Are you using video for your business and looking for video tips for beginners?
The great news is that literally anyone can make great videos with no experience. Cell phones and portable mobile devices have made video technology accessible to pretty much anyone!
It’s a great resource for marketing to clients. Video allows you the opportunity to be personable to strangers. It makes you accessible and relatable. People enjoy watching instead of just reading or listening.
BUT…
Simply recording yourself isn’t enough.
The ease of video creation has created competition, and if you want to stand out you’ll want your personality and authenticity to shine through.
These are some basic guidelines you can follow that will make your video content stand out.
Creating Quality-Looking Video
These are tips to make your video look cleaner and more professional.
1. Be aware of backgrounds.
Nothing screams professionalism like a pile of dirty laundry on your right or your precious chihuahua humping the couch a few feet away. Keep backgrounds simple to minimize distractions, clean up your frame and be aware of your surroundings.
2. Frame and tighten your shot to minimize distractions.
This relates to being aware of your background. Don’t record from too far away; be aware of your “subject,” and make it the clear focus.
Pro-Tip: Add a grid if your camera allows or find something to line your shot to eliminate strange angles. An example would be lining up someone’s eyes with the top of a straight building to create parallel features.
3. Don’t pan fast or zoom unnecessarily.
Playing with your camera features doesn’t make you look fancier.
Simple is better. Unnecessary movement causes your phone to zoom in and out or lose focus which absolutely degrades the quality of your video.
4. Don’t shake; invest in a tripod.
We’ve all seen that amateur video recorded by the guy shaking so bad you get disoriented when watching!
You could lean your phone up against something, but a tripod is cheap and offers you flexibility in height.
5. Take advantage of free apps.
Free video editors are meant to be simple and eliminate the need for “one take” shots.
They make things look professional without much skill. You can also use free apps to create montages with audio without any effort on your part.
6. Great lighting changes everything.
This is my personal favorite tip on the list. It’s simple and vital to creating quality looking videos.
Make sure the room is well lit. Invest in extremely reasonable lighting for fifty dollars at home improvement; construction lights are portable and easy to store.
Don’t film in full sun; it can create weird shadows and darkened figures.
Sunlight is an excellent source of lighting though, as long as it’s not directly overhead. Sitting at your kitchen table with the windows open looks ten times more professional than sitting in your bedroom with a crappy lamp turned on in the corner.
Technical Difficulties
Some of these tips may seem simple, but they’re easy to miss and will save you some frustration if you consider them now.
- Don’t run out of battery. Make sure you’re fully charged up before recording. If you’re traveling or moving around, you might consider having backup battery source. You can get remote chargers for as little as twenty bucks that will charge you up in minutes.
- Make sure your audio is turned on. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a perfect thirty minute run and realize your video is useless due to this little oversight.
- Record in landscape, not portrait. It may seem more natural to hold your phone upright especially when recording in selfie mode, but landscape translates much better to larger screens, monitors and televisions.
- Prepare to convert to whatever media you’ll need. This tip may be more applicable if not using a mobile device, but is still important to consider. Where is this media going? Make copies and backup the video.
- Use the back camera. The “selfie cam” gives the benefit of watching yourself while filming, but the back camera is higher quality and will produce better picture.
- Have a plan. Save yourself some time. Maybe you write a script or just take some notes, but know what you want. Organization shows. Have a purpose.
Just For The Selfies
Here are a few tips specifically for those who will be recording themselves.
- Make sure your settings are on auto. This way your shot stays focused without you having to adjust yourself.
- Have a steady surface. Again, I recommend just getting a tripod.
- Flip the viewer so you can see yourself. As mentioned, the back camera is going to be higher quality. However, if you are very new at recording or speaking on camera you might benefit from being able to see what you look like as you go.
- Give yourself visual cues to assist in editing. If you plan to edit your film or need several takes without turning your video on and off, visual cues can help you. An example would be waving your hand in front of the screen between takes.
Conclusion
These tips will help get you started on recording your first videos.
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