1. Use a tripod.
   Even the steadiest hands tremor. The little shake is nauseating when watching someone else's video.
2. Have sufficient light.
   Video cameras love light. Be aware of where your light is coming from and avoid shadows behind your subjects.
3. Make sure you have a good background.
   Check all the other things that might be on your video and remove everything that you can. Clutter on your video is distracting, unless you want the distractions. Frame your video carefully. Know where the boundaries are. Craft your video the way you want your audience to see it.
4. Use a wireless microphone.
   Good quality sound is important. Shouting at your camera does not sound good. You can also dub in sound later.
5. Check your sound and video.
   Make sure they are working before you shoot your production. You do not want to spend a lot of people's time and find out your video did not come out.
6. Make frequent cuts when taking your videos.
   That way your video files will not be huge when you load them into your video editing program.
7. Get useful video clips.
   A lot of your movies are made in the editing room. When shooting your movie, get footage you can use later. Shoot the same scene several ways. Get people to give you different expressions. Have people say things in different ways, with different emotions. Shoot the same thing from different angles.
8. Take advantage of special effects.
   Keep in mind that your video editing software may be able to produce a lot of effects, like close ups. This means you do not need extra takes to zoom in. You can also switch to black and white or other hues. So, if you take a video of yourself standing in one place talking, you can make it more interesting by using your video editing software to create variety.
9. Be aware of your viewers point-of-view.
   You can look directly into the camera if you are talking directly to your audience. You can put a mirror behind your camera so you can talk to yourself and check your appearance. You can look sideways passed your camera if you want to appear to be talking to a third person, possibly answering questions.
10. Look good.
    Keep the camera lens at eye level. Chin up, head up and look ahead above eye level so your eyes are open and you are relaxed with good posture.

By Andrew Weitzen, Bronze Inc. Copyright (c) 2010.

Bronze is the publisher of several online Internet journals including: InternetHandholding.com, DomainNames.gs, DotNetNuke.bz, Programmer.bz, Software.vg, WebHosting.vg