Top Tips for Filming on Your Phone!
People filming on their phones is a curious thing, isn’t it?
On one hand, it can be…well, pretty damn annoying.
Just think of those times someone near you at the football has filmed your team (hopefully) scoring a penalty rather than living in the moment, or that time your view of the band playing on stage has been obscured by some wazzocks (great word) in front of you sticking their phones up in the air for the duration.
Honestly, that’s the last time I go to a BTS concert without stilts on.
Thankfully however, those examples tend to fall more into the “personal” side of life, whereas as a B2B company we’re all about the “business” side of things.
In this regard, filming on a phone is actually a truly brilliant thing if done well – a fabulous way for marketers to create valuable and effective video content for their organisation in a quick-fire and low-budget manner.
Putting out rubbish quality videos could be really damaging
If you put content out there that is frankly shoddy, shaky, and so downright cringeworthy even you can’t bear to watch it back, however, then you’re potentially doing your brand a lot of damage!
Think of it like you would printed material. You wouldn’t want to put your logo on a banner or a brochure in such poor quality that you can see the pixelation.
Even if it’s done by yourself and for something fairly low key, video should be treated with exactly the same respect. EVERYTHING MATTERS!
So how can you make these self-shot videos better to represent the quality of your brand you’ve worked so hard on?
Well, in this post – and in Mike’s videos above and below- we give you six “top tips” to do just that. Don’t say we never do anything for you…
Pay Attention
Just like Oli at work after his KFC lunch, it can be easy to drift off when filming something.
DON’T! STOP IT!
Stop your eyes wandering and pay attention to what you’re filming within the frame itself.
Your phone’s memory
There’s only so much we can store in our brains, and the same is true for phones too.
If you know you’re going to be filming a lengthy video, do make sure your phone has enough memory space to handle the file you’re asking it to save.
Practice
This one is pretty self-explanatory, right? Practice, and then practice some more.
Plan
Now this is one that gets overlooked far too frequently. No matter what you’re filming, you need to make sure you plan it out first – yes, even for a video designed to be a 30 second testimonial or interview.
To ensure your planning is as rigorous as possible, why not ask someone to help you with it?
After all, team work makes the dream work!
Changing the light
Here’s one you may not know* – the changing of the light.
When your phone is in camera mode, tapping on the screen at a certain spot will make your phone light that particular section.
Where you’re filming should be well lit anyway, but this one is a particularly useful tip to keep in mind.
Talking distance
Finally, here’s a tip on how your video sounds rather than how it looks.
Phones are OK at picking up audio but only OK, so make sure the person speaking on camera is a sensible distance away ie. Not across the other side of the Grand Canyon or invading your personal space.
This tip links in with the Planning one above – make sure you’re prepared for a lively, crowded room if that’s what you’ll be filming in!
So, there’s six tips on filming on your phone. For more flesh on those bones, why not watch Mike’s videos above?
Finally, we’re proud to offer training on how to shoot your own video content for your organisation – click this link to find out all the details!
* To be honest I didn’t, but then I don’t even know which day the bins go out any more
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