The phone you carry around all day is also a brilliant video recorder. Here are some basic tips for mastering mobile video.<\/p>\n
As Christmas draws closer, many of us will be taking photos and shooting videos on our phones.<\/p>\n
Follow our shooting tips to make your home movies even better.<\/p>\n
Shooting Tips<\/p>\n
Record in landscape<\/p>\n
Filming in portrait mode can seem natural because that\u2019s generally how we hold and use our phones. But it\u2019s no good if you want to share it on any online portal or cast it to your TV. That\u2019s because you\u2019ll get vertical black borders surrounding your thin-looking clip.<\/p>\n
So shoot in landscape mode \u2013 holding the phone is on its side \u2013 is essential. You might have to stand a little further from your subject, but it gives you a wider angle to fit more of the scene in your shot.<\/p>\n
Keep a steady hand<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing more distracting than wobbly video, motion blur and out-of-focus subjects. One way to steady your shot is to hold your phone with both hands.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll help you cut the amount of movement \u2013 but take care not to cover the lens or the microphone by mistake.<\/p>\n
Many high-end smartphones, like the Sony Xperia X, have stabilisation technology to help reduce shake.<\/p>\n
Keep movement smooth<\/p>\n
Capturing moving subjects isn\u2019t easy. So you\u2019ll need to keep your camera movements smooth. One way to do that is by moving your body rather than just your arms \u2013 keep your elbows locked to your side and rotate your body instead. Or try using a tripod.<\/p>\n
Take care with zooming<\/p>\n
The digital zoom on most smartphone video cameras enlarges the pixels, which can diminish the quality. So try not to use it unless you really need to.<\/p>\n
If you can, get closer to your subject instead. The alternative is pixelated, noisy video you won\u2019t want to watch anyway. Have you ever had to sit through a friends\u2019 video shot at a concert? That\u2019s what you want to avoid.<\/p>\n
Experiment to find the best light<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to try to find the best light for your imagery, so move around and make use of natural light if possible. In daylight, try to make sure the sun is lighting your scene rather than shining directly into the lens.<\/p>\n
Avoid the flashlight<\/p>\n
On most phone cameras, the flash can double up as a light to illuminate subjects when recording video. But it can be too strong and make it look unnatural. So save it for when you can\u2019t find any natural light.<\/p>\n
Manually adjust exposure and focus<\/p>\n
Many smartphone cameras feature a tap to focus setting and a way to adjust the exposure (controlling how much light the sensor lets in). Both methods can help with lighting your subjects correctly.<\/p>\n
On an iPhone, for example, you can long press on the focal point to lock the focus and exposure.<\/p>\n
Use the time lapse setting<\/p>\n
Most high-end smartphones now have a time lapse setting, which lets you condense several minutes or even hours of footage in to a much shorter clip. This can be a great way to capture interesting road trips, tidal scenes or sunrises and sunsets. Here it\u2019s important to lock the exposure (as we explained above) to make sure the lighting stays consistent.<\/p>\n
Protect yourself from the elements<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s possible you should use your body to shield your phone from the wind, because it\u2019ll ruin the audio. Position yourself in a way that stops the breeze getting to your phone\u2019s microphone at the bottom of the handset.<\/p>\n
Practical tips for your smartphone<\/p>\n
Shoot at lower quality<\/p>\n
4K and Ultra HD video are becoming more common on our phones. Which is great, but the resulting clips take up much more space on your phone. You can save space by shooting at lower quality.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t eat up all your data<\/p>\n
Upload large video files over wi-fi so you don\u2019t use up all your mobile data allowance.<\/p>\n
Trim your footage<\/p>\n
Most phone cameras offer the ability to whip off the awkward start and end of clips, giving the video a more professional feel.<\/p>\n
Use an editing app<\/p>\n
You can use a specialised editing app to pull more than one clip together. Many will also let you add fades and transitions as well as a soundtrack. Try Apple\u2019s own iMovie for iOS and KineMaster for Android.<\/p>\n
Bring a spare battery<\/p>\n
Shooting video does as much to drain battery life as any activity, so come prepared. If your phone has a removable battery, bring a spare. Otherwise, think about investing in a portable battery pack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The phone you carry around all day is also a brilliant video recorder. Here are some basic tips for mastering mobile video. As Christmas draws closer, many of us will be taking photos and shooting videos on our phones. Follow our shooting tips to make your home movies even better. Shooting Tips Record in landscape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.notebookbattery.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}