Video is hot right now. Facebook serves up more than 4 billion video views per day. And Google says more than 50 percent of smartphone video viewers use video to help make product decisions.
But making good videos is not an easy task. Luckily, it’s not as hard as you think. Here are six things to remember:
Shoot in shots
Don’t hold one shot for too long. Instead set up a nice shot, hold if until it gets boring (5-10 seconds), then stop and set up another shot. Then edit those shots together to make one video that people will actually want to watch.
Vary your shots
Make your video more interesting by showing different viewpoints. Get the three basic shots: wide, medium and close-up.
- Wide shots show your subject and their environment.
- Medium shots start to isolate your subject from their environment.
- Close-up shots isolate the subject or give us interesting details. Hands and faces make great subjects for close-up shots.
Shoot in sequences
You should think about what you are shooting in terms of scenes. For each scene, shoot wide, medium and close-up. Then reconstruct the event so it appears to happen in real time.
Look for things that repeat (so you can shoot the same action more than once from different viewpoints). Or have your subject repeat them if that’s possible.
Avoid camera movement
Camera movement (pans, tilts, etc.) can look great when it’s done by the pros, but it can also make videos look shaky and difficult to watch. Instead, hold the camera still and let the movement happen inside the frame. Even better, use a tripod to get still video. Use a Shoulderpod to attach your phone to a tripod.
Capture emotion and motion
Two things work well on video – emotion and motion. If you don’t have either of those, your video might be pretty boring.
Tell a story
Every video will be better if it tells a story. A story should include: A hero, a beginning (where we meet the hero), a middle and an end.
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Want more tips for making great videos? Attend my video workshop on Oct. 20, 2015, at Drake University. Get more details.