If you know how to manually control the features of your camcorder, you can create some pretty cool effects. In automatic mode your camcorder decides the best settings for these features, but if you take control, you can create visual effects outside the ordinary, especially when you control white balance and shutter speed. (Consult your owner's manual to find out which buttons control white balance and shutter speed.)

White balance
In order to record colors accurately, your camcorder needs to have a reference for what white looks like. This isn't quite as easy as it sounds. The color of an object depends on the type of light illuminating it.

Generally, you'll find two types of lighting: sunlight and lamplight. Sunlight is tinted blue; lamplight is tinted orange. Normally, your camcorder automatically selects a white balance by sensing the color of the ambient light. Take control of the white balance and trick the camera.

Setting the white balance with different colors will give your shots different looks. Everything you shoot will shift away from normal. For example, if you point the camera at something red and set the white balance, everything you shoot will have a green tint.

1. Point the camera at something that's not white.
2. Manually set the white balance.
3. Experiment with different colors to see how they create different moods.

Shutter speed
In the world of digital video, each frame or separate still image lasts for 1/30th of a second. The amount of time the camera sees each separate image can be less or more than that. A fast shutter speed is much less than 1/30th of a second -- something like 1/4000th of a second. When capturing fast-moving objects, such as sports or action, images appear crisp and sharp.

Fast shutter speeds require a lot of light for exposure and are best used outdoors to give your footage a hyper-real feel. Slow shutter speeds can make action seem blurry and dream-like.

On some cameras shutter speeds can be set as low as 1/8th of a second, which blurs motion across several frames. This can create some truly strange images. Play around and see what your camera can do.

Vanishing act
In your finished movie you may want to have someone disappear from the shot. While most of the effect happens during the editing phase, you need to carefully shoot the scene.

1. Mount your camera on a tripod and make sure it doesn't move during the shot.
   
2. Shoot your scene normally until the moment when you want your actor to vanish.
   
3. Have everyone in the scene freeze in place.
   
4. While the camera is still rolling, have the actor you want to disappear walk out of the shot.
   
5. Have the other actors continue with the scene as if the character had just vanished into thin air.
   
6. Import the shot into your video-editing program.
   
7. Split the shot in two right before the moment when you had the action freeze.
   
8. Split the second half of the shot again just at the moment where the action begins again after your actor has left.
   
   You now have three clips: one with the actor in frame; one with everyone frozen while your actor leaves the scene; and one with the action continuing after the actor has gone.
   
   
9. Delete the middle clip and place a dissolve between the first and last clips.

When you play back the scene, your actor will seem to vanish into thin air. By changing the length of the dissolve, you can control how long it takes for your actor to disappear.

That's it: Three easy tricks to take your videos beyond the ordinary. Don't stop there. By turning off the automatic features of your camcorder and learning how the manual controls work, you can create unique and striking images.