How to shoot video for you small business website

Shooting video for your company's website is simple, but not as simple as pointing your videocamera and letting it roll. Take a little extra time to follow these few tips, you will end up with a higher quality video.

Steps

• Use a tripod. Shaky video is unwatchable video.

• Don't shoot your subject in front of windows -- the "back light" will wash out your subject.

• Make sure that the lighting around your subject isn't distracting or over powering.

• Follow the Rule of Thirds. Imagine a square with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines going through it. Something that looks like a tick-tack-toe game. Whoever you are interviewing or shooting should be framed in the left or right thirds of this box.

• If you are interviewing someone and frame her to the right, she should be looking at you across the open space to the left, not straight on and not at the camera.

• Use headphones. Sound problems can be fixed or avoided simply by using headphones to make sure everything is lining up and that no weird sounds crop up and muddle an interview.

• Have a plan. Knowing what you need out of your video when it is all over will give you a more successful shoot and more choices when it is time to edit.

Tips

If you are buying a camera, bigger isn't always better. If you aren't a professional videographer, all you need is a smaller home-video-style camera. (But remember to us a tripod.) Things to consider before the purchase: clarity of picture (go ahead an buy HD), how well the camera zooms, what sort of lighting options it comes with and the length of the battery life.