Home Video Hints: Video for the Ho-Ho-Holidays

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We have some tips and ideas to improve your inevitable assortment of holiday video clips.In a particularly humbling photogenic moment, this suave and graceful columnist, along with his freshly-cut Christmas tree, fell down the side of a hill as wife Sue rolled tape. However deflating this was to my dignity, the resulting video sequence provided comic relief from a holiday show that threatened to bog down in endless loops of opening presents.

The truth is, most holiday programs could use some sprucing up (so to speak), so that's today's agenda. For simplicity, we'll draw examples from the secular side of Christmas, though of course, December celebrations come in many flavors and Thanksgiving's a major event as well. In line with the Home Video Hints unofficial motto, "Low-tech, low-cost, low-sweat," here's an easy check list of tips for achieving better festive videos however you celebrate the season. The handy tips: 1) set the stage, 2) decorate with audio, 3) shoot long, 4) zoom short, 5) get cutaways, 6) be prepared 7) get different angles from each setup, 8) defeat bad lighting.

Set the Stage
To set a mood on the upcoming grab bag of festive shots, start your show with footage that establishes your holiday theme. A montage of Christmas cards, a moving shot of neighborhood houses ablaze with outside lights or an empty floor space that slowly fills with a pyramid of gifts. Don't worry if the concept's hokey; the season has a hallowed, built-in corniness, and we love it …