The hard part is done – you’ve planned out what you want, you’ve gathered your materials, you’re ready to film and edit!
It’s in the director’s hands now. He or she should make sure everyone understands how the program should be shot.
Live productions are very fast-paced. Once they start, there’s no stopping them. Plan to set up and TEST your equipment about an hour before the event starts. If you plan to use graphics or titles while filming live, make sure all words and names are spelled correctly, in the right order, and show up on the screen properly.
If you’re filming a large event, like a fair, it’s better to send out several camera crews to cover all the different activities.
Whether you’re on a set or filming in different locations, you have a lot more leeway for creativity and correction. Did the talent goof their intro? Just keep the film rolling, have them pause, and the try again. Want to switch to a different angle? Again, stop the activity and make your changes. You can film things out of order, or even on different days.
Keep the filming straightforward. Don’t try to get into fancy fades or elaborate transitions. These can be added later.
Once your raw footage is in the hands of the editor, the final process begins. The editor can cut out the bad scenes, rearrange footage into the proper order, make some alterations to correct video colors and raise or lower the audio to an extent. Titles can be created, transitions added, and music inserted.
Thanks to technology, video editing can be done on the home computer by everyone! HCTV uses a Non-Linear editing system to create its programs.
Much of this was learned the hard way – remember HCTV is not run by professionals!