Video - Annie Haycock
Video equipment is becoming cheaper and smaller, and, at its simplest, making a video requires little more than the ability to find a subject and hold the camera steady. The camcorder itself takes care of exposure and focussing. Its main advantages over a still camera are that it can be easier to use for moving subjects and in dull light, especially where you can’t or don’t want to use a flash. The use of the infa-red when filming bats, for example, causes minimal disturbance.
Ideally a tripod should be used wherever possible, but when it’s not possible -
• hold the camera with both hands with elbows tucked in,
• lean against something – eg a tree, fence, gate.
• breathing slowly can also reduce the amount of shake
• switch on the image stabiliser if the camcorder has one.
If sending in a video of a species to a county recorder for identification or verification just send in the relevant clips (not the whole family holiday video) of the species preferably from a several different angles plus medium shots, close-ups and habitat shots. Only send it in at all if the species can be seen clearly and is not just a dot on the landscape. For birds, try to include the sound of the bird singing or calling.
Preferably submit the video on CD-ROM or DVD at full resolution. Compressing and reducing the size for emailing or web use causes a loss in quality and makes detail more difficult to see.
Video can also be used to provide a record of a place at a particular time. The following hints may help:
• Keep the final film short to keep people interested, it’s easy to bore your audience. Five minutes is long enough unless you are a skilled film-maker.
• If shooting to tell a story, write the story down first and then take the shots to fit in with it so far as possible – you’re less likely to forget something important this way.
• Shoot clips at least 10 seconds long as its better to edit a longer clip down than not to have enough to start with (obviously you can stop if the subject walks out of the frame!)
• Keep the camera level with the horizon. Most tripods have spirit levels built-in, or you can buy spirit levels that will fit the camera.
• Aim first for straight-foward shots with the sun (if it is shining) behind you. Afterwards you can try something more adventurous or experimental
• Take a variety of shots of habitat, organisms, close-up, medium and wide-angle views
• Avoid excessive panning – choose an interesting start point, film for a count of five, swing slowly across to an interesting end point and film that for five seconds. Use the wide-angle end of the lens, and make sure the horizon stays level.
• Avoid excessive zooming. Better to film at one lens length for 10 seconds, stop, zoom in (or out) and then film another ten seconds. Don’t zoom while filming unless there is a reason for it.
The short video of the Starling roost at Slebech Reedbed demonstrated the difficulty of keeping the camera still in windy conditions, as well as its main intention of recording the behaviour of the starlings and the extent of the roost.
There are also small cameras (like they use on Spring Watch) that can be set up and used outside for wildlife surveillance. These can be bought already incorporated into bird boxes or for use under water, as well as stand-alone units. They are useful for watching activity, but need to be connected to a video/DVD recorder/computer/video camera in order to record anything. The main supplier is ecowatch.
