The clocks have gone forward finally, and that means a whole extra hour of light and much better conditions for our smartphone shooting.
If you are planning on getting out and about doing some spring videos, here are some key reminders to make your shoot as smooth and as easy as it can be.
Start with a full charge
Remember to always start your shoot with a full battery, especially if you are planning to shoot in 4k. Take an extra charger out with you as well every single time.
Always Make Sure You Have Room!
Do a spring clear out of all the footage you don’t need any more that is clogging up your phone. You don’t want to be halfway through shooting a great chat and finding you have used up all your storage. It happens!
Make Sure Your Shot is Stable
Our crew all use the U rigs to give us more stability, or you can use a tripod. If you don’t have either of these, then remember to hold your phone with both hands close to your body and lean against a wall or something solid, so you don’t get shaky footage. Remember to check if your phone has a stabilisation option, if it does, turn it on!!!
Don’t Use Zoom
Remember, don’t use the zoom when shooting video on your smartphone, you just end up with a pixelated mess. Move closer if you can.
Crystal Clear Sound
If you are shooting outside then use the Boya lavalier microphone we recommend and remember to put the wind soc on it! Your inbuilt smartphone microphone does not record good quality sound, but if you have to use it, make sure you are within one metre of your subject to get any chance of a good enough chat.
Shoot In The Right Ratio
If you are shooting content, and you want to use it for a variety of formats, then always shoot in landscape. You can crop this footage for other usage but remember you cannot shoot vertical video and then convert to landscape.
Shoot Some B Roll
Remember, it is the B roll that ups the production quality of films, so do get some good footage while the sun is out. You want to be aiming to build up your own library of good quality B roll that you can use more than once, so don’t miss any opportunity and ALWAYS get shots of what your subject does or is talking about.
Don’t Get Distracted
Always put your phone on airplane mode, so you don’t get any calls, texts or alerts in the middle of a really great shoot!
I’d love to see what you’re shooting – send me a message!
I’ve seen some really impressive shooting so far this week from previous clients, we love seeing all your work.
