{"id":4103,"date":"2009-12-23T15:40:23","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T20:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/?p=4103"},"modified":"2023-10-04T18:41:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T23:41:19","slug":"videotaping-animals-tips-and-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/videotaping-animals-tips-and-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"Videotaping Animals-Tips and Tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Everybody likes videos of animals.\u00a0 Some of the most popular online videos feature animals, usually in a pose of incredible cuteness.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9899 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?resize=469%2C264&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cute kitten picture\" width=\"469\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?resize=600%2C338&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?resize=150%2C84&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cute-cat-pictures_.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Videotaping domestic animals can be tricky, though.\u00a0 They usually do not want to cooperate!\u00a0 <em><strong>My best trick is to create a situation that makes good pictures, then videotape them while they enjoy the environment naturally.\u00a0 The camera HAS to blend into the environment, so the animals do not notice it.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Wild life photographers often shoot from a blind.\u00a0 That&#8217;s not always practical, of course.<\/p>\n<p>I made the video below for a friend of mine who owns a small horse ranch.\u00a0\u00a0 She had tried to take video herself, but was unable to get any good shots.\u00a0 The horses wanted to do nothing but lick the camera!\u00a0\u00a0 Read on to see what tricks I used to get tons of quality video.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CP1PLy26k6A?si=6j3HUdJ-zyK_nJFh\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>DISTRACT THEM!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, full disclosure.\u00a0 I am a critter-lover from the word go, so videotaping animals is a total pleasure.\u00a0 Even if you step in goo.\u00a0 Just keep that in mind when you get dressed!<\/p>\n<p>Many people have trouble getting good shots of their animals. Often, it&#8217;s because the animals are looking for treats.\u00a0 They just know there was something tasty inside the camera if they could only get to it.<\/p>\n<p>Most domesticated animals will react this way to a camera, even if it is held by someone they do not know.\u00a0 I have experienced this dozens of times over the years. Even if you stand back, most domesticated animals like horses or cows will continue walking up to you to lick the camera.\u00a0 It&#8217;s kind of fun, really, but not real productive.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>That&#8217;s why I always get somebody to feed, play with, brush, or otherwise distract the animals.\u00a0 Then I take video of that activity.\u00a0 Shooting off a tripod, I can get nice steady close-up shots using the zoom lens.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I videotaped the horse owner in the video above while she did her daily chores and training activities with her herd.\u00a0 I did this on several occasions, since I spend so much time there anyway. \u00a0 I happened to be there when the horseshoe guy came, so I videotaped that too.<br \/>\n<strong><em><br \/>\nThe more variety of activities you can videotape, the more visually interesting the final product.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0 Getting lots of footage also allows you to use just the most spectacular.\u00a0 I had over one hour worth of raw video to choose from when I edited this 3-minute video.\u00a0 I had a lot more video than I could use, but the best videos are made out of nothing but spectacular shots.\u00a0 In order to do that, you simply have to have a high shooting ratio.\u00a0 (Not that I consider this video spectacular, I don&#8217;t.\u00a0 But it is pretty good for a quickie.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"adena and big girl\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/images\/adena%20%20big%20girl.JPG?resize=255%2C341\" alt=\"Adena and her Great Dane, Big Girl. \" width=\"255\" height=\"341\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I hope this helps you take better video of animals!<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to everybody for reading Video Production Tips.<\/p>\n<p>Lorraine Grula<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10484 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/amber.jpg?resize=383%2C520&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cat picture dramatic lighting\" width=\"383\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/amber.jpg?w=502&amp;ssl=1 502w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/amber.jpg?resize=110%2C150&amp;ssl=1 110w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/amber.jpg?resize=221%2C300&amp;ssl=1 221w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>FOOD FOR THOUGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why is distracting the animal an effective strategy for getting good animals shots?<\/li>\n<li>How do most domestic animals react to a video camera according to this article?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everybody loves videos of animals!  Discover some tips and tricks to getting good, natural looking video shots of animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2731,1],"tags":[657,960,1909,1908,959,548,1910,159,958],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/amber.jpg?fit=502%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4103"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19632,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4103\/revisions\/19632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}