02. How to make quality videos with a smartphone?

Today the quality of smartphone cameras allows to make professional quality videos. You just need to invest about 100 € in a tripod and a good microphone. And apply a few rules:

1) Think about the light

When it comes to video, light is extremely important. And you can get the right light without expensive projectors.
A simple trick is to stand in front of a large, sunny window (with the smartphone in front of you) and your face should be fully illuminated.
PS: don't do the opposite, or you'll find yourself against the light. i.e. don't film in front of the light source. Also pay attention to the light spot that can spoil your shots.

2) Stabilize the phone

Filming while holding the phone in your hand allows more mobility and is sometimes unavoidable (for example, if you want to film something unexpectedly in the street).
But this has the disadvantage of making the camera shake all the time: even if you're motionless, you won't be able to stay perfectly stable.
Therefore, it's best to put your camera on a support, whether it's a tripod, a piece of furniture, or a window sill.

3) Pay close attention to the sound

Keep in mind that sound is at least as important as image: if the audio in a video is unpleasant or inaudible, even the most incredible special effects won't stop viewers from leaving.
When filming with a smartphone, sound is captured by the camera's built-in microphone. These microphones are nowadays of rather good quality: they usually produce a clean, crackle-free sound that is completely audible, if not perfect.
However, their range leaves something to be desired: try recording your voice from 5 metres away from your phone and you'll see for yourself.
So make sure you stay close to your device to be well audible, and prefer quiet indoor locations to record in order to avoid parasitic noise (wind, vehicles, etc.).
For better sound, you can also simply plug in headphones or earphones with a microphone (they are usually included as standard with your smartphone).

4) Take care of the framing

On YouTube, the landscape format is the most suitable. 

Of course, depending on the type of video you're shooting, framing will require a greater or lesser amount of attention and work.
So let's take the most classic case: a VLOG video where you film yourself in front of the camera. Here, the attention has to be focused on you, which means that you have to occupy a good part of the frame (and the focus has to be on you).
Nevertheless, don't neglect your background, which should also help to define the atmosphere and the tone of the video.
Rather than occupy a perfectly central position, prefer to move slightly to the side: this dd and also leaves more room for your background.

5) Avoid zooming

The zoom is an effect that can quickly become grotesque (and it's not for nothing that it's almost not used in movies anymore).
This is even more the case with smartphones, most of which are equipped with a digital zoom (and not an optical zoom like the camcorders of yesteryear). This type of zoom has the particularity of pixelating the image and creating an "illusion" of magnification that is not very pleasing to the eye.
As the saying goes, always place the camera as close as possible to the subject to be filmed rather than using the zoom.
6) Use editing software
You won't escape it: you're going to need to do some editing to get a good quality video.

Editing has different interests:
It allows you to cut out bad or unnecessary footage that you don't want to keep;
To add transitions and gaps;
But also to give rhythm to your video.
There are some very good applications for editing video directly from your smartphone, such as Adobe Premiere Clip.
With these 6 tips, don't be afraid to create your own videos with a simple smartphone and share them on social networks.

Recipe making videos are very popular on YOUTUBE and can earn you a little and even a lot of money. 

Interested? 



Write to me at gilbert.egloff@egloffg.com.