How to Shoot Good Video, Even With A SmartPhone (video)

These days practically everyone is armed with some sort of device to capture video. It might be their cell phone, a flip camera, or even a real video camera. However that doesn’t mean that what is being produced by these devices is good video. Obviously, the story is what makes a video but if you have poor equipment or you use it improperly that can ruin your video.

Now, there’s two schools of thought here: I come from the TV news business where getting a story first on the air is typically the most important thing. However, in marketing and, likely with your business, there isn’t quite that mad rush. So, you can plan and produce something meaningful that will help consumers understand your products and services and ultimately lead them to become customers.

So, if you’re not hiring a professional video storytelling company like ours…here’s tip number one for the do-it-yourselfers…if you’re shooting video with a smartphone hold the camera horizontally. It looks so much better. Watch the video below to see what I mean. That video was shot exclusively with my iPhone because that was all I had on me at the time. I was out on a hike when I stumbled across  the Komen 3-Day Race For a Cure story and I didn’t want to miss it.

Tip number two…if you don’t have a professional external microphone to attach to your camera…position yourself close to the interviewee. You’ll see in this story, I didn’t have an external mic and I had to deal with some wind noise…plus for the documentary-style shooting, I wanted movement…so in some cases, I hiked along with the walkers. The video, of course, is not as steady but you have a feeling of really being there and for this type of story it worked. What I did for audio was try to get as close to them as possible and to pay attention to where my microphone is located on my iPhone. Then you can also do some post audio work in FCP. It’s not as good as a professional mic, but for this type of story and the spontaneity of it…it worked.

Tip number three don’t pan. Hold your smartphone in place and don’t pan, IOWs, let the scene unfold in front of you. Most people tend to move the camera too quickly when they’re trying to pan and you end up with shaky and blurred video.

Tip number four. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, breathe slowly or some cases take in a breath…hold it, get your shot and release your breath. This will help you get stable shots without a tripod. You can also lean against something but still keep your arms tucked in.

Tip number five. Shoot a scene for at least 10 seconds. In other words, stay on the subject even if it’s just crashing waves for no less than 10 seconds. Make sure you have a steady shot. When editing your video these 10-second shots will come in handy.

And, finally, have fun, pick up a camera and start shooting. I’m Phoebe Chongchua with LFF…we’ll see you on the air!