Shoot to thrill
WANT TO TAKE THE VIDEOS YOU MAKE TO THE NEXT LEVEL? THESE ARE THE APPS YOU NEED
POINT, shoot, share - that’s the way to make video for the internet, right? Well, it could be that simple, that’s for sure. That’s what most people do. But there is a better way, a way that’ll likely see whatever story you have to tell reach more people… and make them glad it did.
Mobile phone cameras have improved dramatically in a very short space of time. Even to the point where they’re too good for most people’s needs.
In other words – if you’ve got one of the latest and greatest iphones or Android devices, you’re probably not making the most of the fantastic footage it can capture.
Here are three apps for IOS and Android that will help you do just that – you can do all of it right on your phone, and you’ll be amazed how much better the results are with just a little time and effort.
FOR SHOOTING FILMIC PRO
They say: FILMIC Pro v6 is the most advanced cinema video camera for mobile. Ever. FILMIC Pro features cutting-edge capabilities and is the most responsive manual filming app available on mobile. A multitime IOS Video Camera App of the Year, FILMIC Pro has been used in more high profile video projects by award-winning directors than any other app.
We say: You know what they say, garbage in, garbage out. Now, obviously the stock footage from your mobile phone’s camera app may not be garbage, but it certainly could be better. What Filmic Pro gives you is the kind of control you need to make the footage you shoot as good as it possibly can be.
Producing the best footage possible sets you on the right path and gives you more flexibility down the line when editing.
Control over frame rate, an expanded dynamic range, live analytics, and image stabilisation elevate the capabilities of your phone to pro-level. So much so that top filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has even shot a proper feature film with the app on iphone.
Filmic Pro can be expanded with even more controls with in-app purchases, and its makers offer a few add-on apps to help with the process – there’s Doubletake, which utilises front and back cameras simultaneously so you can shoot two-people face-to-face at the same time; and Remote, which allows you to monitor and control the app from a second IOS device (like an ipad). They also make a still image camera app – Firstlight – which provides some lovely film emulation effects.
Cost: £14.99 with in-app purchases. Filmic Remote costs £9.99. Doubletake is free, Firstlight costs £7.99. Double Take and Remote are IOS only.
FOR EDITING
ADOBE PREMIERE RUSH
They say: Feed your channels a steady stream of awesome with Adobe Premiere Rush, the all-inone app for creating and sharing videos — fast and easy. Powerful tools let you quickly create videos that look and sound professional, just how you want.
We say: You know Adobe – maker of the venerable Photoshop picture editing software. You probably also know it makes a raft of other creative apps, like Illustrator and Indesign. It also makes one of the film industry’s standard video editing packages in Premiere Pro – it’s a full-featured professional app with many bells and whistles, but is available only on what you might call ‘proper’ computers.
There is a trimmed-down version, though, which works on phones and tablets and provides 90% of the features you’ll need. It’s called Premiere Rush. It can be used for free – but a subscription will unleash the real power. And as well as all the features the app brings, you also get lots of online storage for projects, and access to Adobe’s huge range of fonts, to give your work a unique look and feel.
You can create animated titles, have access to thousands of royalty-free soundtracks, and easily resize your projects to a variety of social-friendly aspect ratios.
If you do want to go further, you can kick things off in Rush and move projects into Pro on desktop for the final touches.
Cost: Subscription to Adobe Premiere Rush costs £9.98/month, or £19.98/month for Rush and Premiere Pro.