How you shoot video affects how you edit it. The new JVC
Everio camcorder makes shot review easy.
By Rob Sheppard
When you’re
videotaping an event, whether a political campaign, a soccer
game or a birthday party, you need to capture a variety of images
to have some good material to edit. For most people to enjoy
sitting through a lengthy video, it has to be a compelling event
(such as a grandchild’s soccer game for a grandparent).
Editing is important, but it can be difficult if you don’t
have the appropriate shots.
How do you get the right variety
to make editing easier? One certain way is by shooting extensive
footage, but after a while that’s a lot to deal with. The
better way is to have a set of shots in mind as you film and
review the footage as you go to be sure you’re getting
them.
We reviewed the new JVC GZ-MC200US Everio camera, in part because
the Everio camcorders make working a scene much easier with
nearly instant review of any shot. These cameras record video
onto a hard drive or memory card instead of tape, so you can
immediately access any part of the video from a menu of scenes.
You can review any scene, whenever you need to check a shot,
without rewinding—a major hassle with tape-based recorders.
There are four main shot types to look for when shooting video,
reviewing shots and selecting scenes to edit in the computer:
wide shot, medium shot, close shot and cutaway. If you try to
cover each shot, you’ll have good material to work from
when editing, making it easier and more fun.
Look at your camera’s zoom range. The JVC GZ-MC200US has
a reasonable 10:1 zoom lens, which is quite good, considering
the camera’s small size. The key to getting a variety of
shots is to use a zoom effectively in combination with physically
moving closer to and farther from your subject.
Following are the four key shots:
Wide shot. The wide shot is
the overall view of the scene. Typically, you use your wider
focal lengths and zoom the lens out to reveal the scene. This
establishes a setting for the action and gives the viewer a
context for any other shots. A wide shot is an arbitrary size—it
might cover a huge area if you’re shooting a track event
or a small room if you’re videotaping a toddler’s
birthday party.
Medium shot. Action and relationships
can be emphasized with this shot, which focuses in on the main
subject and excludes most of the surroundings, but it’s
not so close that you only see details. The medium shot does
its magic when it reveals the action of the subject, such as
the runners in a 100-yard dash or the relationship of the subject
to something or someone nearby, such as the toddler with his
or her mother.
Close shot. Watch commercials
and you’ll see a lot of medium and close shots used. The
close shot brings you in close to your subject so that you see
no relationship to its surroundings, and intimate details are
revealed. Extremely variable in size, close shots of that track
meet might range from a view of the high-jump poles and landing
pad to a close-up of a runner’s exhausted face. Close shots
of the birthday party might include the de-tails of the cake
or joy in a toddler’s eyes.
Cutaway. This is a somewhat
random shot from the area, usually a close-up, but not necessarily
something specific to the action or the main subject (though
it helps if it is). A cutaway is used to bridge problem edits,
such as when a shot goes too long and has to be cut in sections,
removing dull action in the middle. The cutaway is a short segment
to cover the missing middle section. Good cutaways at the track
meet might be wide shots, medium shots and close shots of spectators.
Shots of people watching an event are always useful for editing
purposes (watch television news for these cutaways in action).
Cutaways at the party might include other kids, presents or
balloons.
Using these shots in editing is a personal choice, but here
are some tips to keep in mind:
• Wide shots are great
to introduce a scene and to help the viewer occasionally gain
context for the action.
• Medium shots will provide
the bulk of the shots because they show action and relationships.
Use a close-up or a cutaway between shots if two medium shots
are too similar in appearance, otherwise they fit together awkwardly.
• Close shots provide
needed variety and give the viewer closer looks at important
details. They can be used as a montage all together or as punctuation
in the medium shots. Some videographers prefer these shots and
use them as much as or more than other shots, and they still
work for variety.
• Cutaways are used strictly
to “cut away” from the main action. Consider them
as punctuation and bridges to help bind together problematic
or awkward edits.
The key to your videotaping is to shoot for variety, constantly
looking for the wide, medium, close and cutaway shots as you’re
videotaping your subject. You may realize you missed certain
shots when you’re editing, which will be a disappointment
for the subject at hand, but it will motivate you to get them
the next time.
JVC
GZ-MC200US Everio
JVC’s little Everio camcorders are remarkable, compact
units. They’re truly pocketable camcorders and can go
everywhere with you. I had a chance to work with the GZ-MC200US
unit. Don’t you love these names! Regardless of the challenge
of remembering its full moniker, this Everio proved to be
an excellent camcorder.
The size and unique design, which JVC calls Cube Style, certainly
make this camcorder stand out. One thing that really sets
it apart from competitors is the way it records video onto
a memory card. This Everio comes with a 4 GB Hitachi Microdrive,
or you could use a CompactFlash card, which means no moving
tape. You can instantly access any scene you’ve shot
by going to a menu of scenes that’s much like the thumbnails
of still photos on a standard digital camera.
Another advantage of the tapeless approach is that, instead
of using software to import video frame by frame, you can
simply download any or all video from the camera by plugging
the memory card into a card reader and dragging and dropping
the files to your computer, just as you would digital photos.
The camcorder would be absolutely ideal except for a little
glitch. The video is in JVC’s MOD format, a proprietary
MPEG-2 format. You can read and edit it in the software that
comes with the camera, but this software isn’t particularly
easy to use or effective for any serious editing. Luckily,
Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 recognizes the MOD format, allowing
you to edit video in that program. Other video software will
probably recognize it in the future. MPEG-2 is a compressed
video format that JVC claims to be DVD-quality. That’s
not a useful standard, since a DVD is only the medium, and
all sorts of video can be put onto it. I thought the finished,
edited video I worked on looked quite good, however, matching
the quality of most MiniDV camcorders.
I liked the way this camera fit in my hand; it’s palmable
without feeling awkward. It only has an LCD for a viewfinder,
but it’s bright and viewable, even in sunlight. This
Everio also shoots 2-megapixel still photos, which is okay
in a pinch, but this is really a secondary use of the camera.
It’s a fun little camera, offering video that’s
easy to view and access and is quickly transferable to the
computer. Plus, it tucks neatly into a free space in a photographer’s
camera pack.
SPECIFICATIONS Camera Type: Compact camcorder Lens: 10x optical zoom lens
with a digital stabilizer Sensor: CCD Still Photo Resolution:
2 megapixels LCD: 130,000 pixels; 1.8
inches Media Type: Microdrive,
CompactFlash Exposure Modes: Program
AE and manual Program AE Modes: Sports,
Snow, Spotlight Shutter Speeds: 1/2 to 1/4000
sec.(video); 1/2 to 1/500 sec. (still) Power Source: Proprietary
Li-ionbattery pack Size: 2.9x2.25x3.75 inches Weight: 0.8 pounds Estimated Street Price:
$999
