You are sitting at your neighbor's house when someone decides that perfect way to end the night, is to put on some family home videos. You cringe inwardly, knowing what is about to happen. Your neighbor thinks he is the next Kubrick or Spielberg, and the next two hours are about to be spent watching a catastrophe of a home movie.

There will be smash cuts and zoom ins, paning across the room to bounce in on Aunt Helga's new Christmas sweater. He'll speak in a loud booming voice, pretending he's an announcer on some now defunct 1970's game show. And if you're lucky, he might even throw in a few shots, or more than a few shots, where the light or lack of light completely obscures the image.

You will smile politely, laugh in all the right spots, and as soon as the night is over you'll go home and laugh relentlessly with your spouse. The only problem? They did the same thing the last time they left your house.

Lets face it, none of us are the next great filmmaker but when we get behind the lens of a camera, that part of our mind jumps to the forefront. So, how do we fix it? Here's some tips to make your next home movie look a lot better, and not make your viewers cringe.

(1) Invest in a tripod. The last thing anyone wants to see is your video bouncing around like a rubber ball, and the best way to avoid that is to put the camera on a tripod. Plus it lets you enjoy the action, instead of being the documenter. People want to see you in the film, not just narrating.

(2) Try setting things up before filming. How many times have you seen a home movie where the room goes from completely empty, to the middle of a birthday party in 3 seconds? Let the action flow naturally.

(3) edit your film before showing it to people. Get rid of the useless parts, and skip over anything that might be bumpy or blurry.

(4) Stay away from the zoom buttons. Nothing makes a viewer more nauseous than a
quick zoom in to someone, and then right back out. Save it for places where it is absolutely necessary.

(5) If you have to pan, which usually you only think you do, pan as slow as possible. Otherwise it sends up looking confusing or blurry.

(6) Examine the lighting in the room, and determine if you need more or less lighting. What's the point of filming, if you can't see what everyone is doing?

(7) Mix things up a little, by switching to new scenes every 10 minutes or so. You may love your son or daughter, but try switching to a shot of the whole soccer field and not just your one player.

(8) Pay attention to past mistakes. Look at your old home videos, notice what you did wrong, and make an effort to stop doing it.

By making just a few changes in the way you film home videos, you can make a video that other people will want to watch.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Eblin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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