Let’s start with the basics.
There are two components to video:
- The Audio / Soundtrack
- The Picture / Image
PRO TIP
Being aware of these aspects is key to making your final video look and feel professional
The Audio
Your phone doesn’t record great audio – it’s made for phone calls, which have never been great quality. Fortunately, there’s a cheap upgrade that will get your audio recording up-to-par: The Lav Mic!
This little guy plugs right into your phone and delivers crystal-clear voice recording. Just like the evening news, you can run this mic up your sleeve or through your shirt, clip it to your collar, and you’re a pro!
Your phone is fully capable of recording high quality audio – it’s just not equipped with a decent microphone. This solves the problem – for only $10!
Amazon: http://a.co/1YvcuQt
The Picture / Image
If your phone is less than 4 years old (which it hopefully is), it’s capable of recording video in Full HD – we don’t need to get into specifics, but this means that the picture will look fantastic on HD TV’s.
Let’s make sure your phone’s settings are set to record in this quality. On your device, go to settings > camera and choose ‘1080p‘ as the recording quality. Boom, done, onto the next.
Quality is only half the battle – we need to keep the phone relatively stable and secure when filming, otherwise your video will look shaky, unstable, and make some people nauseous (we don’t want that). Simple solution? The phone tripod!
This compact, affordable tripod turns shaky video into silky-smooth or completely still video for only $15! An added bonus is that it doubles as a regular tripod, which you can use with any other camera.
Amazon: http://a.co/fsELMXH
What now?
So, now that we have good quality audio and video, we can get to work! Record a test video and play it back on your computer or a TV to get a feel for the new equipment. Always record in a well lit room (more on light later) as it will improve quality.
Bonus: If you want to jump ahead, try pointing a light towards you while you record. What differences do you notice in the quality and composition of your shot?