Home Video Hints: Simple Steps for Camcorder Care

Jim Stinson
October 2001

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We tend to focus on objects in this column, things like cameras and microphones, lights and reflectors. Nothing wrong with that, of course, because without this stuff, we couldn't make videos.

But in wrangling our hardware, we sometimes forget that people are just as important. Probably more so--people like the colleagues we shoot with and the clients we shoot for; people, above all, like the subjects of our videos, the on-camera folks who animate our programs and make them interesting.

Trouble is, people are trickier to manage than dumb and patient hardware. A camcorder will take a lot of abuse without protest, and if you push it hard enough, you can break it; but you can't make it mad or hurt its feelings. If only people were that simple (and if only you could send malfunctioning units out for repair).

But they aren't (and you can't). Instead, people can be, well, difficult. For example:

• Nervous and preoccupied. The bride grows a bit testy when you try to pose her against a better background.
• Unsure of where your frame line is. Your volunteer boom operator keeps poking the mike into the shot.
• Nervous about making a commitment. Your client keeps postponing final approval of your script.

Since people are indispensable parts of the video production process, it might be helpful if they came with an instruction guide. They don't, of course, so here're a few tips for operating them successfully. Or, to adopt a kinder metaphor, herewith the care and feeding of talent, colleagues, and clients.

But before we examine specific production roles, let's take a quick look at people problems in general. Folks associated with your production can require TLC for many reasons, including:

• Ignorance of the medium. Though the bride wants, in a general way, to look good, she hasn't a clue that the blue sky behind her head will throw her into silhouette. And don't try to explain it to her; she's much too busy being a bride to listen.
• Lack of real interest. The volunteer mike boom operator's your spouse, and though willing to lend a hand, he's not motivated to pay much attention to his mike position.
• Conflicting agenda. Fearful that your training video may somehow put him at corporate risk, your middle-management client wants to dilute his responsibility. So every time you seek a final go-ahead, he wants to "just run it by Jack (or Jill, or Melvin) for their input."

Of course, there are dozens--maybe hundreds--of other situations that can cause difficulties. But no matter how varied the causes, you can cope with most people problems in the same basic way: by deploying empathy, consideration, communication and feedback.

Empathy means putting yourself in their shoes. If you can imagine what's going through a bride's mind on her wedding day, or if you can feel the bureaucrat's fear of losing his job, you're on your way to understanding why they're acting that way.

It helps, of course, if you show people that you understand by displaying consideration for them. "I know you have a million things on your mind," you say to the bride with a smile, "but if we take just one extra minute to get this right, you'll look twice as wonderful." The idea that you're on her wavelength may be even more effective than the blarney of your compliment.

In letting her know you understand, you're communicating, and good communication with other people is a cliché idea that everyone acknowledges but remarkably few people practice. The fourth time your mate lets the boom mike wander into the shot, you might ordinarily say something like, "Mike's in. Again." The trouble is, that tells him what's wrong, but not how to fix it. You'd communicate better if you said, perhaps, "I've got a medium shot now, so drop the mike just below waist-level." The difference may seem trivial, but multiply it by a hundred different instances during a shoot and you'll improve communication tremendously.

And what should you do when he does lower the mike? Give him some feedback. A simple "That's fine" lets him know that he has it right. When the bride consents to repositioning for a close-up, telling her "That's gorgeous" or something similar delivers the positive feedback that reassures her and makes her feel good.

Empathy, consideration, communication, feedback--all these concepts are old hat. But no matter how well you know them, it helps to remind yourself to practice them, especially when you're working under the pressure of a shoot.

With these general principles acknowledged, we can move on to dealing with people in the differing roles of client, crew and, to begin with, performer.

During one episode of the Muppet Show, Kermit the Frog yells "Cue the Pig!" and reaches new depths of insensitive directing. (Admittedly, the performer is Miss Piggy.)

Unless you work with professional actors--and even in industrial videos, we often don't--managing your performers can require extra sensitivity for several reasons. First, they don't understand the craft of video, so they don't know how to repeat action for different angles, how to stop on a mark that puts them at the right place in the frame or how to keep their hands quiet as they speak.

The trick is to remember that you must explain things like these to amateurs clearly, patiently and above all, in advance. It's bad psychology to wait for someone to do it wrong before showing them how to do it right. By anticipating and preventing their mistakes, you make your actors feel much more positive and confident.

And if they're camera-shy (as many people are), they'll need all the confidence they can get. To remove, or at least reduce, their videophobia, make your camera less obvious. Back off as far as practical (recording audio with a separate mike). Roll tape even during rehearsals, because some people perform better when they think they're not on camera. (If you can't disable the red record light on your camcorder, cover it with tape.)

Not all amateurs suffer camera fright; some are natural hams. But just because they're comfortable on camera doesn't mean they can act. So here are some techniques for obtaining more believable performances.

First, if possible, don't make amateurs act at all. Suppose you were to instruct the father of the bride, "Now when she enters the room, it's your first view of her in her wedding dress; so you get all choked up." Could he do it? Sure, if he was Gene Hackman. Otherwise, forget it!

Instead, you might ask the bride's mother, in advance, to go to him as the bride walks in and say something like, "What do you think of your daughter?" while you catch them in a close-up. That way, you'll have at least a chance to capture an industrial-strength fatherly choke-up.

The second technique is to simply have your performers do only what they actually do in life. The bride will be perfectly believable as a bride; the forklift operator will act quite natural while driving a forklift; the baker will be convincing when he bakes...you get the idea.

Finally, if you do need to stage a fictional situation, have your talent play themselves rather than attempt to create characters. (No matter what they tell you, this is what most professional film and TV actors really do.) If amateur Wilmer Fribble's playing a business executive, don't tell him, "Imagine you're as rich and eccentric as Howard Hughes." Wilmer can't imagine that, let alone play it.

Instead, say something like, "Conduct the meeting just the way you would in real life, Wilmer; only remember you have a plane to catch in 30 minutes." Aha! Now there's something Wilmer can imagine, because he actually has been late for planes.

Finally, with all talent, regardless of ability or comfort level, give them constant praise, even if you have to fake it ("You were doing just great, right up to the point where you fell into the ficus plant."). Something about acting breeds insecurity, so remember that there's no such thing as too much support and reassurance.

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