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whom you admire and who agreed to help you hone
your craft. Then, use their advice to create a new
audition tape and compare the results.
Rehearse a poem or short story and present it to
the camera in character. If you created one-sheets
for your writing technique, try it as each of those
characters. Otherwise, record it channeling your
favorite actor or your best friend. Get creative with
the delivery and explore the same reading in dif-
ferent emotions. Pay attention to how each reading
feels in the playback.
Practice repeating an action on camera for continu-
ity. For example, try to pick up and set down a coffee
cup at exactly the same time and in the same way. Re-
peat for several takes while delivering dialogue. The
objective is to capture the exact same scene perfectly
for a few takes. These different takes are very helpful
in editing.
Shooting
Knowing your tools will set you up for a more suc-
cessful shoot. Take the time to explore, test and
practice with your camera and its accessories. The
intention here is to build a broad knowledge of its
capabilities. Great shooting can save time in post-
production. For this category, we suggest the follow-
ing exercises:
Practice camera moves and using your stabiliza-
tion gear. Imagine various scenes and how to capture
them most efficiently and then most creatively. When
you’re confident in your capabilities, try to recreate
movement shots from your favorite movies.
Create your own shooting challenges for whatever
areas you need to improve. Shoot a one-minute short
film using a single focal length or shoot something
in motion without losing focus. You can use things
around the house like your pet chasing a ball or a
wind-up toy rolling across the floor.
Shoot the same shot with various camera settings.
For instance, use different apertures, shutter speeds
and frame rates. Be unconventional and experimental
in this exercise so that you see the visual results of
various combinations. Keep good notes as you workso that you’ll have a record of what works well for
different effects.
Lighting
Control over your lighting gives you control over the
mood and tone of your scene. Since this defines the
emotions and the emotions help convey the story, it
really must be mastered to achieve your best results.
A strong fluency in lighting will open opportuni-
ties to give your viewers a great experience. More
importantly, though, you’ll be able to problem-solve
when the lighting isn’t working. Here are some ways
to practice:
Set up a proper three-point lighting and film a short bit
of dialogue. Next, remove one light from the setup and
film it again. Repeat to create examples of each variation
of two lights and each single light. Notice the differences
in shadows and backgrounds. Determine when you might
want these lighting setups for various scenes.
Try to light the same scene in multiple ways to
convey different moods. Imagine how the lighting
for a light comedy, dramatic noir, intense horror and
other genres vary. With practice, you’ll learn how to
pull that mood in with your lighting. As always, get
creative and experimental, make adjustments and film
it again.
Light only one subject in the foreground, allowing
the background to be natural/ambient. See if you canNew video skills to work on during quarantine
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Taking time to experiment with lighting now is
sure to boost the production value of your next
video.