Making Better Movies with Your Camcorder

Movie making is as much about organization and planning as it is about great acting or brilliant script ideas. Before you start, it helps to have a plan. How extensive that plan is will depend on the nature of the movie you have in mind, but it can include a script or outline, a list of shots you need, and a shooting schedule. This section focuses on what it takes to get a shot. The starting point: setting up the shot.

Setup is an important part of production. Setting up a shot usually takes longer than the shot itself. When making feature films, a professional crew can take hours to set up one 30-second shot. Setup takes a long time because so many factors must be coordinated.

Setup time is directly related to the amount of work required to get everything ready to shoot. Equipment and props have to be carried in, set up, and aligned; adjustments and changes must be made; problems have to be solved. Then you have to consider the time it takes to coordinate the movement of the elements in the shot and the camera.

A major Hollywood production uses hundreds of pieces of equipment, which must all be set up precisely. You may only need a few lights, but it still takes time to set them up, then coordinate the camera and actors. Even if you are shooting real life with just a camcorder and no additional equipment, you still need time to set up and compose the shots.

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