and your subject facing you. The wall will act like a giant reflector lighting them. This will keep them from squinting--like they would facing the sun, and the sun behind them works as a backlight.

Bruce Hampton
 Madison, Wisconsin

It's in the Bag
I like outdoor shooting, but live in a rainy area. After waiting too many days for clear weather, I decided to figure out some way to protect my camcorder from water damage. Try this: get a large plastic freezer bag (freezer bags are thicker and tougher than sandwich bags, and can be found in sizes large enough to fit over most camcorders) and put your camcorder inside of it. Make sure the bag's opening is facing down, so you can get your hand inside to hold the camcorder. Make a small cut in the edge of the bag, just big enough for the lens to peek out of the plastic. Tape the bag to the side of the lens, and you have a raincoat for your camcorder. The bags are cheap enough to throw away when you're done, so keep a few in your camera bag--just in case. You can use the plastic to protect your camcorder from sand at the beach too.

Doug McConnell
Vancouver, British Columbia

Vacation Reflections
I like to travel, and I am often times shooting video out of the car. The biggest problem shooting this way is the sun reflecting off the dashboard onto the front window and messing up the shots. To counter this problem, take a piece of black cloth and cover the dashboard with it. The cloth eliminates the dashboard's reflection in your video.

Marty Wallace
 Patterson, New Jersey

Editing made Simple
 I've never seen it mentioned in magazines or instruction manuals, but most VCRs can do frame-accurate assemble editing with this trick. Record the first part of the source that you want to keep on the edit copy up to just past where you want to "cut." Stop the copy deck, then rewind it slightly and use Play in slow motion to come up with the last frame you want to keep. Hit Pause, and then Record. Without pushing stop and the recorder will hold on that frame but go into record mode. When the source recorder or program reaches the next part you want, release the copy unit's pause and you have a smooth edit into scene 2 on the copy. Try it, I didn't think exact frame editing could be done so easily, but it works.

Kenneth Clarke
 Jamesville, NY

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