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Interested in shooting video with your smartphone? Follow these easy to follow steps.
Open your phone’s camera and select the “Video” option. Be sure to hold your phone horizontally if the focus of your video is a wide open space (like a jobsite) or a group of people, or vertically if the focus of your video is a single person or other small subject.
If you have one available, use a tripod to steady the phone as you film. However, if you or someone filming can only shoot the video while holding the phone, the editing process will usually clean up any minor shakes or movement.
Use good lighting – try to film during the day if possible, since natural light, even on a cloudy day, does a better job of evenly illuminating a space. It’s also the most flattering light for your face, whereas artificial lights can be unflattering – white LED lights create a gloomy atmosphere, newer fluorescent lamps can make you look sickly and direct light from a lamp can cast shadows across your face.
Try to eliminate background noise as much as possible. It can be distracting, or even drown out your speaking. If you are filming outside, wait until a day with no wind.
Once you are finished filming, upload the video to a file-hosting or file-sharing service like Dropbox, Google Drive, Hightail or WeTransfer to access it from a computer.
Remember…
DO try to film during the daytime in a room well lit by natural light.
DO try to keep the phone/camera steady with a tripod or by setting it on something stable, if possible.
DO try to film in a very quiet space (no kids/TV/vacuuming/dishwasher in the background, no wind if you’re outside).
DO speak conversationally, as if a friend is in front of you instead of a camera.
DON’T film at night and rely on lamps for light.
DON’T film outside on a windy day or when there’s a lot of background noise.
DON’T worry about messing up! A lot can be fixed in a video editor.