Years ago it was common for people to invite a large group of family and friends over to watch home movies and view pictures they had taken on vacation. Not all of these hosted events were joyful and the hosts of some proved to be habitually boring in their presentation. There are some tips you can follow to make the results of recording your vacation on video more enjoyable for all.
If a new video camera is being used, take the time to learn how to use it by practicing around town before leaving on vacation. The the time to shoot in bright sunlight, in darkness, indoors and out. Take some action shots as well as scenery shots and practice hold the camera steady especially if it does not have image stabilization. Most cameras today will control most operations automatically, but some do have little quirks that if you learn about them there are ways to correct them.
There is a big difference between the videos made for the family and those made for guests outside of the family. The majority of changes can be made with simple editing software, either included in your operating system, available online or your favorite local software store. The program chosen should allow scenes to be cut out of the original video and used to create a shorter and richer version to be recorded to a DVD later.
The family might enjoy watching little Bobby and sister Betty riding around in a circle on the back of a pony for 10 minutes, but your guests may be sleeping after the first three minutes. Shorten up long portions of the video, primarily showcasing actions shots and short snippets of landscape and scenery. Nobody wants to sit and stare at a scenic shot for 15 minutes, especially if there is no movement. Use a still camera for those types of shots so the guest can determine how long they want to look at static scenery shots, everyone‘s taste is different. Concentrate on using the video cameras to record action, sound and movement.
After editing the video so it focuses on action shots, highlights scenery shots for a reasonable amount of time, and follows a timeline of beginning, middle and end, check to see how long the final version of the video will run for. If it appears to be about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes that’s probably a good limit to place on it. The guests will not feel bored and if they sit around and want to further discuss your vacation and what they’ve seen, rather than rush home, you’ve hit a home run.