Hamish McLaren is a young entrepreneur in Australia, with experience in extensive travel and photography.
Most smartphones these days are amazing pieces of technology that surpass even professional cameras from the 1980s and earlier. However, all of that tech doesn’t mean a whole lot if you can’t make it work for you. Luckily today’s smartphones are also easier to use than ever, and you can turn out a video that looks practically professional with only a little practice and some tech tips.
Plan a Script
The first key to a good one-minute video is to properly plan out your video in advance. It might seem like one-minute isn’t any time at all, but you can get quite a bit of information in there if you plan carefully. Make sure you plan out what you want people to say on camera and what you want people to do on camera. Be sure to practice a few times to see how long it actually takes. Write a short script if you need to, and make sure your people who will be on camera know it.
Flip It to Film It
The next most important thing is; do not film your movie vertically. Turn the phone horizontally to make sure that your viewer sees the video in the proper format. This is a huge turn-off for viewers, especially if you are trying to reach out to a younger or more tech-savvy audience. This gaffe immediately marks your production as amateurish and lackadaisical.
Get Good Light
Good lighting quality, as well as enough light, in your film, are vital to the end appearance of your video. Even though almost all smartphones do have a video editing software where you can adjust the exposure of the video viewers can often tell that you have done so. When a video is shot without enough light and then edited to make it look brighter, other visual flaws will be enhanced, and the video will appear to the viewer as careless. These adjustments may make the video difficult to watch or obscure detail that you’d like to show. The easiest way around this is to simply make sure you have enough light in your video when you’re shooting.
Stabilise Your Smartphone
The easiest way to make your video look professional is by treating your smartphone camera as a professional one. This means fixing it to a point so it cannot be moved. This avoids the jumpy, handheld camera appearance. You can purchase small tripods for this purpose, but you can also simply use what you have laying around to make sure the camera doesn’t move. If you’re filming exercises, dance moves, or other raucous activities that might upset the camera a smartphone tripod might be worth the money. By ensuring your smartphone camera is stabilised, you’ll be one step closer to a professional, easily watchable video that won’t make viewers carsick when they’re watching.
Remember, no matter what you’re filming or why you’re filming it the most important aspect of your camera is who is behind it. Planning, practice, and patience, along with these tips, can help you make sure that your next video gets your message across as you intended it.
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Author: Hamish McLaren
Twitter: @HamishMcLaren5
