Plan Ahead For StorytellingA Guide For Creating Flawless Videos For Beginners

ZealousWeb
8 min readJul 30, 2020
A Guide For Creating Flawless Videos For Beginners

Video content is the in-thing in the realm of digital marketing. There is a plethora of video content running through multiple channels and playing through various smartphones, as you read this.

Facts suggest that a common person spends more time watching videos online than reading text or looking at images. Currently, videos account for 84% of online traffic; it means that when someone’s on the internet, there’s a higher chance they’re watching a video. Here are a few reasons why videos are taking over the digital marketing arena.

  • It’s much easier to watch a how-to video than reading about it.
  • It’s the most powerful medium to communicate a message and engage an audience. (second to live communication)

Given the benefits that come with push video content online, publishing just text and image falls behind in the competition. It is because making videos is commonly informing the average person, even though it isn’t that tough.

In this blog post, we’ll go through ten video-creation tips to help you get started on making videos as a beginner. By the end of it, you’ll be able to start making videos for your company’s content marketing strategy or even create an extra income stream by monetizing videos.

Check out our blog Why Should You Invest In Video Marketing For Your Brand? If you’re ready to make a social video, here are ten video ideas to help you make it an interesting video.

Plan Ahead For Storytelling

The script content of your video matters a lot more than its quality.

That’s not to say that the quality isn’t important, it sure is! But if you had to give one prospect more attention, than time and energy, it would be readying your content properly.

Thoughtful and effective storytelling is the heart of any successful social video. When you want to motivate, carry, or be remembered, start with a story of human struggle and ultimate victory.

Write a magnetic script and use this video concept, then you’ll see how it works wonders!

Don’t Buy An Expensive Camera For Now

Don’t Buy An Expensive Camera For Now

As beginners, you don’t want to spend money on buying expensive professional cameras. Not unless you know you can work with it efficiently. And nowadays, mobile phone cameras also come with great specifications to begin video making.

Just like you would follow a process while performing a task or chore, you must follow a process when it comes to videography. Try your hand at capturing shots from a mobile phone with a 4K resolution. That will help gain an idea about the kind of shots and the angle.

Later, when you feel that you’re adept at videography from a handset, you may proceed to buy a professional camera. But not without surveying about it!

Keep The Camera Steady

Keep The Camera Steady

While shooting a video, you must ensure that you’re

  • Holding the camera still, and
  • Paying attention to the focus.

The logic behind these criteria is simple, you don’t want to get a blurred shot after investing a lot of time and energy. Various apparatuses help you in maintaining stability, like a tripod or gimbal. Most affordable of them is the tripod, and it is wise to begin your journey with a tripod until you get the hang of it. All you have to do is mount your phone on the tripod and begin shooting.

Add A Grid

Add A Grid

While taking vertical pictures or videos, you want to make sure that you do not take tilted shots. Your mobile cameras have this option of enabling a grid over your camera screen. And this allows you to align the background or any other mark while taking a shot, which gives you straight shots.

If you’re taking a picture of the sky-light or the city from a cliff, you’ll be able to align the background with the lines in the grid. And that will help you in taking a beautiful and straight shot.

Use An External Mic For Audio Recording

Mic

The inbuilt microphones on most smartphones capture more noise. Chances are, your video will feature a few bits of the sounds of traffic horn beeping outside. Whatever audio effect you’re going for, your story will give more punch if the viewer can hear all the action.

There are many affordable external mics on the market that you can add with your mobile device. With a good external mic, you’ll be recording good audio with your video in no time.

Don’t Use Digital Zoom

Digital Zoom

Any mobile device provides a digital zoom in a facility. Although it seems a good idea in theory, when you use it practically, it can create a very blurred video. So, instead of the digital zoom, it’s better to move the camera closer to the person or object you’re trying to capture. To help you capture a faraway object clearly, additional gadgets like zoom in lens or gamble can come in handy.

Lighting Is Key

Lighting Is Key

Mobile devices cameras have tiny image sensors, so if you try to shoot in a dark environment, it will give you grainy, low-quality video. And that is why you must choose a brightly lit stage setting for your video.

Underexposed videos make bigger problems like:

  • Shooting a video in front of a hard light can introduce a different shade. So sometimes the subject loses its actual color.
  • While shooting in low light, the camera finds it harder to focus. It might even continually go grainy and out of focus.

Also, keep in mind that auto exposure on mobile phones is rarely slow to adjust when changing from one scene to the next. So be aware when moving from dark areas to bright ones. Avoid background lighting and direct overhead spotlighting.

There are a few LED lights on the market that are small and easy to use for shooting in challenging lighting conditions, which are best for shadowless lighting.

Shoot As Per Your Target Platform

Target Platform

Landscape (16:9) mode is the best for most of the videos since our eyes are accustomed to watching the same orientation on TV and movie theaters. When you record videos in portrait mode, the viewer has to watch them with two black bars on the side, and that spoils the viewing experience. But when they are Streaming on a platform like Snapchat or watching Instagram stories, then the portrait mode works best.

Each social network has a target audience, and that’s why you must optimize the video for each channel. A video that works on Facebook may want major editing before it can work on Instagram. And you might have to take a different approach for video orientation for Snapchat or Twitter. Social networks are rolling out the native video and demonstrating its growing value. Social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat all have their video features. And then there are the platforms whose main function is social video sharing, such as YouTube, Vimeo, IGTV. For live streaming, there’s Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, which has updated its News Feed algorithm to favor live video.

Use Editing Software To Trim Unwanted Part

Editing Software

When you’re shooting an explainer video or anything that has to do with a person speaking in front of the camera, then you must prepare yourself for some re-shots. You don’t want any uneven over-lapping, abrupt cuts, or unmatched voiceover. So, for a flawless video, you must sit through countless hours of editing and re-editing.

For simple editing, you can compile some clips together and add some titles. Softwares like Windows Movie Maker or the YouTube Editor can help you do the trick. If you want to edit something more dynamic, then try a program like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro X, or Sony Vegas.

When you shoot a video, you must experiment with different angles. So when you sit to edit the video, you’ll have multiple shots to use and create.

Use Subtitles Or On-Screen Text

Subtitles

[ Source: Upclose with TechGeeks | 4th Episode | Here is Why Every Organization Need An L&D Department]

There is a misconception that video-watching goes on during the ease of hours, but in reality, most people watch videos at work.

If the content of your video is not communicating easily through the action, you might want to consider increasing the subtitles. And in this way, whether or not the sound is on, the viewers can appreciate the story you’re trying to tell, and let’s not forget how often we watch videos without sound on social media.

Make It Short And Interesting

The first 30 seconds of a social video is what matters most, try to make those 30 secs delightful. Like we say — The first impression is the last — and they are more likely to stick around and be interested. So make it exciting, make it interesting to play.

Conclusion

Once you understand the mechanism of video making with limited resources, you can begin creating the videos. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before beginning:

  • What is the purpose of your video?
  • Why should viewers share your video?

You will receive the answers to these questions by listening to your social media followers and keeping a close watch on social media activities.

ZealousWeb is here to help you with your video production and marketing needs. Get in touch with us today to see a transformational change on your social media platforms!

Originally published at https://www.zealousweb.com.

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ZealousWeb

Helping businesses Solve The Unsolved with a tech-first approach to expedite digital transformation.