What’s Your Video Style? Take this quiz for fun and see what style of video best suits your personality. Agree or disagree with your results? Tell us why below!

1) What’s your Favorite thing about putting together a video?

A) I like working in a nice quiet studio, where I can devote all my attention to my work.

B) I like working with video tools and equipment. I’m a real hardware fanatic!

C) I like working with people. They fascinate me!

D) I like creating an ambiance, something that will really draw the audience into the movie!

E) I like the action. I’m not happy unless I’m in the center of the storm!

F) I like the chance to be creative, to experiment with new ideas!

2) What’s the most important thing you look for when you watch a video?

A) I look to see how well it’s technically put together. I appreciate good craftsmanship.

B) It has to look good! People aren’t going to watch it if it looks like it was made by amateurs.

C) I like a good story, something to really make me care about the people on the screen.

D) A good soundtrack! A movie is boring if it doesn’t have a some tunes!

E) I want to see real people in real situations! I want to see how things really happened.

F) Did it teach me something new? I always want to add to my knowledge!

3) If you could pick anyplace in the world to shoot a video, would you choose to shoot:

A) The Great Barrier Reef in Australia?

B) The Roman Catacombs in Italy?

C) The Great Pyramids of Egypt?

D) The Oktoberfest Celebration in Germany?

E) The Running of the Bulls in Spain?
F) Bodie Ghost Town in California?

4) How would you describe yourself?

A) Meticulous and Logical!

B) Dark and Mysterious!

C) An Avid Story-teller!

D) Epic, Bigger than Life!

E) A Romantic at Heart!
F) Curious and Restless!

5) What’s your Biggest Reward in Making Video?

A) The Satisfaction of a Job Well Done.

B) The Appreciation of an Audience

C) Making a difference in the way people see the world.

D) The Chance to do Something Challenging and Creative

E) Seeing People’s Faces when they see themselves in your video

F) Seeing your Work on the Big Screen.

If you answered mostly A, you are an EDITOR. Shooting video is fun, but you have a real appreciation for the craft and artistry that comes afterward. You know that every snip and splice has the potential to make a story come to life, and there’s nothing you like better than turning that raw footage into something compelling.

If you answered mostly B, you are a LIGHTING FANATIC. You know that a video isn’t worth anything if you can’t tell what’s going on in it. Your standards for lighting are strict and your videos benefit from your attention to detail. Whether it’s creating a noir atmosphere with shadows or illuminating an interview subject, you know that lighting is key to interesting, engrossing videos. You’re always up to meet the challenges that other videographers forget to prepare for.

If you answered mostly C, you are a DOCUMENTARIAN. You love story telling and you can find the story in anything. Whether it’s something as small and silly as a nature film about salamanders or as heart-felt and personal as a family biography, you’re aces at finding those telling moments that illustrate the big picture. You love exploring human drama and you’re not shy about capturing the best – and worst– with your camera.

If you answered mostly D, you are a SOUND FANATIC. You’re the person people turn to when they need to capture the soft sounds of birdsong or muffle out the interrupting din from the nearby highway, because you understand how important sound is. When you do your job right, the results are practically invisible. Audiences may not realize why they like your videos, that your perfectly-synced sound effects and carefully selected music are what’s pulling them in, but you know the secret. You’re always up to meet the challenges that other videographers forget to prepare for.

If you answered mostly E, you are an EVENT VIDEOGRAPHER. You’re a daredevil; you like being right in the middle of the action. You don’t shirk from a challenge and you’re not afraid to take on assignments where you only have one shot to get it right – weddings, celebrations, speeches, anything where there’s a vortex of activity, you’ll be there with your camera in hand. Action is your watchword!

If you answered mostly F, you are a JACK OF ALL TRADES. You’re always exploring, always searching for something new. You never accept that you’ve learned enough, and you’re always striving to improve your video-making skills. Your creativity and inquisitiveness show through in your videos, which are continuously changing and maturing.

For tips and tricks with all sorts of video, join Videomaker‘s  eNews electronic newsletter, chock full of the info and advice you crave, it’s just what you need to satisfy that nagging curiosity.

Who says a professional camera can’t fit in your hand?

Sony’s HXR-NX30U is a new image shattering camera that takes professional features and contains them in a compact, versatile form. Our critieria for dividing professional from consumer cameras include image sensor size, outputs, and whether or not it has XLR inputs. This camera exceeds these marks with a large 1/2.88-inch Exmor R CMOS sensor, HDMI mini out, and two detachable XLR inputs.

Now cram in two more features that could represent entire pieces of equipment – a camera stabilizer and monitor. We liked how effective the Balanced Optical SteadyShot was at CES 2012, so when added to a handheld pro camera, it makes a lot of sense. Now, you can get as big an LCD screen as you want, it won’t beat 100 inches as projected onto a flat surface (at 16 feet.) The Carl Zeiss lens cuts down on rolling shutter artifacts while the range of frame rates are 60p,  60i, 30p, and 24p all at HD quality.

Recording AVCHD with 96GB internal memory should make the job enjoyable as will the versatility of using either SD or Memory Stick cards. The detachable XLR inputs are really a feature to behold as you’ll be able to capture high quality sound and have one of the biggest defining factors that separate videos. There is also an option for Linear PCM audio recording. A nice touch is being able to really control the time code as well.

Now, what will your clients think when you pull this camera out of your bag – remember, you can also use your highest quality mics too. You may need to project the confidence that comes with having your stabilizer and projector combined in one device, it probably won’t hurt to be able to show them some sample footage with camera movement and presented via the projector.

The HXR-NX30U is planned to be available in June for a suggested list price of less than $2,500.

How to Make a Viral Video? Make a Cute Cat Video

Having a successful YouTube viral video is the dream of nearly every person who hits the upload button, but the fact of the matter is you might have a better chance of getting hit by the proverbial lightening bolt than having a successful viral video. (Remind me to tell you my lightening bolt story later.)

According to Most Watched Today, viral cat videos are one of the biggest group of videos people watch and share, as this “Catvertising“  commercial spoof tries to illustrate – as well as Kittywood, a spoof on a Hollywood-type production company that only makes cat videos.

Viral videos today are what catchy jingles and slogans were pre-internet. Remember “Where’s the Beef”? How about “Got Milk?” or “Don’t Leave Home Without It”. These particular slogans were so popular that they took on a life of their own and are still parodied today. Read the rest of this entry »

You know why filmmakers and videographers always say “We’ll fix it in post“? Because there are some problems that you can’t avoid no matter how many years of experience you have behind the camera.

You probably met these unwelcome guests the first time that you shot any video footage. And maybe you shrugged your shoulders and thought: Well, I’m just a beginner. I’ll learn to avoid these problems soon enough. That works for a lot of the problems you encounter in video production — you eventually develop a “videographer’s instinct” for recognizing violations

of the 180 degree rule and other video offenses before they happen — but these six tough customers never seem to go away. Why not? Well, because half the time they’re due to factors beyond your control. Sometimes you can’t even recognize that there’s a problem until after you see the footage. In any event, these are the little monsters that you can only defeat in post production.

1) Garish or Washed-Out Colors — Ugh! Lurid colors that make a somber scene look like a circus show! Bland, washed-out hues that make a big comedy sequence look like a funeral march! Who needs these?

2) Interlaced Footage — It’s great for broadcast convenience, but now your video has those tell-tale interlacing “lines” that will give your audience a real headache.

3) Shaky Footage — Jostling the camera a little bit can give your video a feeling of gritty realism, like in “Cloverfield” or “The Blair Witch Project.” But too much and no one will be able to tell what’s going on!

4) Weird Electrical Noises – What’s that sound? Surely you were shooting in a silent room, right? Then how can it be that your footage is full of strange hums and buzzes? You might not hear it, but your equipment can pick up annoying frequencies thatyou might miss.

5) Incorrect Frame Rates — Here’s one you probably won’t even think about until it’s too late! When you have to splice your footage together and you suddenly realize they’ve been shot at two different frame rates… that’s always annoying.

6) Unwanted Objects — What’s that boom mic doing there? You’ve seen this goof in even professional Hollywood productions, so you know it’s easy to miss when you’re behind the camera.

There’s probably no stronger argument for why we have post production than that list. Those are certainly some of the most common gripes that we hear from video creators who’re frustrated that they keep finding these “mistakes” in their footage, even after they thought they had carefully sidestepped them. When that happens, all you can say is: Thank goodness for post-production! To learn more about these nasty issues and how to fix them, check out Videomaker’s new Fix it in Post DVD.