DIY

IMAGIN

Bad instructional videos
flood the internet on
a daily basis. Don’t miss
out on the fun!

HOW NOT TO MAKE

A HOW-TO VIDEO

Ignore these handy rules and your instructional video will turn out great! By Travis J. I. Corcoran

Many people have noted the collision of the open source/hacker ethic with the growing interest in hands-on projects. Add the declining cost of digital video cameras to the mix, and the result is a huge surge in folks making their own instructional videos.

Illustration by Damien Scogin

If you can imagine a project or a skill, there’s probably someone who’s made a how-to video about it — everything from smelting metal to brewing beer to creating goth cemetery scenes to lifting large stones.

Perhaps you’re interested in making your own how-to video. It’s a great idea, and there’s a huge market! In my job of running a how-to video rental website I’ve seen lots of good videos, but also lots of bad ones. After watching all these

videos, I’ve developed a list of rules you should definitely break if you want to make a great video.

Let’s take a look at some tips from the low-fi playbook, but remember: Use these tips only in reverse!

1. Hold the camera yourself. Decent quality, consumer-grade tripods can cost as much as $45. Save that money, and have a friend hold the camera for you … or better yet, hold the camera yourself, as you operate machinery.

2. Film with dim lighting. Halogen shop lamps can cost as much as $15 each at a big-box retailer, and diffusers and reflectors made out of poster board could cost

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