Pocket camcorders like the Flip are so convenient, and the video so high quality, that they have created a whole new population of videomakers. Press a big red button to record, press it again to stop. You no longer have to be a geek or read a big, fat manual. But some basic technique can make your shots steadier, your composition better, and your video more watchable.

Steadying your Shot

Much of the video you see taken with pocket camcorders, say, on YouTube, suffers from jitters and shakes.  One reason for that is that the camcorders are so small, inviting you to hold them in one hand with a less-than-sure grip.  That's fine, if you're just using the medium to tele-chat with your friends, but if you would like shots that are much steadier, without a lot of additional effort, there are a couple of things you can do:

• Hold the camera with two hands, forefingers on the sides, middle fingers on the front (without blocking the lens), thumbs on the bottom.
• Get a square, balanced stance, with your feet below your shoulders.
• Plant your elbows against your ribs/stomach, to create a kind of natural tripod effect.

Framing your Shot

Don't always put your subject in the middle of the shot.  Use the Rule of Thirds, in which you imagine a the frame divided into thirds, both vertically and horizontally, and put your subject on one of the dividing lines or intersections.  In other words, put your subject a little off-center.

Don't use digital zoom, which degrades the quality of your video.  If at all possible, zoom with your feet -- i.e., walk close enough to your subject so it fills the frame.

Think about Lighting 

If you have any control of the light, as for example you would if you were in your own house, turn on all the lights in the proximity of your shot that are behind you, or off to one side, out of the shot.  If you can, position yourself between the brightest light source and your subject, and never let there be a bright light source behind your subject.

Outside, the brightest light source is usually the sun, so you should take shots with your back to sun, to avoid 'back lighting' problems, where your subject appears as a dark silhouette in your shots.  If the sun is to one side or the other, you will get more shadow on the opposite side of your subject.  That isn't necessarily bad, but be aware of it.

Panning

Panning is what you do when you are shooting a subject that is in motion, relative to you.  If the motion is vertical, from high to low or vice versa, use the steadying stance described above.  If the motion is horizontal, from left to right or vice versa, the challenge is greater.

If you can predict the motion, as you might when you're shooting a bicyclist, a car, or a person walking, assume the steady position, but with your feet pointed where the shot will end.  Then turn at the waist, start your shot, and finish strong. This will give you a smoother pan than if you end the shot out-of-balance.

Lead your subject, a bit.  Show a little bit of where your subject is going.  This not only gives you a smoother pan, but is also good shot composition.

Take Shots from Different Positions

If you have the time and opportunity, shoot your action again, from a different position.  Move a little closer, or to the left or right.  Try getting above or below your subject.  Videos of children taken from their own level or below are almost always better than if you take them pointing down.

Edit, Edit, Edit!

Now we get down to whether anyone ever watches your entire video, without a gun being held to their head -- or even whether you ever want to watch it again.  Camcorders like the Flip MinoHD or UltraHD come with editing software that auto-loads itself onto your computer and is incredibly easy to use.  The most important software function to learn is how to trim your shots to get rid of the stuff that was the shakiest, the most poorly lit, or that adds the least to your story.

That leads us to the final point.  Try to tell a story with your video. If you're going on vacation, grab a few seconds of the family walking out the door, or boarding the plane, as an "establishing shot" that sets the context for your viewer.  At a party, you can catch a few seconds here and there of your guests arriving, talking to each other (perhaps from enough distance that you don't invade the privacy of their conversation), or serving themselves from the buffet.

When you edit your shots into a final sequence, you don't have to place them in the same order you took them.  Order them in a sequence that helps your storyline.  Generally, the more you can think ahead about the story you want to tell, the better and more watchable your final result will be.