How to take better phone videos
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video may be worth a thousand pictures.
That is, there are many moments best captured by video rather than a still photo, be it a baby’s first steps, friends singing you Happy Birthday, or catching a game-winning goal.
Here are a few suggestions to improving the quality of your memories in motion.
Turn the phone sideways: Use the ‘‘landscape’’ (horizontal) orientation when shooting video, as you’ll get more friends and scenery in the shot, and you won’t see those black bars on each side of the video. It may be more comfortable to hold in ‘‘portrait’’ (vertical) orientation, but you’ll regret it later.
Hold your phone steady: To get a sharp (rather than shaky) video, turn yourself into a human tripod by holding your phone with two hands and locking your elbows against your body. Better yet, pick up a monopod or selfie stick, or a collapsible tripod if you’re serious about shooting smooth video while on the go.
Composition rule: You’ve only got one shot to capture that special moment, and if you want your videos to look professional, consider the ‘‘rule of thirds’’. As many photographers learn in school, break up a scene into two vertical lines and two horizontal lines, and place your subject wherever the four lines intersect. While it doesn’t usually work in video mode, some smartphones let you activate this grid on the smartphone screen.
Lighting is critical: Pay attention to the light around you, and take advantage of it. Take a moment to see what’s happening naturally and wait for the right moment. Good lighting - be it natural or artificial - can make or break a video. Play with the angles until you like what you see. Don’t shoot subjects near a window or with their back to the sun, as they’ll look like a silhouette.
Shoot straight, slow and close: When shooting videos or taking photos, try to match the height of the subject, such as kneeling on the ground to snap a picture of a toddler. You’ll get better video when you’re at eye level rather than angling the phone up or down. When shooting video, move the phone slowly to prevent blur while recording. If possible, get closer by walking up to your subject rather than pinching and zooming on your smartphone screen as your videos may look blurry or pixelated when played back.
Sound advice: Don’t underestimate the importance of good sound. While you might not want to bring a professional microphone with you everywhere, try to get close to your subject to capture the clearest audio possible but that also means you need to listen first to ambient noise before you start recording.
Editing is OK: Finally, there’s no shame in editing your videos before you share them. Sure, there’s something fun about a raw video shot in one take and uploading it on the spot, but remember video can live forever online so you might as well make it as good as it can be. Tweak it on your phone before you upload it to social media.
This includes cutting, cropping, adjusting colour and brightness, adding transitions, special effects, music, narration, captions, and more.