How to Make Good Videos With Your MacBook Pro's Internal Camera
If you are interested in shooting a video, you might want to use your MacBook Pro's built-in camera. There are steps you can take to make a good video instead of shooting something that might bore your viewers. Apple installs the free Photo Booth application on every recent MacBook Pro. You can easily use the built-in FaceTime HD camera, where the lens is located above the display, to shoot good videos with your MacBook Pro.
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Instructions
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Click "Photo Booth" in the Dock of your MacBook Pro to launch Apple's native video-recording application. The FaceTime HD camera automatically turns on, and its indicator LED light glows above the display.
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Click the icon of a movie frame on the bottom left of the Photo Booth window to activate video mode. Click the video camera icon to start shooting your video.
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Turn on the lights if you are shooting your video indoors, to provide sufficient illumination. Dim lighting conditions can result in a video with poor detail.
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Shoot your video in an environment that helps set the tone you want to evoke. For example, if you want to suggest a feeling of opulence and luxury, shoot inside an office building in a towering skyscraper, with a glittering city spread out beyond the large windows.
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Position the MacBook Pro so that the camera points toward an interesting background. For example, shoot your video with a colorful painting on the wall behind the person you record, or have the person sit or stand in front of a bookcase, full of books.
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Look at the Photo Booth video image window to compose your shot. Don't put an individual person in the exact middle of the frame. Arrange it so the person is closer to the left side, for example, and then shoot another individual framed on the right side if you are shooting alternating shots of a dialog.
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Hold the MacBook Pro as steadily as you can while you move through space, such as by walking, having someone push you around in a chair, or having someone drive you in a car while you shoot through the window if you want to shoot some moving shots.
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Tips & Warnings
While you can make good videos simply by shooting in sequence using Photo Booth with your MacBook Pro's camera, you can also rearrange the shots later by importing them into Apple's free iMovie application, and edit them into a longer video.
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- Photo Credit Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images
