- In this video, we're gonna run through
how to get a blurry background in your videos,
just like this one, known as the bokeh effect
or the bokeh effect.
And, a ton of tips to help you maximize your results,
When you're playing with depth of field on any camera,
whether it's a DSLR, an iPhone, an Android smartphone,
or any other camera.
Hi, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video,
where we help you grow an audience
and scale your revenue with online video.
If you're seeing value in this video,
make sure you're giving it a thumbs up,
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And, all the links to everything we cover in this video,
you can find linked in the description box below.
Let's jump into it.
Okay, so depth of field,
or getting that blurry background look,
and to what extent you're able to blur the background,
really comes down to three main things.
The first one is your camera's sensor size.
So, this is essentially the brain.
The piece that is capturing the image,
the light coming through your camera lens.
It's the sensor that's really translating that,
or converting it into your photos or into your videos.
Now, it is a case of the bigger the sensor
the more information that's been able to get captured.
So, think of a webcam or a smartphone,
they typically have much smaller camera sensors
than bigger cameras like DSLR, mirrorless,
or even pro level cameras.
And, that's a big part of why it's easier,
on those bigger cameras,
to get that blurry background look much, much easier.
The second one is your camera lens,
and specifically, how much light your camera lens
is able to let through, into your camera sensor.
So again, depending on which camera you're using
and which lens you're using on that camera,
will also determine how much light is let through
onto that sensor,
giving you more or less of a blurry background.
Now, outside of most webcams or smartphones,
where the lenses are fixed and not adjustable,
the way that you can actually change or adjust the amount
of light that's let in through your camera lens
is by adjusting the setting for your aperture
or your f-stop on that lens.
So, it's a case of the lower the f-stop number,
the more light that's going to be let
into your shot, through onto the camera sensor.
And therefore, the higher the number,
the less light that's going to be passed through,
which means the shallower that depth of field,
or the less blurry the background is going to be.
So, for example, the camera that I'm using right now
for this video is the Panasonic GH5.
The lens that I currently have on it,
I'm shooting at an aperture and f-stop of f/1.4.
Now, this particular setup will let me go down to an f/1.2,
which will give me a slightly blurrier background,
but it'll also mean that if I'm moving forward,
or back a little bit,
that could be the difference between having my face
in and out of focus.
But, if I increase that aperture now,
and lower the amount of light that is coming into my shot,
then you'll see the difference that would change
with the background and how much of it you can see.
Okay, so here's exactly the same shot now,
filming at f/4 instead of f/1.4.
So, you can see just even that adjustment
from 1.4 to four,
has made a huge difference as to what the background
of the shot looks like.
So, a lower number, more light, blurrier background.
A higher number, less light, but a lot more in focus.
So, the third thing then, is how much separation you've got
between the subject of the video, the person,
or whatever it is you're focusing on,
and the background itself.
The greater the distance,
the more out of focus you'll be able to make the background.
So, if you're standing with your back right up
against a bookshelf or right up against a wall,
it's gonna be much harder to blur out that background,
because there isn't that distance or separation
between yourself and the background
that you're looking to blur.
So, the greater the distance between the background
and the subject that you're focusing on in the video,
the more blur, or the shallower the depth of field can be,
in your shot as well.
So, to give you a quick example of this
without changing any other camera settings,
if I move closer to the camera, I'll have to manually focus.
But, if I move closer to the camera,
then you'll see that the background gets blurrier
when the camera is focused on me,
greater separation between me then, and the background.
So, just by increasing that distance,
we're picking up a lot more computer noise,
but we're also able to blur the background so much more.
So, with that understanding now,
for you to get that blurry background look in your videos,
you really want to be applying as many of these things
as you can, as possible.
So, depending on what camera you're using,
if you have the ability
to adjust your aperture, your f-stop,
then set it to a low number, f/4, f/2.8, f/1.2,
if you've got the ability to do it.
Now, by doing that, it is going to blur the background,
but it is also going to make your shot a lot brighter.
So, you might need to then adjust your camera settings,
your ISO, or your shutter speed
to try and darken your shot back down
to where you'd like it.
Another way that you can darken your shot back down,
or that you can film out in really bright conditions,
still at a low f-stop or low aperture,
is to use an ND filter, a neutral density filter,
on the front of your camera lens,
or even clip one onto your smartphone.
These essentially act as sunglasses
and darken your shot down,
all without lowering the quality of your shot.
Then, if you've got the ability
to move yourself away from your background,
so that there is a greater distance between yourself
or your subject of the video
and the background that you want to blur out,
then that will also give you a greater depth of field,
or that blurrier background.
Now, if the camera that you're using
to record with doesn't have a low aperture setting,
or doesn't let in a ton of light,
another trick that you could do
is to move the camera further the back, if possible,
and then zoom in on your shot.
That's going to give you
a much blurrier background, as well.
Having the camera zoom in, or using a zoom lens,
or a telephoto lens will help you separate yourself
from the background, as well,
giving you that blurry background look.
Now, no matter which camera you're using,
or whether you're using a webcam, or even a smartphone,
I would strongly recommend that wherever possible,
you are locking down your camera settings,
specifically locking down your focus.
The blurrier the background is going to be,
some cameras can struggle finding that focus point,
so that you might find your camera is constantly moving
and adjusting in and out of focus.
So, just by locking that down,
you're going to get a much more professional shot,
because your focus isn't going to be hunting,
or changing, throughout your video.
Now, if you're using a webcam,
most webcams these days will have some software
that you can download and install
to be able to lock down your settings,
and your focus, as well.
So, I strongly recommend that you're grabbing that software
for your webcam to lock down those settings,
or if your particular webcam doesn't have any software,
you can get aftermarket or third party software
to help you kick it into manual mode,
and to lock all of those things down,
and I'll have links to a couple of those,
down in the description below.
Now, with smart phones these days,
pretty much all the built-in stock camera apps
on our devices will let you lock down your focus
and your exposure,
just by tapping and long pressing on the screen,
and what it is that you want to stay in focus,
and what you want to set that exposure for.
But, if you really want to unlock full DSLR-like settings
on your smartphone,
then that's where I strongly recommend FiLMiC pro,
so that you've got full control over everything.
Now, there is one last thing that I want to mention
in regards to smartphones and filming,
and getting that blurry background look,
and that's that right now, at the time of filming this,
most phones, even if they have that portrait mode
where it's artificially blurring the background,
most of those don't let you record videos in that mode.
So, the latest iPhone 12, doesn't let you do it.
The Google Pixel 5 doesn't let you do it,
but a lot of the Samsung phones
will actually let you record video,
and have that background blurred.
So, if your phone has that capability,
then that's another option for you,
or you can get apps like Focus Live on iPhone,
which will essentially that you do the same thing,
create videos where the background is blurred,
as if you were taking your photos in portrait mode.
Now, personally, I'm not a big fan
of the fake blurry background look
that you can get in some of these apps.
I think they can work okay,
if you're going to have a static shot like this,
with not a lot of movement.
But, if you're someone that's out and walking around,
then I think the results can be pretty average.
So, if your current camera or device,
then doesn't give you the exact look,
or the amount of blur that you're looking for,
then that's where it might be time to look at an upgrade
to something with a larger sensor,
or a camera with an interchangeable lens,
so that you can get that lower f-stop,
or lower aperture setting, to let more light in
and to get that blurry background look.
But, using these tips that we've covered in this video,
it is possible to get that blurry background look,
whether you're using a webcam, a smartphone,
a DSLR mirrorless,
or pretty much any other camera out there.
So, now that you've got your blurry background sorted,
I've got two videos for you.
One of them will help you with the best settings
for your DSLR, or mirrorless, camera.
And, the second one will help you
take your smartphone videos up a notch,
by using a third-party camera app, FiLMiC pro,
giving you DSLR like settings, right on your smartphone.
So, check out those videos,
and I'll see you in the next one.