1. Find the best lighting
Mobile phone cameras need lots of light to look good. The more light, the less noisy and better the quality your video will be. Film in a well lit area and make sure your talent faces the light. Avoid top down, harsh lighting that produces unflattering shadows under the talent’s eyes or nose.
2. Choose a good background
Find a quiet space that doesn’t have an echo and consider an interesting background. Depth and colour are often more visually engaging than standing against a white wall. Think about what your video is about and if there is a background that will contextualise your video’s message.
3. Shoot horizontally
If you are not planning on uploading your video straight to social media, it’s best practice to film your video horizontally. You can set up your phone on a tripod or use a gimbal to keep your phone steady and level whilst you're filming.
Additionally, add gridlines on your phone’s camera before you begin filming. You can access this feature either in settings or within the camera app itself.
4. Capture the best audio possible
It’s important to first find a quiet location to film in, then make sure to position yourself close to your talent. Find somewhere with soft furnishings like carpet and sofas to absorb any echo.
Additional Equipment: There are other solutions to capture high quality audio such as a wireless transmitter and receiver, a mobile specific shotgun mic, or you can even plug a lapel mic into a second phone and just record audio. Your Shootsta editor can sync the video clip with the audio file in editing. Reach out to us for advice on what to purchase to upgrade your phone captured audio.
5. Check the focus
Usually, your phone is quite good at finding and focusing on your talent. But if you want to take full control, you can set the focus manually. Tap the subject on your phone's screen that you want to focus on. Then hold down your phone’s focus square to lock it in place. Everything within that square is in focus and it will stay in focus, as long as you or your subject doesn’t move throughout the video.
The focus square also controls the exposure. So locking the focus also locks the exposure. This means if your shot suddenly becomes brighter or darker whilst filming, your exposure will not change to correct it.
Lastly, don’t forget to double check your footage after filming!
Need help or have questions? Contact us. We'd love to help!