Filming Tips
Here are a few tips to keep in mind while filming your life and your loved ones.
1. Using your smartphone to take video? Great! Now hold it sideways. While upright filming and portrait (vertical) footage work great for an Instagram Reel, it limits how much of the scene you can capture. Hold your phone sideways and you’ll capture beautiful content that will fill the screen when you watch it later on your computer or TV.
2. Steady hands! This speaks for itself. :)
3. Get in the shot! Selfie videos work great if you’re the only person taking video. When you look back on these moments, you’re going to want to see your loved ones but you’re also going to want to see you too.
4. If you’re taking a photo, take a video too! Before or after you take a photo, consider taking a few seconds of video. This works well for almost everything, including group shots.
5. If you need to zoom in, try to do so before you hit record. Zooming in when using a smartphone inevitably results in bumpy footage. If you need to zoom in while you’re already filming, then make sure to get a few seconds of steady video once zoomed in because the part of the video where you are in the process of zooming will likely be edited out.
Thinking you might want a highlights film of your next vacation? Here are some additional tips to keep in mind on your travels.
6. Traveling footage really helps build out the story of your holiday, so try to get a few seconds of video of your crew moving through the airport or on the plane, walking into and out of places, traveling to new destinations within your holiday (e.g., during the train or bus trip to the next town on your itinerary), and of the scenery you’re moving past or the road ahead of you while traveling.
7. Film the scenery! Record a few seconds of your views, whether of the beach and waves, farm pastures or mountain lookouts. Panning (slowly filming from one side of the landscape to the other) gives great movement to your film. Also, close-ups of scenes are great to add, such as your feet in the sand, beautiful flowers along your hike, or even beautiful handmade goods at a market (if the vendor doesn’t mind, of course!).