Six basics of shooting video with a smartphone by Richard Marx
When shooting a video with your smartphone, consider these six basic video techniques:
- Steady Footage – Use a tripod or stabilize your phone to avoid shaky footage. This can greatly improve the overall quality of your video.
2.Shoot horizontal, not vertical. Shooting vertical with your SmartPhone – INHO – screams amateur. Using a rectangle format – most of the world’s video screens, monitors and projectors all rely on a rectangular shaped display.
3. Good Lighting – Ensure that you have adequate lighting. Natural light is often the best, but if needed, use external lighting sources to avoid grainy or dark footage.
4.Pay attention to audio quality. Use an external microphone if possible – it can be handheld or it can be wireless. There are a wide range of possible microphones and microphone kits you can use to greatly improve your audio. Another option, if you don’t have an external mike, it to simply shoot with your smartphone as close up to your subject as possible to minimize background noise and audio distractions.
Editing captured audio to remove extraneous noise and to fix poor audio is not easy. Make sure your audio is as good as possible. Also, if you are going to assemble a series of shots, – captured at different times – and then try to edit them together, it is best to use the same audio set up on all the scenes. Mixing and matching audio captured by different microphones and cameras can be extremely frustrating.
5.Composition: Frame your shots thoughtfully. Follow basic composition rules like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and maintain a balanced and visually appealing composition.
6.Manual Controls: Take the time to read your smartphone’s manual nd research its video effects and filters online. Experiment with them BEFORE you decide to shoot an irreplaceable event. Learn to use your smartphone’s manual camera controls if available. Adjust settings like exposure, focus, and white balance to get the desired look for your video. A small warning – IMHO – it is always better to add funny, strange and weird effects during the editing process, not when you are shooting. If you add the effect/filter while capturing video, you are stuck with it.
Following these basic smartphone video production steps can greatly help you to create professional-looking videos.