How to make an independent video

As high-end video production equipment continues to become easier to use and more financially accessible to the average consumer, and the Internet continues to provide video producers with various platforms for the distribution and marketing of their work, individuals will have a continued ability to produce quality video content that can be viewed by a large audience.

But just because people can do something doesn’t mean they will do something. Furthermore, I would say that 95% of independently produced content is absolute crap (including a lot of my own work). A visit to YouTube or Google Video will quickly provide you with an array of examples for why most people should never be allowed to touch a video camera, let alone post their work on the Web.

That being said, you are required to take the following quiz before proceeding:

1. Would it be “bad ass” to get together with your friends, get on skateboards, and film yourselves crashing into walls?
2. Are you planning on making an “underground” rap-oriented video that doesn’t contain one sentence that I can understand?
3. Do you think anyone wants to watch you practice karate?
4. Do you think it would be “sweet” to videotape you and your girlfriend having sex, unbeknownst to her, and then put it on the Web for your frat brothers to see?
5. Is Jerry Bruckheimer a genius?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions then do me a favor and please stop reading this immediately and never come back to my Web site again. Additionally, turn off your computer, go to your local library, borrow a load of books, and then spend the next several years reading because you need to work on developing your brain.

If you answered “no” to all of the questions, then you can continue.

In order to independently produce video and stream it on the Internet, you will need the following:

The Camera

Obviously, you are first going to need to get your hands on a digital camera. It doesn’t have to be digital. You can shoot on 8mm for instance, but if you do this you are probably a caveman. I shoot on a Canon GL2 for when I want to make something that looks good, and a Sony DCR-TRV Digital8 for when I think I may have a few drinks or there is a chance that someone is going to mug me and steal my camera. I have actually gotten very drunk and traded my camera to a roving band of Mexicans in San Diego, for a torta and a ride home, but thankfully it was an older DCR-TRV so I may have gotten the better end of the stick on that one. At any rate, in low lighting, most consumer-level cameras are going to be pretty crap; but in good lighting, 90% of people can’t tell the difference in quality between a low-range camera like the DCR-TRV and a higher-end camera like the GL2. If you are just starting out, I’d recommend going with a lower-end Panasonic or Sony digital camera, which will run you around $300 - $400.

Editing Software

I edit on Adobe Premiere but a lot of people like Final Cut. I worked with an editor who used Final Cut and to be perfectly blunt, I couldn’t really tell the difference in usability or functionality. I’m sure there are plenty of geeks out there who would be able to tell you the difference. Basically, if you feel comfortable on a PC, then go with Premiere; and if you feel comfortable on a Mac, then go with Final Cut. Both utilities are pretty intuitive and if you are fairly comfortable learning how to use software then you should pick it up pretty quickly.

When you first start editing, you are going to be tempted to use a lot of filters and effects. That is fine. I did it a lot as well. Actually, if you view some of my earlier work like Immersion (wmv), you will see that I use a lot of filters and the overall effect is pretty cheesy. To tell you the truth, this was an aesthetic decision because I wanted to create a sense of the cheesiness of the ubiquitous Korean pop culture (hence my use of the G.O.D. track) but you will still get the point.

The other component of the editing software that is necessary to the process is the compression functionality. Of course, it would be great if you could stream your work at video quality but we’re not there quite yet. I personally compress all my videos into windows media files because I think this format has the widest reach. These days, there is an array of options out there and you have to choose the one that works best for you. I would say if your audience is predominantly in North American and Europe, you can compress with the expectation that the user will be accessing the Internet at about 256 Kbps. I’m sure there are people who would disagree with this figure but I haven’t gotten many complaints.

Adobe Premiere is pretty expensive. Actually, it will probably be the most expensive individual cost in this process. On Amazon, Premiere 6.0 costs about $500. You may be able to find more affordable options on the Web.

Peripheral Equipment

In order to connect your camera to your computer, you will need a firewire card and cord. You can get an internal or external firewire card and most firewire cards will come with the cord. I wouldn’t expect an internal card to be much more than $60 or so.

Additionally, if you want to make DVDs out of your videos, you may want to consider investing in a DVD burner. I purchased an external DVD burner for about $250 two years ago so I’m sure the price has gone down since then. Also, the internal burners are less expensive.

Streaming your Work

Once you have gone out, video recorded something, edited and compressed it, you are now ready to stream your work on the Web. Basically, you have two options: either you can set up your own Web site and claim complete ownership over the distribution of your content; or you can go to a vendor like Google Video or YouTube, and stream your work through their platform knowing that at some point they are going to begin capitalizing on your work. It’s your choice. Actually, to make my videos more accessible, I have posted them on Google Video. I don’t really care if they put ads on the page where they are viewed because I want people who are looking for an experience to be able to see my work. Loads of people are going to start viewing video content on Google Video, so it was a pragmatic decision for me. Now – if they even think about placing interstitial ads in my content then you can forget about it, but for the time being I’m comfortable with the situation. You can rent server space for about $100/year – but the time and effort it takes to set up a Web site may or may not be worth it to you.

At any rate, I hope this has helped briefly explain the effort and costs involved with streaming independent video on the Web. The thanks I get from people who have gotten something out of viewing my work has been well worth the time and effort I put in. At no point have I ever financially capitalized on my work but that is not the point for me, it may be for you and that’s fine. This can be a very personally rewarding field if you are willing to sacrifice for it and take it seriously. So I wish you all the best of luck.