At CoLang this year I was invited to come and talk with the group in the Recording and using video in language documentation class. I shared some of my favorite reasons why I always try to use video in a language documentation project, which gave me a chance to mention some of my favorite research on gesture, and talk to people about their experiences with filming. I thought I’d write up four of my favorite reasons for filming video in this post. If you’re thinking of doing a language documentation project I’ve also written a paragraph at the end of this that you can use in the first draft of a grant application.