Apologies for no VidAngel review yet. I haven’t had time to sit down and watch anything on it, but a review of their service is coming! You can check out my post on the site here.

Okay, so I still make a lot of rookie film mistakes. Because I’m still kind of a rookie. But honestly, I think everyone makes these mistakes still. So, before the madness and fun of New York City begins– let’s have a fun (hopefully relatable) list!

Forgetting an SD card

This one’s the worst, and the one I’m most guilty of. I’m an extremely forgetful person. So if I ever take my SD card out to get the footage off it, I need to put it back in the camera immediately. Otherwise I don’t even think about it, and by the time we’ve reached the point of no returning home to get forgotten things, I turn on my camera. And sigh. I really need to stick spare cards everywhere.

Unplugging a mic

The most terrifying thing you can face while editing (besides losing all your footage or progress) is hearing the audio suddenly give up. That horrible, loud, scratching noise as the mic unplugs, then silence. There’s no saving it at this point. You can’t adjust the volume, because there is no sound. You take a breath, and you work with it.

Lens cap

“What? Is the camera dead? Why can’t I see? Did it break?”

“Your lens cap is on.”

“…ah. Hahaha.”

Batteries

Charge the camera batteries. And keep track of them. Always have one on the charger so you can switch out. Because nothing raises the intensity and stress level of shooting when that little red battery sign is blinking at you.

Not clearing an SD card

You didn’t forget anything this time! Filming is going great. You brought the SD card, the battery is full, tripod is set. It couldn’t be any better! Until the camera stops filming mid-scene. Now you have to go clear stuff you don’t need anymore out of the SD card. Unless you need all of it. And what if you’re filming something live? You don’t have time to clear the card! Man, a nightmare.

Okay, so if you’re forgetful like me, what do you do about all this? Stick a checklist in your camera bag. Tape it in if you have to. If you know when you’re going to film somewhere, set reminders in your phone. Keep spares of things in your camera bag. Anything you can do to prevent a mishap in the future! But don’t tear yourself up over mistakes. Learn from them, and grow.

See you around the campus, and Soli Deo Gloria!

If you want to contact me, I can be reached via Twitter @ejLadd or by my email, [email protected].

To see more from this blog, check out Frame Rate: VidAngel presents customizable movie filtering