Send us your videos!
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Although Hound TV is produced in Melbourne, Australia, many of our viewers are in other countries (hello USA, UK, Canada, India and New Zealand!).
If you’ve got some footage of your dog, a dog story, or a dog event you’ve been to, and you think it would be good for the show, we would love to see it.
Of course we can’t promise to show every video - but if you follow these guidelines, yours will have the best possible chance.
If you still have questions after you’ve read all of this, please e-mail woof@houndtv.com
Content & Style
OK, as you’ve probably gathered if you’ve watched Hound TV a few times, we try to keep things reasonably fast-paced and fun. Nobody wants to watch someone sitting in one place droning on and on (and if the camera’s glued to one spot it makes it even worse). Each segment usually runs anywhere between two and five minutes.
Yes: Short, dynamic, fun No: Just sitting there droning on
You should be ‘Shooting to edit’ - so don’t think of what you shoot as the finished product. We’ll be editing it anyway. So if you mess something up, don’t worry, just do it again. As long as you leave a gap of about a second or more between ‘takes’.
No shameless plugs. If you need to mention a product or service for the story to make sense, that’s fine, within reason. If you want to promote a product, that’s what advertising is for (drop us a line, our rates are very reasonable!)
Most of our segments - in particular Hound of the Week - are shot in an interview format. But we will also consider segments in other formats (for example, just one person talking to camera about their dog).
If you choose to use the interview format, try to ask open questions, like “what does your dog like to eat?”, rather than closed (yes or no) questions, like “does your dog like beef jerky?”
Here are the kinds of things you may want to tell us about:
- Your name
- Where you’re from (town/city, state/region, country)
- Your dog’s name, breed and age
- If a pure breed, why you chose that breed, and any health or care issues you know of
- How you came to have your dog
- Anything unusual your dog does tricks/hobbies/habits/diet
Framing
This is easy - get close to the action. Now, get closer! Watch an episode of Hound TV to get an idea of how tight the framing should be. By all means move the camera around during the interview but avoid jerky movements or rapid zooming during the interview.
Cutaways
As well as the actual interview, talk, presentation, or whatever you’re shooting, we’re going need some cutaways to go with the story (the more the better!).
Cutaways are shots of stuff that relates to the story that we can place over the audio. This helps to illustrate the story and also gives us something to cover up any edits we need to make.
For example, if you talk about how your dog likes to chase a ball in the interview; go and get some footage of your dog chasing the ball! Then we’ll play the footage while your talking about it.
Cutaways can be as simple as getting some close-up shots of your dog sitting at your feet during the interview.
To see an example of how cutaways work, have a look at Episode 22 of Hound TV.
In the dog food story, while Steven is talking to Claire, you see shots of the outside of her store, food being prepared, etc.
Sound
Good sound is one of the most important factors in making a watchable video. If possible, use some kind of external (plug-in) microphone, about 6 to 8 inches from the speaker’s mouth. A cheap hand-held mike from your local electronics store will do fine.
If you can’t get hold of an external microphone, it is possible to get away with using your camera’s built-in mic. But you’ll need to go somewhere where background noise (other dogs barking, traffic, aircraft, wind) is minimal, and speak loudly and clearly towards the camera.
Lighting
The best light is outdoors on an overcast day - there is plenty of light but no harsh shadows. The next best thing is outdoors on a sunny day - either in a shaded area, or with the sun behind the camera and to one side. If the sun is directly overhead (i.e. in the middle of the day), the shadows tend to be very strong.
Camera support
Unless you find it very difficult to keep the camera steady while hand-holding it, we prefer it if you do not use a tripod. Of course if you are shooting on your own and want to be in the shot, then you’ll need to, and that’s fine 
Video Format & Delivery
In order of preference, we can use the following formats:
1. Digital video file on CD or DVD
2. Mini DV tape from your camera
3. Digital file sent over the internet
Video Specifications:
- Quicktime MPEG-4 (.MOV or .MP4) or Windows media (WMV or AVI)
- 25 or 30 frames per second
- 4:3 aspect ratio
- Size: 720 x 576 or 640 x 480 (320 x 240 is acceptable but not preferred)
Delivery
Mail CDs, DVDs or Mini DV tapes to:
Hound TV
PO Box 33
Brunswick West VIC 3055
Australia
To send digital files, please don’t attempt to attach the file to an e-mail!
Use a free file transmission service like yousendit.com or box.net.
Then Send the link to woof@houndtv.com
The fine print
All people appearing in the video will need to sign a release form (this gives us permission to use the video). For kids (under 18 years of age), a parent or guardian should sign on their behalf.
The release form is at http://www.houndtv.com/release.pdf