How to Become a porn director | Page 8

unit and
save the sales tax to boot.
Before you buy anything, see if you can’t rent the
model you’re interested in. Most cities have a
professional camera shop that will let you rent out units
by the day and even give you some pointers on taking

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some good shots. You may want to say you are interested
in taking wedding videos; porn may not elicit a lot of
help (maybe not).
Some features to look for in camcorder
are the following:
1) Zoom ratio, the more the better. You want to be
able to capture every hair on their skin from a
distance that will not make the performers
uncomfortable or get in their way. A smooth
zoom is important for continuity from shot to
shot.
2) The camcorder should work well under poor
lighting. Unless you plan on putting together a
professional studio, you are going to be relying
on the ordinary lighting that is normally found in
a house. Some camcorders have infrared
sensitivity to see better in low-level lighting
situations. One manufacturer got in trouble with
this feature because during the day the camera
could “see” through certain types of clothing.
3) Some camcorders have a built-in stabilization
mechanism that will help compensate for you
moving around for that perfect camera angle. You
definitely don’t want the clip to look like it was

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filmed during an earthquake. A good solid tripod
will help for certain stationary shots.
4) Although black and white viewfinders generally
offer a better viewing resolution, color
viewfinders may help with the subtleties of
certain settings. This may be nit picking but it is
something to consider. Since you are on a budget,
get what you can and go with it.
5) Before you buy, make sure a repair shop can still
get parts at a reasonable cost. You don’t want to
pay more for repairs then what you paid for the
camcorder to begin with. Check to see if someone
in your area can do the repairs, if not, where can
you send it for repairs.
There are several video formats to choose
from in the camcorder world, which include VHS,
Super VHS, 8mm/Hi8mm, Betacam and Digital misc.
VHS is a popular viewing format in most
homes today. The VHS format is relatively
inexpensive and does not need to be copied onto
another media in order to view it with a VHS video
player. The VHS camcorder is rather bulky when
compared to some of the other video recorders that
are available today. The quality of VHS for editing
and viewing on a large scale is not very good.

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Super VHS use a smaller cassette and can still
be used in a regular video player. The resolution is a
bit better and the sound and editing capabilities are
improved over the VHS recorder.
8mm/Hi8mm video format comes in a smaller
more compact recorder with better resolution and
better image quality. Tapes are more expensive but
this format is very popular in the consumer market.
Used 8mm/Hi8mm can be found in your local
newspaper or on auction sites on the Internet.
Betacam (not to be confused with the defunct
Betamax format) is the choice of the professionals.
Betacam SP uses metal tape and allows for multiple
audio tracks. Also available are Digital Betacams that
have a high quality digital signal.
Digital formats continue to change and get
better as the years go on. Recording in a digital
format makes dubbing, editing and distribution a lot
easier. You can take a digitally filmed piece and
transfer directing onto a home computer for editing
that comes close to the pros.
Consumer camcorders are usually highly
automated with little capabilities for manual
adjustments. While good for the kid’s birthday party
this automation may not be quite adequate for
shooting a porn flick.

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The things that make a good viewing video
include control over the focus, exposure and color.
Make sure that the camcorder you buy lets you do
some rudimentary adjustments to these three areas.
Camcorder Basics
Most camcorders have viewfinders that you
can adjust for brightness, contrast and color. These
adjustments affect the image as you see it through the
viewfinder. This needs to be setup properly in order
for you to evaluate the scenes taking place.
Always adjust the monitor before you begin
shooting. For that matter, ALWAYS read all of the
directions for your camcorder and have a thorough
knowledge of the capabilities of the camcorder before
you even start to think about filming.
You maybe an amateur but you certainly
don’t want to look like a schmuck fooling around
with the camcorder while the actors are waiting.
Video camcorders need to adjust to the
different lighting balance of your set. Because
various light (fluorescent, daylight, household bulbs
etc.) give off different kinds of color, you should do
some preliminary testing and view it before you start
filming.

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Read the directions to your camcorder to see
what kind of adjustment can be made. Some have
manual setting that allow you pick indoor or outdoor
preset positions.
Automatic exposure controls come with most
consumer camcorders. If possible this should be
turned off for manual setting. Automatic controls
have problems with