Aaron

Member since: Sep 12th, 2006

Aaron's Latest Comments

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Download Squad	2 Comments

Recent Comments:

eBay to eliminate negative feedback from sellers (Download Squad)

Feb 5th 2008 9:22PM I left ebay after almost 800 successful sales and purchases because of abusive buyers and feedback games. As Ebay runs into increasing pressure to grow its sales volume, the system is turning into much less of a swap mart and much more of an Amazon lite. Newbie buyers expect next day delivery and often play games with Paypal, falsely reporting non-delivery on items sent without delivery confirmation to get full automated refunds and/or feedback extortion rackets to push for money back on perfectly described and delivered items. The whole site has lost much of what once made it special and now is just a mercenary group worshipping at the altar of transaction volume.

Produce your own semi-professional videos - Part 1 (Download Squad)

Sep 12th 2006 10:43AM A planning tip: Run with a two column printed "script" to get your thoughts together -- column one is the images you'd like to see, column two is the words to go with it, whether it be spoken on or off camera, or posted as a graphic in the edit. Check it all off one by one as you film while in the field so you don't have to return later.

I've found that a looser filming style works best as long as it is structured in broad strokes and the "actors" are given context for each shot. Let it come naturally -- if you need to force your talent into a roll or tone, you have the wrong person. And no amount of scripting or planning will save you.

Also - Shoot takes at a couple different paces if you can and see what works best when you have a chance to digest in the edit. Try a pan, a still shot, a zoom, etc. to experiment and see what works best.

I've worked with quite a few well regarded commercial film/commercial makers and the truth of the matter is that they throw out 10times more material than they show you. A loose script and a willingness to go through the tedium of shooting scenes muliple ways (action and camera-wise) will help you come up with dynamite footage in the end.

Great article!