How do I make video footage clearer?

How do you make video footage look better?

• Answer:

  While taking the footage (to the extent you have control): steady camera, plenty of light that's distributed so as to illuminate the subject, but not provide distracting illumination to unimportant parts of the scene), use the aperture to set the depth of field appropriate to the scene, properly frame it, where possible use a level of resolution higher than the target distribution format. Don't over or under expose anything that is part of the subject, don't let shadows of equipment or crew creep into the shot. While editing: use video scopes to make sure color and brightness are within acceptable boundaries, use color-grading to adjust the tone and mood of the scene, be judicious with the placement of your cuts and the type of transitions, don't be afraid to crop a scene (which is easier if you capture in higher resolution than your target format; note: maximum sharpness is only going to be possible on unscaled video)