6 Tips for Creating Quality Videos With Smartphones

Videos on social media make a big impact! In fact, some popular social media platforms run solely on video content alone! But as a small business owner with a tight budget – you may think that making high quality and well done videos will break the bank. But, with modern technology – it doesn’t have to!

With the 6 tips below, you can learn to create quality videos for your social media on your smartphone!

1. Focus Your Camera:

Yes, you can open the camera on your smartphone and hit “record” but by adjusting the focus, or telling your smartphone camera what the focal point of the video is, your video will instantly look more professional. On most smart phones you just need to tap the focal point on your screen and hold it, you should see that subject in sharper focus than the rest of the surroundings.

2. Stabilize the Camera

Often human hands shake and become unstable. This can be distracting when making a professional looking video for your social media. There are a few different ways that you can ensure that you keep your videos smooth and stable. 

The first is to invest in a simple tripod or camera stabilizer that you can find to purchase online pretty easily. If you are sitting, a tri-pod will work just fine. There is also another option that comes with the latest smartphone cameras which is a built-in automatic stabilization setting. 

3. Know Your Angles

A famous saying in modeling is to know your angles, the original “filter” so to speak. Well, this adage will serve you well as you create social media videos. The angle you use to film can make a big difference to the appearance of your videos.

If you’re speaking directly to your viewers, make eye contact with the camera. If you’re speaking to or interviewing someone else, set up your smartphone so your eyeline is off to the side instead. Another rule of thumb is to have the camera point down for a higher angle that is universally flattering, but don’t make it a dramatic angle – it should not be obvious to the naked eye. In the end, learning your angles takes practice to find the best angles for your videos.

4. Lighting

Smart phones do not have the best lighting features for creating videos. While you can purchase light attachments for your phone, if you do not want to incur another cost for making videos on your cell phone – here are a few tips to use as a work-around. Try to utilize natural light whenever possible, but you will want to ensure that the light doesn’t shine directly at the camera. You can stand near a window, or experiment with the right location outdoors. 

5. Check the Sound Quality

What good is it to do all the work to get a good-looking video only to not be able to hear the video very well? It is vital to a successful video to have crystal-clear sound. To accomplish this, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Try your best to avoid any background noise. Ideally, this would mean to record in a secluded indoor area or room. But, if you must record outdoors try your best to record away from busy streets or crowded areas.
• In most smartphones, the microphone is a tiny hole next to the charger port you will want to place the microphone as close as possible to the whoever is speaking and make sure you’re not covering it up with your hand by accident.
• If you can’t keep the sound close to the microphone, use a wireless mic instead. There are lots of wireless microphones on the market, at a range of price points that you can easily find online.

6. Block Out Distractions

Nothing is worse than when you are in the middle of an amazing take of your social media video than for your phone to start ringing and ruin it. A tip to prevent this frustrating predicament: turn on airplane mode. Not only will this prevent interruptions, you will also save your battery from running down too quickly while filming.

With the right settings, knowledge, and these tips, anyone can create amazing video content. All you need is a smartphone.

Let Webster Digital Marketing Support Your Social Media Efforts

Webster Digital Marketing can help to advise you on the content for your social media videos to make them the most effective for the platform you are creating the videos for. We would love to work with you to improve your online presence! Contact us today to learn more.