Although we've gotten some amazing submissions for Making Sense of Diabetes so far, we thought it'd be a good idea to collect some tips for those who may not be as inclined to appear in front of the camera and a few others for those who want to do it but are not quite sure how to complete SOME part in the process of putting together a video for Making Sense of Diabetes (or anything else, for that matter). Here you go...

FIRST THING: THE STORY
You don't have to be all fancy or get too technical about your video. The most important thing when shooting a video is the story, so if you have a good idea for a story to tell, you can even tell it holding up signs. That will go a long way!

Write down your ideas and try to give them some shape. If you are not the kind that has the memory of an elephant, this will help even more. If you have to read your notes or a script you put together, try to have someone hold it for you as close to the camera lens as possible, so that you don't appear to be reading... still, if you must read, do it. Remember: the story is #1.

VIDEO WITHOUT A VIDEO CAMERA
Assuming you have the story part down (really, that is the toughest part -believe it or not), you CAN create videos without a video camera! No: I am not crazy.

Maybe it won't be Oscar-worthy material (that is not what we're expecting anyway) but you can go a couple of routes here:
1) You can go to Animoto.com and use photos from your own collection, to tell the story on your video. They do some automatic animations for you timed to the music you choose: they give you the option to upload your own music or choose from their library of music. After a few minutes, they spit out a video that you will be very impressed with. If you don't believe me, here is an example of a video we created using Animoto. See what I mean? Not had, eh?

2) If you have Microsoft Powerpoint (at least I know the 2007 version offers this option), you can save a Powerpoint presentation as an MOV (movie) file, which can then be uploaded on TuDiabetes. You can add your own music to your slideshow, so the result may not be as slick as the Animoto-created videos (they use some pretty intense technology to animate the slides) but... again, the story is the important part.

CREATING A VIDEO WITH A WEB CAM
If you acquired your computer in the past 2-3 years, there is a very good chance it includes an embedded web cam at the top of your screen. If that is the case, you HAVE a video camera right there that you can use to create video.

If your computer is a Mac, the process hardly gets any easier. You can use Photo Booth, which comes with your Mac.

Clicking on the Movie icon and the Record button as shown below will get things rolling. When you are done, click on the Stop button (where the Record button is located) and you have got yourself an MOV (movie) file you can upload on TuDiabetes.

If your computer is not a Mac... well... I feel for you... Just kidding! If you have a Windows-based computer, you have Movie Maker for Windows Vista/Windows 7 and Movie Maker for Windows XP you can use to help you create your video, whether with your computers' built-in web cam or with your portable video camera.

CREATING A VIDEO WITH A PORTABLE VIDEO CAMERA
Now you may have portable video camera (preferably a digital one, to make things easier). If that is the case, you will need to be familiar with how to download your movie into your computer once you've shot it (typically through a USB or Firewire cable).

For PC users, Movie Makers will let you do this as well as edit your movie.

For Mac users, Photo Booth won't work for this. You will need at least iMovie, a piece of software that Apple offers bundled with the iLife suite.