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  • Become a camcorder pro: A 10-step guide to making your footage shine

Become a camcorder pro: A 10-step guide to making your footage shine

By Chris Stevens, CNET.co.uk on 07 July 2006

Many camcorder enthusiasts dream of making a movie that captures the popular imagination. From the nauseating Blair Witch Project to the impressive auto-biopic Tarnation, low-budget DV film-making has taken mainstream cinema by storm. Here's a 10-step guide to making your footage shine.

Step 1: Getting started
Legend has it that a 21-year-old, unknown filmmaker called Steven Spielberg snuck into Universal Studios in 1969 and set in motion one of the greatest careers in cinema history.

Spielberg later told Hollywood Reporter, "I put on a suit and tie and sneaked past the guard at Universal, found an empty bungalow, and set up an office. I then went to the main switchboard and introduced myself and gave them my extension so I could get calls. It took Universal two years to discover I was on the lot."

Though some doubt the veracity of Spielberg's story, it's an appealing concept. But what if you don't live close enough to Hollywood to pull off a stunt like that, what are your options? We're going to teach you some tricks that will help even the biggest camcorder klutz create professional footage.

Topics: tips, guide, video camera, making movies, film-making, diy, camcorder, film, step, shot

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Comments (5)

  • Tehilla commented on 19/10/2007 03:11 Report abuse

    hey.. i lost my disc of "firt step guide" to my video camera sony trv 270e. i have to connect my camera to the computer' and looking for this thing... if there is someone that know how or can add a link i'll be happy... thanks.

  • redsim commented on 31/08/2007 10:50 Report abuse

    Hi great article, I'm a newbie who bought a decent panasonic DV camera a few months ago and havent really used it much. This has inspired me to make a mini film.

  • Deep commented on 05/01/2007 16:39 Report abuse

    Why you didnt included Tripod ? Its damn Important for film making to steady the shots. Isnt it?

  • Daniel Hodgkinson commented on 27/12/2006 00:27 Report abuse

    Here is a link to a site that has a tutorial to make a cheap improvised steadicam

    http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

  • lionel commented on 27/09/2006 08:12 Report abuse

    good

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