You don’t always need a fancy camera or a big budget to make a professional-looking video for your business. Even if you have no budget, you can use your phone to create a video that showcases your brand, products, services, or events to your customers. All you need is some planning, creativity, and some simple tips and tricks. Here are some ways to make your phone videos look more professional:
- Know what you want to say
Before you hit the record button, you need to have a clear vision of what you want your video to achieve. What is the goal of your video? Who are you talking to? What is the main message you want to get across? How long do you want your video to be? What are the main points you want to cover? Having a clear vision will help you organize your video, avoid wasting time and footage, and stay on track with your goal.
- Keep your phone steady
One of the easiest ways to ruin your video is to have shaky, blurry, or crooked footage that makes your viewers dizzy and distracted. To avoid this, you need to keep your phone steady and level while shooting. You can use a tripod or a stabilizer to hold your phone in place. You can find cheap and portable tripods or stabilizers online or in local stores. Or you can use whatever you have around you, like a stack of books, a chair, or any stable surface to support your phone.
- Pick a good spot
The spot where you shoot your video can make a big difference in how your video looks and feels. You need to pick a spot that matches your topic, reflects your brand personality, and has good lighting and sound conditions. For example, if you want to show off your office culture, you can shoot in your workplace or in a nearby park. If you want to show how your product works, you can shoot in a studio or in a relevant setting. Avoid spots that are too noisy, too dark, too bright, or too messy.
- Check the settings
Before you start recording, you need to check and adjust the settings of your phone camera. You need to make sure that you are using the best resolution and frame rate possible for your phone model. You also need to turn off any digital zoom or filters that might lower the quality of your video. You also need to enable the grid feature on your phone camera to help you align your shots and follow the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a technique that divides the frame into nine equal parts and places the subject or the main point of interest along one of the lines or at one of the intersections.
- Use natural light
Lighting is one of the most important things that affect how your video looks and feels. Ideally, you should use natural light as much as possible, as it gives a soft and flattering effect on your subject and creates a realistic and natural look. However, natural light can also change depending on the time of day, the weather, and the direction of the sun. Therefore, you should avoid shooting at noon when the sun is too strong and creates harsh shadows and glare. You should also avoid shooting against the sun or in front of windows as it will make your subject look dark and silhouetted. Instead, you should shoot during the golden hour (the hour after sunrise or before sunset) when the sun is low and creates a warm and soft glow. You should also shoot with the sun or the light source behind or beside you to light up your subject evenly.
- Use external microphone
Sound is another thing that affects how your video sounds and feels. Unfortunately, most phone microphones are not very good at capturing clear and crisp sound, especially in noisy environments or from a distance. Therefore, you should consider using an external microphone to improve the sound quality of your video. You can find different types of microphones online or in local stores that work with phones, such as lapel microphones, shotgun microphones, or wireless microphones. You should also test the sound levels before recording and adjust them accordingly.
- Edit your video
After you finish shooting, you need to edit your video to make it more interesting and polished. You can use different apps or software on your phone or computer to edit your video, such as iMovie, Adobe Premiere Rush, InShot, etc. You should cut any unnecessary footage, add transitions between scenes, insert titles and captions, adjust the colour and brightness levels, add music and sound effects if needed, etc.
- Export and share your video
The last step is to export and share your video. You need to choose the right format and size for your video depending on the platform you want to use. For example, if you want to upload your video to YouTube, you should use 16:9 aspect ratio, MP4 format and 1080p resolution. If you want to share your video on Instagram, you should use MOV format and 1:1 aspect ratio. You should also compress your video file to make it smaller and easier to upload and download. You can use different apps or software on your phone or computer to compress your video file, such as HandBrake, Video Compressor, etc.
Finally, you should upload or share your video on the platform of your choice and promote it to your customers. You should write a catchy title and description for your video, add relevant tags and keywords, include a call to action, and encourage feedback and engagement. You should also monitor the performance of your video and analyse the metrics such as views, likes, comments, shares, etc.
Conclusion
Making a professional-looking video with your phone is not hard if you follow these tips and tricks. You can create a decent video with your phone that can help you achieve your goals and impress your customers.
However, if you want to create a more professional and high-quality video, you may want to consider hiring a professional videographer that can provide you with the best equipment, skills, and expertise. If you are looking for a professional videographer anywhere between Byron Bay NSW and Brisbane Queensland, you can contact me, Tim Bradley at northcoastvideographer.com or on my contact page coastvideo.com.au. I have over 20 years of shooting experience and can help you create a stunning video that suits your needs and budget.
