’Tis the holiday season, and your whole family is coming together to exchange presents, eat a home-cooked meal, and enjoy each other’s company. You want to capture the magic of this special day, but how do you make sure your footage will make a memorable family movie? VideoTov video editor Brent Rumble shares four secrets to creating a holiday video you’ll watch and cherish for years to come.

1) Shooting in Low Light
Most holiday gatherings take place at night, often with little more than the glow of the fireplace and lights on the tree to illuminate the house. While this sets a cozy mood for family gatherings, it’s a challenge for the family videographer.

Brent suggests mounting and LED panel to your video camera to brighten the scene. (LED lights provide bright but diffuse light.) Alternately, you could change the settings on your camcorder to allow more light in by opening the aperture and increasing the ISO. (The ISO rating is the standard measurement of light sensitivity. As you increase the ISO number, you allow more light in.)

2) Framing for Large Groups
Getting everyone together for the holidays is wonderful, but getting everyone into a shot can be tricky. You can stand back and take a really, really wide shot, but be careful not to cut anyone’s face off. Another option is to zoom in to close-up range and slowly pan across the room, so you can see every family member’s face.

3) B-Roll of Food and Decorations
A family video is about people, of course, but it’s also about the setting. Don’t forget to take some B-roll (that’s just a fancy way of saying extra footage) of your surroundings. This footage could include the holiday meal, decorations, fireplace, snow falling, an outside shot of the house, and more. Your video editor will skillfully intersperse this footage with your family video to encapsulate the full experience of the gathering.

4) Pass the Camera Around
If you take all of the video, you won’t be in any of the video. Let other people shoot for a while so the footage will include you.

Remember these four tips when shooting your holiday video footage, and the VideoTov editors will easily be able to create a lasting memory for you and your relatives. Your great footage, combined with our expert video editing, will turn your family gathering into a classic family movie.

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About the Editor

Brent works as a freelance producer, director, editor and writer and he lives in Los Angeles, CA. He is a graduate of the Brooks Institute, where he majored in film and video production.