As a videographer I'm always looking to improve my videos.
You hear practise makes perfect, which is partly true. But only perfect practise makes perfect. And no one practises perfectly.
So there must be a way quicker to improve.
But how? How can I practise less and get better faster?
Fortunately there really is a way to improve, and this is the fastest way I know.
Perfect Practise Makes Perfect
How many times have you heard perfect practise makes perfect?
These magical words seems to be the answer to everything. Indeed they are, but are they really the fastest way to improve?
Does everyone have so much time that they can practise perfect forever? No, we all have a tight schedule. Time is a limited resource so it has to be carefully used. Especially when it is time that is put into your business. Everyone wants to put productive time into their business.
So it's time for you to step up and really improve your videography skills, quickly.
It's interesting how we only think practise is the only step to improving.
I am here to tell you there is more to it. This is a blessing as you will improve quicker but it will require brutal honesty. Lying to yourself about how good you are won't cut it.
Are you ready to start?
Recap:
Perfect Practise does slowly perfect.
Perfect Practise is slow and arduous.
There is a way to speed up your improvement.
I'm going to teach you how to improve, faster.
Analysis
"Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something."- Google
Once again Google brings home the goods.
Because I'm a videographer I interpret that as "a close examination of your own and other people's videos"
I groan every time I hear, read, or see this. I can picture how bad my first few videos were.
This is a brilliant sign. If you feel embarrassment about your old videos, you are on the right track.
You might be think that it is bad to be embarrassed but it's not.
I'll explain why.
When you feel embarrassed, it means you are comparing your old videos to your new videos. And you are recognising that your old videos looks rubbish. Therefore you believe/know your latest video looks better and if it does looks better it means you have improved.
So try and embrace that feeling of shame and embarrassment. It's a sign that we are improving.
So you have now embraced your shame and you know why you feel embarrassed.
Time to delve deeper into understanding why you are embarrassed.
This is the difficult part where you have to be brutally honest or you won't improve any faster.
Open up one of your first few videos. Get a pen or paper, or you can open a text editor on your computer.
Watch your video and carefully study it. Imagine you are trying to find every pro and every con.
Write these pro's and con's down. Really go into detail, how smooth were the tripod shots? How was your music choice? Did you do a good job story telling? You want to have all your notes on paper or a screen. Don't leave them in your head. Having them on paper will clear your head. This will help later.
You'll because you were a beginner your list will be mainly con's. Don't be a shamed or embarrassed. It's time to excrete those horrible feelings from your head. You need to excrete those feelings because you're about to feel proud.
Now open your latest video. Time to rinse and repeat. Use that pen you had before or create a new paragraph in your text editor. Write down the pro's and con's. Go into about the same detail as you used when analysing you beginner video. Try and use the same terms, it will make it easier at the end.
You should have a good looking list. Your pro's and con's should be rough even. For every pro, one con.
Now open a video of a videographer who is more advanced you. For me it would be Philip Bloom.
Rinse and repeat again. I won't write down the steps.
This list should be mainly pro's and possibly one or two con's. If you got a result similar to that what I mentioned that is great.
Interpreting
Now get your 3 pieces of paper, your first video (Pg1), your latest video (Pg2) and the video of an expert(Pg3.)
Now we are getting to the important part. Get your Pg1 and Pg2. Compare how your pro's and con's changed. What con's were in both your current video and your first video? What pro's were in both your current video and your first video? Ask these analytic question. Write down notes about what you need to improve. At the end of writing you have a sheet telling you how much you improved. And more importantly a few notes on what you need to change. Anything that is a con on both Pg1 and Pg2 is something that you need to improve.
Now grab Pg2 and Pg3, look at the pro's on Pg2 and Pg3. Write down the differences. These notes will tell you why the expert you chose is better than you. Combine these notes with the ones you wrote comparing Pg1 and Pg2.
Now your notes should be quite extensive. It's time to interpret these notes into facts. Your notes should have pro's and con's of your work and why an expert is better than you. You need to convert these into statements, such as "Philip Bloom utilises natural lighting", "My music doesn't match my video".
Now your final notes will have statements telling you what you need to improve and what you did improve. Read through this and remember what you wrote. You might even want to write a good copy and print it out and take it everywhere you film. Incase on the day you want to remember what to think about.
This piece of paper is your key to improving quickly.
What if there is something you don't know to improve? What if you don't know how to utilise natural lighting? The answer is simple. Look it up, research and practise.
And now we are back to that word practise. I did say in the beginning that practise is the key to success but it is slow. But yet again I'm telling you to practise. Well I'll explain why.
Practise is the key to success. But what you practise determines how quickly you improve. If you practise what you need to improve you will improve quicker. Because you are cutting out unnecessary practise. I'm not saying don't ignore videography skills. Rather practise the ones you need to know. There are limit less skills to master in film making. The key to your success is mastering the ones you utilise the most.
Don't waste your precious time on skill you will never use more than once. Hone your important skills to a fine edge. Don't try and specialise in everything that takes a lot of time. And you only want to be an expert in one part of videography before you become a master of videography.
You hear practise makes perfect, which is partly true. But only perfect practise makes perfect. And no one practises perfectly.
So there must be a way quicker to improve.
But how? How can I practise less and get better faster?
Fortunately there really is a way to improve, and this is the fastest way I know.
Perfect Practise Makes Perfect
How many times have you heard perfect practise makes perfect?
These magical words seems to be the answer to everything. Indeed they are, but are they really the fastest way to improve?
Does everyone have so much time that they can practise perfect forever? No, we all have a tight schedule. Time is a limited resource so it has to be carefully used. Especially when it is time that is put into your business. Everyone wants to put productive time into their business.
So it's time for you to step up and really improve your videography skills, quickly.
It's interesting how we only think practise is the only step to improving.
I am here to tell you there is more to it. This is a blessing as you will improve quicker but it will require brutal honesty. Lying to yourself about how good you are won't cut it.
Are you ready to start?
Recap:
Perfect Practise does slowly perfect.
Perfect Practise is slow and arduous.
There is a way to speed up your improvement.
I'm going to teach you how to improve, faster.
Analysis
"Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something."- Google
Once again Google brings home the goods.
Because I'm a videographer I interpret that as "a close examination of your own and other people's videos"
I groan every time I hear, read, or see this. I can picture how bad my first few videos were.
This is a brilliant sign. If you feel embarrassment about your old videos, you are on the right track.
You might be think that it is bad to be embarrassed but it's not.
I'll explain why.
When you feel embarrassed, it means you are comparing your old videos to your new videos. And you are recognising that your old videos looks rubbish. Therefore you believe/know your latest video looks better and if it does looks better it means you have improved.
So try and embrace that feeling of shame and embarrassment. It's a sign that we are improving.
So you have now embraced your shame and you know why you feel embarrassed.
Time to delve deeper into understanding why you are embarrassed.
This is the difficult part where you have to be brutally honest or you won't improve any faster.
Open up one of your first few videos. Get a pen or paper, or you can open a text editor on your computer.
Watch your video and carefully study it. Imagine you are trying to find every pro and every con.
Write these pro's and con's down. Really go into detail, how smooth were the tripod shots? How was your music choice? Did you do a good job story telling? You want to have all your notes on paper or a screen. Don't leave them in your head. Having them on paper will clear your head. This will help later.
You'll because you were a beginner your list will be mainly con's. Don't be a shamed or embarrassed. It's time to excrete those horrible feelings from your head. You need to excrete those feelings because you're about to feel proud.
Now open your latest video. Time to rinse and repeat. Use that pen you had before or create a new paragraph in your text editor. Write down the pro's and con's. Go into about the same detail as you used when analysing you beginner video. Try and use the same terms, it will make it easier at the end.
You should have a good looking list. Your pro's and con's should be rough even. For every pro, one con.
Now open a video of a videographer who is more advanced you. For me it would be Philip Bloom.
Rinse and repeat again. I won't write down the steps.
This list should be mainly pro's and possibly one or two con's. If you got a result similar to that what I mentioned that is great.
Interpreting
Now get your 3 pieces of paper, your first video (Pg1), your latest video (Pg2) and the video of an expert(Pg3.)
Now we are getting to the important part. Get your Pg1 and Pg2. Compare how your pro's and con's changed. What con's were in both your current video and your first video? What pro's were in both your current video and your first video? Ask these analytic question. Write down notes about what you need to improve. At the end of writing you have a sheet telling you how much you improved. And more importantly a few notes on what you need to change. Anything that is a con on both Pg1 and Pg2 is something that you need to improve.
Now grab Pg2 and Pg3, look at the pro's on Pg2 and Pg3. Write down the differences. These notes will tell you why the expert you chose is better than you. Combine these notes with the ones you wrote comparing Pg1 and Pg2.
Now your notes should be quite extensive. It's time to interpret these notes into facts. Your notes should have pro's and con's of your work and why an expert is better than you. You need to convert these into statements, such as "Philip Bloom utilises natural lighting", "My music doesn't match my video".
Now your final notes will have statements telling you what you need to improve and what you did improve. Read through this and remember what you wrote. You might even want to write a good copy and print it out and take it everywhere you film. Incase on the day you want to remember what to think about.
This piece of paper is your key to improving quickly.
What if there is something you don't know to improve? What if you don't know how to utilise natural lighting? The answer is simple. Look it up, research and practise.
And now we are back to that word practise. I did say in the beginning that practise is the key to success but it is slow. But yet again I'm telling you to practise. Well I'll explain why.
Practise is the key to success. But what you practise determines how quickly you improve. If you practise what you need to improve you will improve quicker. Because you are cutting out unnecessary practise. I'm not saying don't ignore videography skills. Rather practise the ones you need to know. There are limit less skills to master in film making. The key to your success is mastering the ones you utilise the most.
Don't waste your precious time on skill you will never use more than once. Hone your important skills to a fine edge. Don't try and specialise in everything that takes a lot of time. And you only want to be an expert in one part of videography before you become a master of videography.
Recap:
Perfect Practise is slow.
Find out what you need to practise.
Practise it. Master it.
Then practise the next important skill.
Don't try and learn everything at once.
You have to tell me if these steps worked for you.
Send me a tweet or an email.
Take some time to follow me on Twitter
I am going to sending out notification about my posts and general videography advice.
I look forward to writing my next post.
-Luke Mead
P.S.
I have included some recapped points so if you are in a rush, you can skip to the recap section to read the main points. I think I'll include them in all my future articles.
Perfect Practise is slow.
Find out what you need to practise.
Practise it. Master it.
Then practise the next important skill.
Don't try and learn everything at once.
You have to tell me if these steps worked for you.
Send me a tweet or an email.
Take some time to follow me on Twitter
I am going to sending out notification about my posts and general videography advice.
I look forward to writing my next post.
-Luke Mead
P.S.
I have included some recapped points so if you are in a rush, you can skip to the recap section to read the main points. I think I'll include them in all my future articles.