Video Tips For That Overseas Holiday

If you are going overseas and want to make a video to remember your experiences, here are a few tips that might make help you in your struggles.

• First up , determine the voltage of the country or countries you are going to. Check the voltage on the back of your battery charger. It should say 110-240V. If not, you may need a transformer to convert from 110 to 240 Volts.
• Every country may have a different shaped plug socket , so even if you have the correct voltage transformer , you may not be able to plug it in. Pick up a converter from the travel shop before you go.
• Ensure that you have enough tapes to see you through. We are PAL. America has a different system than us. (NTSC) And so do Some Asian countries(SECAM). You may not be able to buy PAL tapes where you are going and you may not be able to view your tapes on their TV sets.
• Resist the urge to film everything. Spread the filming over the whole time that you are away and not just the first few days. Make sure that you cover a range of activities, and try to build a story into your filmmaking. Try and introduce themes or underlying structures.
• Film signs that show your location. Street signs, suburb names, famous buildings, landmarks. Hold each shot for at least 5 seconds. As soon as people see these shots , they know where they are. And they can be more interesting than titles.
• You may want to add a little narration as you film to explain what is going on. You can always delete the sound track later and add some music and a scripted voice-over if it is terrible. Take notes after filming if you dont want to narrate then and there.