Unlike Steven Speilberg, who employs hundreds to help him create his masterpieces, most amateur videographers work alone. They buy the gas to get to the location, re-charge the batteries, sweep the floor, set the audio levels, shoot the raw footage, edit that footage so it looks and sounds as good as possible, burn and label each DVD, sweat making the next DVD better, save money for the next accessory purchase. In short, they are one-man video crews. Is that you?

In a nutshell, The Job is to produce Good Video, something others will enjoy watching. Full stop! 

To the extent your DVDs put your audience to sleep you have failed. Making them laugh, educating them, making them cry, impressing them with your skills, are all fine, but first you have to grab and hold their attention.

In other words, your job is to do whatever it takes to get that result.

You are not primarily a camcorder operator, screenwriter, or video editor. Rather you are the person responsible for the end result, the audience's response to your movie. Everything else is subservient to that.

When you are shooting footage and sound, remember: tomorrow you will be wearing the editor's hat. A good camcorder operator concentrates on getting the footage the editor needs -- in terms of both quality and quantity. Similarly the editor fine tunes his efforts with a eye to the sensibilities of the director, another hat that you wear. All the way up the food chain every hat serves another. The final and only real judge is your viewer.

Of course, if you can convince your spouse, neighbor, friend, kids, whoever, to assist (perhaps in exchange for inclusion in the closing credits) so much the better, particularly if they are the patient sort. 
 

Copyright 2006-2007 John Cardiff