TURN ON THE LIGHTS

A lot of family videos are shot indoors. The average video recorder does not perform well in low light conditions and can result in shadowy or un-viewable clips. Extremely portable video recorders, such as cell phones, are very vulnerable to this problem because their small lens systems can’t take in enough light to deal with dimly lit situations.
Turning on more lights will help. The more you can light up the shooting area the better. Use overhead lighting whenever possible as it is usually designed to diffuse the light over a broad area. If you are relying on outside light by pulling open curtains, avoid shooting directly into the light as that will produce a shadowy under-exposed picture. Try to use light sources that are overhead, coming from the side or from behind you.
If you have a more advanced camera, check to see if it has “white balancing” or “back-lighting” adjustments. These functions can improve results when shooting indoors. Read your owner’s manual about how they work and when to use them.

CONSIDER AN EXTERNAL MICROPHONE

If you like to record people and actually hear what they are saying, use an external microphone. Most built-in camcorder microphones produce marginal sound quality. Check to see if your camera has a port to plug in an external microphone. If this is available, you will find many choices available to you. Some camcorder microphones are designed for different pick-up patterns, some are for some are for specific uses and others are for various power requirements. As a starting point check to see if the camera manufacturer offers an external microphone as an accessory for your camera model. A good external microphone is worth the investment if audio quality is important to you.