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There's not actually that much to basic video/film making. There's just a
huge amount of mystery surrounding it. I've been through a very similar
process myself, as I was in charge of film and video production for students
for my Univeristy Film Society, and I came on without any prior knowledge
about film-making at all. I've in fact, to my knowledge, never read a book
specifically about film/video-making, per se, and I'm working, reasonably
successfully (I hope), in the film industry at the moment.
 
I would ask to what type of equipment do you have access, both shotting and
editing. If the answers none then you're actually off to a good start
because, with good planning, you can actually produce something quite
respectable using a cheap camcorder and two VCR's. I was always fortunate
enough to have aaccess to better set-ups than that but it can be done.
 
A good exercise is to watch some drama movies/TV closely and notice the shots
that the director has chosen and ask yourself, why was it done that way
instead of some other way.
 
There are some basic rules about cuts that you should pay attention to. One
that's common;y referred to as "crossing the line" basically is about screen
direction. If you're shooting a scene where two people are talking to each
other. If a close shot on person A shows them facing L-R then it's imperative
that if we cut to a shot of person B replying that person B is facing R-L.
 
 
--------A--------B---------
 
 
The rule is that if you're shooting this conversation and you're first camera
position is, say, somewhere above the dotted line, then it's wise to ensure
that all other camera positions, assuming the people aren't moving around too
much are also above (north of) the dotted line. I hope this makes sense.
 
I seem to have got into talking about stuff in more detail than I'd planned
to but the best way of actually learning this stuff is to go out and do it,
and you'll soon see what works right in editing and what doesn't. Our eyes
are trained to get used to looking at TV/film in a certain way and you'll
most likely see when something "doesn't look right" even though you may not
be able to put your finger on the reason.
 
Anyway feel free to e-mail me if you want ([log in to unmask])