Category Archives: Video

Tips for the Everyday Videographer

Posted on February 25, 2011 by admin

As an amateur videographer with some professional experience I have logged quite a few hours with a videocamera. Most of what I do is unscripted, handheld, “reality tv” if you will, which is what most people are doing with a camera. Here are a couple of my tips for making the most out of amateur videography.

Don’t wait for action, make it happen

Real life is not always exciting as you know. Sometimes you have to give things a little shove in order to get good shots. If you have a video camera you  now have an ability others don’t, the power to get people to do things they normally wouldn’t. People think they have a chance at stardom(and they do, thanks to YouTube) when they are being recorded. One way to get good footage is simply to ask people unusual questions. You would be amazed at what people will say or do when a camera is on them.
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Posted in Video |

Preserving Creativity

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Aaron Heine

When I was working for the Demopolis Times a few years ago I made a couple of great friends by the name of Guy and Charlie. They’re both in their early 60s, single, and salesmen at the Times.

Charlie has a great eye for photography and he can be found all over west Alabama early in the morning taking wildlife photography. Charlie is not great with a computer so I’ve been essential in showing him how to store, color correct, and share his photos.

Guy is also a very creative person. For many of his younger years he was a photographer for the MIami Herald. He has a great collection of photos to prove it such as some backstage shots of Johnny Cash in 1969. He’s also an am amazing guitarist. Often he’ll teach me some things on the guitar and I’ll teach him some tricks on Photoshop.

Both of these guys are not in the best of health. Charlie has had Cancer and Guy is always in and out of the hospital. They get around just fine, but sometimes I get the impression they are thinking about what they have to leave when they’re gone. I built Charlie a website for him to upload and share his photos. (Still don’t think he has got the hang of uploading them.) Guy has an old recording of songs that he has written that we are trying to digitize and get copyright protected.

This weekend Guy played a song that he had written about a little girl he knew with leukemia. I had never heard it before, but it was very beautiful. He wanted me to help him record it and share it on the internet. I got a pretty good recording of it and some photos to go with it. Here is a quick video I put together of the song. guy1 Posted in Music, Video |

YouTube pulls the plug on my audio

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Aaron Heine

This week I noticed that YouTube had removed all the audio from some of my videos because they have music in them that I am not licensed to distribute. Media protection is a very complicated issue nowadays. Makes you wonder where to draw the line. What if I was performing the song myself? What if my video simply had music playing in the background, does that mean I can’t share it on the internet?

I clearly am not profiting from my videos of a family vacation that are up on YouTube. Second of all, some of the music used in my videos was purchased by myself; does that not give me the right to play it for my friends and family to enjoy?

I respect an artist’ ownership of his or her music, but if someone is sharing that song without profiting from it, that should be allowed. After all, shouldn’t a talented musician want to share their songs with as many people as possible?

Here is my latest video from my trip to Europe. And my first edit in High Definition! This time I’m uploading to Vimeo. Thanks to The Beatles, Sufjan Stevens, MGMT and The Books for the songs! If I could personally ask you for permission I would.

UPDATE: September 3rd So I decided to upload the above video to YouTube anyway, just to see what kind of problem they have with it. Shortly after, they send me an email saying content was identified as being owned by Sony Music Entertainment, and I need do nothing. I checked the video to see if YouTube has yanked the audio yet, and surprisingly they didn’t! I scrolled to a song by MGMT that I used in the video and noticed a small ad pops up in the bottom identifying the artist, song name, and giving the viewer the opportunity to buy it. That’s great!!! I would love to support the artist. I can deal with a little ad. Technology and creative marketing win over pirate killers!!! Posted in Technology, Video |