Video content is king these days. If you want more engagement with your accounts and content, consider including videos. If you don’t have sophisticated equipment, not to worry. You can still create captivating vlogs with your phone.
Equipment
Apart from your phone, you’ll need a tripod. Our hands aren’t as stable as we think. If doing a ‘sit-down’ video, you can place the phone on a stack of books, stick it on the wall using tape or a car mount. Tripods are important if you’ll be shooting while moving around.
Great audio is paramount for vlogs. If the sound is muzzled or has noise interference, your viewers will skip to the next video. Not good. Invest in good microphones that will serve you a long time. For sit-down videos, lavalier mics work best if you’re on a budget. If doing activity vlogs you can mute the video’s audio and overlay it with catchy music. Sites such as bensound provide free music.
Lighting issues can be solved in a number of ways. Natural light is the easiest & cheapest. Just make sure you aren’t in direct/ harsh sunlight. This will create sharp shadows on your face. If you want to use artificial light, choose lamps that give off fluorescent light. These give better aesthetic in videos compared to incandescent bulbs.
Shooting Procedure
- Place the phone in a horizontal orientation while recording. This cuts out the ‘black bars’ at the edges of vertical videos.
- Ensure your phone is in flight mode. The last thing you want is your video being interrupted by call/ text notifications.
- Record a short test video before the actual recording. Use it to check that lighting, sound & colour settings are correct.
- For more interesting vlogs, include unusual angles like worm’s eye view.
- If doing a sit down video look into the front-facing camera, not your image on the screen. This way, you’ll appear to be looking directly at the viewer.
