The phone you
carry around all day is also a brilliant video recorder. Here are some basic
tips for mastering mobile video.
As Christmas
draws closer, many of us will be taking photos and shooting videos on our
phones.
Follow our
shooting tips to make your home movies even better.
Shooting Tips
Record in landscape
Filming in
portrait mode can seem natural because that’s generally how we hold and use our
phones. But it’s no good if you want to share it on any online portal or cast
it to your TV. That’s because you’ll get vertical black borders surrounding
your thin-looking clip.
So shoot in
landscape mode – holding the phone is on its side - is essential. You might
have to stand a little further from your subject, but it gives you a wider
angle to fit more of the scene in your shot.
Keep a steady hand
There’s nothing
more distracting than wobbly video, motion blur and out-of-focus subjects. One
way to steady your shot is to hold your phone with both hands.
It’ll help you
cut the amount of movement - but take care not to cover the lens or the
microphone by mistake.
Many high-end
smartphones, like the Sony Xperia X, have stabilisation technology to help
reduce shake.
Keep movement smooth
Capturing moving
subjects isn’t easy. So you’ll need to keep your camera movements smooth. One
way to do that is by moving your body rather than just your arms - keep your
elbows locked to your side and rotate your body instead. Or try using a tripod.
Take care with zooming
The digital zoom
on most smartphone video cameras enlarges the pixels, which can diminish the
quality. So try not to use it unless you really need to.
If you can, get
closer to your subject instead. The alternative is pixelated, noisy video you
won’t want to watch anyway. Have you ever had to sit through a friends’ video
shot at a concert? That’s what you want
to avoid.
Experiment to find the best light
It’s important
to try to find the best light for your imagery, so move around and make use of
natural light if possible. In daylight, try to make sure the sun is lighting
your scene rather than shining directly into the lens.
Avoid the flashlight
On most phone
cameras, the flash can double up as a light to illuminate subjects when
recording video. But it can be too strong and make it look unnatural. So save
it for when you can't find any natural light.
Manually adjust exposure and focus
Many smartphone
cameras feature a tap to focus setting and a way to adjust the exposure
(controlling how much light the sensor lets in). Both methods can help with
lighting your subjects correctly.
On an iPhone,
for example, you can long press on the focal point to lock the focus and
exposure.
Use the time lapse setting
Most high-end
smartphones now have a time lapse setting, which lets you condense several
minutes or even hours of footage in to a much shorter clip. This can be a great
way to capture interesting road trips, tidal scenes or sunrises and sunsets. Here
it’s important to lock the exposure (as we explained above) to make sure the
lighting stays consistent.
Protect yourself from the elements
If it’s possible
you should use your body to shield your phone from the wind, because it’ll ruin
the audio. Position yourself in a way that stops the breeze getting to your
phone’s microphone at the bottom of the handset.
Practical tips for your smartphone
Shoot at lower quality
4K and Ultra HD
video are becoming more common on our phones. Which is great, but the resulting
clips take up much more space on your phone. You can save space by shooting at
lower quality.
Don’t eat up all your data
Upload large
video files over wi-fi so you don’t use up all your mobile data allowance.
Trim your footage
Most phone
cameras offer the ability to whip off the awkward start and end of clips,
giving the video a more professional feel.
Use an editing app
You can use a
specialised editing app to pull more than one clip together. Many will also let
you add fades and transitions as well as a soundtrack. Try Apple’s own iMovie
for iOS and KineMaster for Android.
Bring a spare battery
Shooting video
does as much to drain battery life as any activity, so come prepared. If your
phone has a removable battery, bring a spare. Otherwise, think about investing
in a portable battery pack.
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