It’s a holiday weekend coming up and a perfect time for shooting some great family and friend videos. Most of our celebrations involve younger family members and also some great food and possibly some really great chocolate, so thought you may want a few reminder tips for making sure all your smartphone videos are lovely reminders of happy times.
Filming with Children
Whatever activity you are filming with younger members this weekend, there are some rules that can really help you out.
KEEP THEM ONSIDE
Keep your children engaged, show them the footage as you go along.
Change things up, don’t try and get them to do the same stuff, mix up what you want.
Give them a running commentary in a sing-song voice to keep them tuned in
SHOOT AT THEIR LEVEL
Get down to child level to shoot your video. If you shoot from above, it looks all wrong. Kneel down and capture their facial expressions. If your child is Easter egg hunting, just get your smartphone down by your side and run after them. Videos looks great when shot on their level and do shoot a variety of shot sizes.
SHOOT SIDEWAYS
Get into the habit of always shooting landscape. This means you have footage that can be viewed on a variety of platforms, including the TV for grandparents!
Don’t limit your shots by shooting it vertically, remember you can resize your landscape video later, but you cannot do the same if you shoot in vertical.
SHUT UP!
Remember to stay quiet. So many great clips of children are ruined when you can hear the parent telling them to do it again or hold on or telling them how cute they are!! Be Quiet Folks.
Shoot some top-down videos
This weekend is all about the food. If you are having a big Easter lunch or Seder dinner, then why not video and showcase the feast you have created.
Think about shooting it as a top-down video. There is a reason we all like this footage. It eliminates the depth of field in your video, and it makes your food seriously pop on screen.
You can fit tons into one shot, and these are not hard to do when you know how! The key is to use the right bit of equipment to hold your phone steady to shoot your over head video.
Here is a link to our current budget favourite if you are just starting out. Clamp Stand
Be aware that not all food looks great shot from overhead.
Food that has height like a five tier celebration cake is not going to look good shot like this.
For these key shots, you need to put your camera on the table and go for a straight on shot and use your smartphone wide angle lens to make the food look bigger and more punchy.
USE A BACKDROP
Many video chefs today use backdrops for food shoots. These are a great idea! We like www.blackvelvetstyling.com as they have a huge range of backdrops, they stock loads of handy sizes, and they always have a good selection on sale.
Outdoor Shooting
Remember if you are outside you won’t be able to control the sound as well, so if you want to record good sound with outdoor activities you are going to need a microphone. The best one for on the go shooting is the Rode Micro, which is perfect for starting out and works with all smartphones. Get it here…
Don’t forget, most modern smartphones don’t have a headphone jack port any more, so you do have to buy an adapter to plug this in.
Have a great weekend and can’t wait to see all the fun smartphone videos you are creating.
