My contract wrapped up last month and now I'm in the downtime between work. I planned to use this break to learn about video production. I renewed my producer's card at the public access center and signed up for a couple classes (basic camera and digital video editing).

Duly trained but still not having a clue what I'm doing, I figured the best thing would be to just grab some equipment and do a shoot. So last night I headed off to Dorkbot to tape the merriment and mayhem.

The shoot seemed to go pretty well. I only looked at a few minutes from the first tape, but it seems to have come out well. That really pleases me, because it was shot outdoors at night without much light.

I intend to produce a 30-minute show from this, but the primary purpose was a learning experience. And learn I did. Here are some things I'll do differently at my next shoot:

• Bring a flashlight. Because it's hard to see in the dark.
• Bring more extension cords. Because extension cord singular is not enough.
• Bring more audio cables. Because the sound board is further away than you think.

I'm pleased that I thought to bring an audio cable. I was able to plug into the PA to record the sound, so I think my audio may be pretty good. That was good thinking.

My next step is to edit it all together. I'm anticipating that will be a lot of work. I'll let you know how it turns out—and what I learn from that.