Down to basics - lite video

A cell phone is about as light as you can go. Here's a test piece I shot and edited on my iPhone 4. Note that you can do a reporter voice track, interview, b-roll and natural sound with these devices.

A simple way to get started is to work with whatever's handy. That could be a point-and-shoot still camera with video capability, and the editing programs that ship with most computers these days.

As a free place to start for PC users, I like Windows MovieMaker. Here's a tutorial from Microsoft that covers the basics:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Getting-started-with-Windows-Movie-Maker

Note that if your camera creates QuickTime files (.MOV extension) you'll need a program to convert those to AVI files. A piece of freeware from Pazera will do a good job:

http://download.cnet.com/Pazera-Free-MOV-to-AVI-Converter/3000-2194_4-10798308.html

Note that most of the default settings will work fine, though you may need to change the audio codec setting from "auto" to "copy original audio stream."


Another iPhone example
This was the first piece I shot with my iPhone, during some down time in Las Vegas during a conference. It's rough, but you get an idea of the possibilities: