(Amateur) Snowboard video tips

[Floris1994]

I am probably going to make a little snowboard video this month or next.
I want some tips on music and editing. This is going to be pretty amateur and me+friends are not going to have access to any good cam's;
some of the vid will even be filmed on a photo camera. I think iMovie will suit my needs.

 

[huntercr]

I am probably going to make a little snowboard video this month or next.
I want some tips on music and editing. This is going to be pretty amateur and me+friends are not going to have access to any good cam's;
some of the vid will even be filmed on a photo camera. I think iMovie will suit my needs.

Yes, sounds like iMovie will work out well for you. The only tips I can think of is to choose your music based on how you want to set your mood, and don't think you *have* to use Nickelback for snowboarding. It's over done.

I wouldn't use the photo camera for video, you'll be disappointed at how crappy it looks compared to the video camera. Don't worry about getting a "good" video camera.

Editing, I can't give much advice for... make sure your video tells a story. What do you want your video to be 'saying'... "we had a lot of fun snowboarding" or "we're the badasses of snow boarding" or "we are the comedy caravan of snowboarding" or whatever.

Have a plan before you go out there... what are all the things you want to get on camera, what "atmospheric" stuff do you want people to see, etc.

Keep your use of zooming the lense to an absolute minimum.

I'm a hobbiest too, but I recall someone once telling me that you will throw away 75% of everything you shoot... that is... if you shoot 4 hours of footage, you're only likely going to get 1 hour of good material.

If your camera has a motion correction mode, I'd turn that on if you think you're going to film *and* snowboard. The latest iMovie has a motion correction algorithm built in, so that will help you.


Hope this helps!

 

[Floris1994]

Yes, sounds like iMovie will work out well for you. The only tips I can think of is to choose your music based on how you want to set your mood, and don't think you *have* to use Nickelback for snowboarding. It's over done.

I wouldn't use the photo camera for video, you'll be disappointed at how crappy it looks compared to the video camera. Don't worry about getting a "good" video camera.

Editing, I can't give much advice for... make sure your video tells a story. What do you want your video to be 'saying'... "we had a lot of fun snowboarding" or "we're the badasses of snow boarding" or "we are the comedy caravan of snowboarding" or whatever.

Have a plan before you go out there... what are all the things you want to get on camera, what "atmospheric" stuff do you want people to see, etc.

Keep your use of zooming the lense to an absolute minimum.

I'm a hobbiest too, but I recall someone once telling me that you will throw away 75% of everything you shoot... that is... if you shoot 4 hours of footage, you're only likely going to get 1 hour of good material.

If your camera has a motion correction mode, I'd turn that on if you think you're going to film *and* snowboard. The latest iMovie has a motion correction algorithm built in, so that will help you.


Hope this helps!

Thanks, good advice. I think for music I will probably use electronic or rap depending on the style of the person who's part it is going to be.

 

[ghoztman]

Learn a thing or two about filming in snow and controlling the white balance on your camera. Experiment a little before hand by filming in snow if you can. Filming in snow when sunny can be difficult as it can be very bright and washed out.

When it comes to shooting action, remember that the camera does not have to be moving to make it look good. I find the opposite works. Keep the shot still and the let the subject move. Of course you can pan to follow a moving subject, but keep camera motion to a minimum. As mentioned in the previous post, if you are filming while riding, it would be great to have a camera with anti-shake or image stabilization. Or practice a steady hand ;-)

By all means film whilst riding, but do a lot of going going ahead, stopping and filming the other riders approaching and passing or jumping etc. Stage your shots... it's all in the edit.

Also, still photos work very well when incorporated into movies. Make sure your crew have cameras and snap away, you might get some great shots that you can add as stills.

 

[arjen92]

If I were you I would use a lot of friends with camera's. Just place them everywhere, or, if you don't have so many friends, just go sit everytime on a different spot, and let the subject wait for you to chane positions.

With this way you can make a very "moving" video as you can constantly change perspective. This way the movement is in your editing and makes it more interesting to watch.

Try to not only get shots from different points, but also from different perspectives (low by the grond, zooming out etc)

 

[ChrisA]

The first rule is to get really, really close and use a wide lens. If you have an extrat $50 get on of those screw-on wide adaptors and use it. We are talking "in your face" close.

Aso make sure to shoot a lot a still (not panned) long shots showing the terrain, people gettig on and off lifts and so on so you can set the scene. Get closeups of faces and boots and the like too. These can be done nere the bottom of the hill when not much else is going on. You will need these when you edit.

If you read even the intro chapter of any film making or "how to edit" book (NOT how to use some software but how to edit) you will be miles ahead of 99% of amateur snowboard videographers. The idea is to shoot what the film editor needs and to do that you need to know just a tiny bit about editing before you shoot. The intro to any book will pay off big time.

As for Music. If all depends on what talent you have available. The best thing would be to cut the film then put togeter something in Garage band to fit. But then you'd have to be good with music writing, proformance and mixing. Lacking that ability you find the music you like then cut the film to fit. To do that well you need LOTS of footage