Mobile videography in the palm of your hand

When it comes to mobile videography you don’t have to be Steven Spielberg to shoot, edit and post creative and engaging videos for your social media channels. With the use of a decent phone, these days you can produce high quality videos in minutes and with some editing apps available to download onto your device you can be ready for the “big screen” in no time.

So here are some of my top tips and favourite apps to record and edit videos for use on your platforms.

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Top tip #1

Film in landscape

By filming this way you avoid the black vertical strips that will appear either side of your footage. When you film in landscape it captures more of your subject too, it also looks better if on a bigger device or TV.

Filming in portrait is only recommended for IG Stories, Reels, IGTV, or TikTok.

Top tip #2

Use a tripod

No one likes a shaky video! Not unless you’re recreating Blair Witch Project! Plus it looks unprofessional and your viewers will switch off.

Invest in a decent tripod, Amazon do them from around £15 and you can buy a Gorilla tripod that sits on a table and it’s also bendy so you can wrap it around an object, or you can get a full length version where you can adjust the height. Both are great, and can be bought at a reasonable price. Check out the reviews and product description first to see which best suits your mobile device.

Top tip #3

Sound quality

Nothing is worse than going to watch a video and not hearing it properly! That’s why audio is SO important when filming on your mobile device.

You can get away with not using anything if you’re in a quiet place with no distractions and the device is close enough but I would recommend investing in a lapel mic that can be connected to your phone and capture the audio in perfect quality.

Think about where you’re filming too, is there an echo? You can reduce the noise “pollution” by padding out the room with items such as blankets, cushions, books etc. This helps, as filling the room with objects provides less room for sound to bounce off of.

You can buy mics from Amazon, who have a wide selection of products compatible to your device.

Best Apps

If you’ve got an apple device then iMovies is great for editing videos as it is easy to use. You can cut, add titles, speed up or slow down as well as add music. It’s best to use the app on a Macbook or iPad as it can take up a lot of storage and it’s much easier to navigate too.

You can also upload thumbnail slides as intros or end credits to make your film look like a Hollywood blockbuster! (I can’t guarantee an Oscar though… sorry!)

Drop me a message if you would like more help with iMovies.

Kapwing app and desktop site is also a great resource. It allows you to caption and edit your videos. It will auto generate the text for you and then you can edit as the video is playing to make sure it’s all correct!

Just make sure you can read the text over the image, that it’s not too big or too small and you still have a quality visual.

As we know video content is the most engaging content of all and one that is favoured by all the social media platforms in their algorithms. If you would like more support with mobile videography for your business or if you would like to develop your skills in other areas of social media and digital marketing head over to my Training page for more information.