The Secrets of Planning Your Next Vacation Video
Series Introduction
This three-part series will help you make vacation videos that will have folks other than your family members sit up and take notice. The first part will cover the methods on how you could get down to planning a quality vacation video. The second part will concentrate on preparing video equipment necessary to make your vacation videomaking adventure a fruitful and trouble-free affair. Part Three will concentrate on techniques you could easily use to shoot a vacation video that will be a cut above the rest. By completing all the three parts, you will be on the road to making a vacation video that will leave your viewers wanting for more. Let’s start with the planning stage. One important step to making a killer vacation video is to start thinking like a pro.
Pros plan. And you’re going to get into the habit of planning, too.
Background Research
If it’s a new place you’re visiting, you could do well to undertake some background research. Read up on the place to get an idea of the possibilities of what you can cover. Surfing the Internet or browsing through a travel guide can give you ideas. If you decide to shoot at a particular location know why you’ll be doing it. It could be because something of historical significance took place there. If it’s a place you’ve previously visited, think of ways you can shoot your vacation video in a new light. Once you have background knowledge of the place you can start making notes on what your video could cover.
You can even come up with a sketchy shooting plan.
Sunday morning – visit the fishing village –shoot fishing boats leaving to sea.
Sunday evening - shoot fishing boats returning from the sea. Interview fishermen.
Run Through Your Previous Vacation Video
Take out your last vacation video and look at it with a critical eye. Imagine it is somebody else’s work submitted to you for feedback. Identify aspects you can improve in your next video. How would you remake the video if given another chance? Analyze and make notes.
Brainstorm with Your Family Members
Gather your family members and brainstorm. How can we make a better vacation video this time around? Any ideas? Somebody is surely going to come up with something useful.
Imagine You’re on an Important Assignment
If a National Geographic or Travel and Living Channel producer commissions you to make a family vacation video, what type of video will you make? Thinking this way will lead you to raise you standards and generate ideas which you would never have considered before. You may even want to watch some stuff over the channels to get some ideas. Try writing an imaginary one-page proposal for the producer to clarify your ideas.
Imagine You Have Only 30 Minutes
What if you’re only given thirty minutes of video footage for your vacation video? What would you cover? This exercise is useful especially if you’ve made lengthy and boring vacation videos in the past.
Your Mission
You want to make a personal vacation video that even a stranger would want to watch. Be prepared to give your viewers a `I-wish-I-was-there’ feeling. In short it must be a vacation video good enough to be watched over Youtube. It must capture all the wonderful moments your family experienced. At the end of the video, you want your viewers to ask, “When will you be making your next vacation video?” Now that you’re in the right frame of mind to make your vacation video, let’s get your video equipment checklist ready.
This post is part of the series: Vacation Video Secrets Series
Vacation Video Secrets Series takes you from planning a quality vacation video to getting your equipment ready and finally shooting your video like a pro.