UK film maker and new media journalism Adam Westbrook has some advice for online video journalists: don't make your film boring, technically poor, and amateurish. "Online video — done well — has the power to be an art form, to touch people, to make them understand something, to make them care," he writes. Want to do it well? Check out Westbrook's list of top 10 mistakes, and how to avoid them.

UK film maker and new media journalism Adam Westbrook has some advice for online video journalists: don't make your film boring, technically poor, and amateurish. "Online video — done well — has the power to be an art form, to touch people, to make them understand something, to make them care," he writes. Want to do it well? Check out Westbrook's list of top 10 mistakes, and how to avoid them. Hint: you'll have to get a tripod, but you'll also have to think. Westbrook's common mistake number 10? Not playing to video's strengths.

He writes:

Finally, video today is used because it can be, and not because it should be. There is too much video coverage of conferences, long interviews with boring people, and attempts to use video to cover council politics. Video is good at some things: emotion, action, movement, detail, processes. It is terrible at other things: numbers, meetings, politics, court cases, and anything that doesn’t happen on camera. The solution? Use video for its strengths – and keep the camera in your bag for the rest.

For the other nine tips, check out his blog.