Accessories, apps, music, and lighting–
All the things you need to know about recording videos on your phone are IN THIS VIDEO.
Before we spill our secrets, these tips are brought to you by STEEZY.CO,
the ultimate place for learning dance online.
Click that link to get a free trial right now!
Okay, let's hear some freaking hacks so you can record yourself doing those STEEZY Studio classes!
Yah!
Hack #1: If you don't have a tripod, get creative.
Don't have a fancy apparatus to hold your phone?
That's okay! You can stack books, stick your phone in clay–
No, no..! No not that Clay!
–Or tape your phone to the wall to keep it in place while you dance!
STEEZY is not liable for any wallpaper that you rip off.
Hack #2: Test your framing.
You DON'T want to dance your heart out then end up filming only half your body.
Take a test video and mark where your boundaries are!
This is also a good way to check for embarrassing objects in the background
that you should clear out OR, if you're shooting a video in portrait mode,
you also want to frame yourself above the 1x button in the camera app.
This will ensure that you have plenty of room for cropping later,
such as the description area if you're posting the video to TikTok.
SIDENOTE:
Do NOT zoom in on your phone camera!
Digital zooming creates a super pixelated image
and this could potentially pixelate even further if you post it to social media
due to factors such as video compression.
Hack #3: Play with lighting.
If the light source is behind you, also known as being backlit,
then you'll often just show up as being a dancing silhouette..
–and all the textures in your clothes will be lost.
[clap on]
Unless you're trying to go for that sexy, mysterious cell block tango vibe..
then yeah, go for it dude.
[smooch]
As for specific light sources, daylight through a window,
house lights, or even lamps all work.
Generally, you want to make sure that your light source is hitting you
from a 45-degree angle in front of you so that you can cast nice shadows on your face
to define those beautiful features.
Hack #4: Clean your freaking camera lens!
All too often do we see videos shot on fantastic phone cameras
ONLY to be thwarted by ugly lens flares and blurry smudges.
You can use anything from a microfiber cloth to your t-shirt,
but taking TWO seconds to clean your lens will ensure that you have a crystal clear image.
Hack #5: Adjust your FPS.
Set your phone camera to 24 frames per second.
Trust us on this one.
This will give you a more cinematic look and make your dance movements look a lot cleaner.
Go ahead and hop over to your general settings,
click on the camera app, then click record video,
and adjust your settings to 4k at 24 fps.
And if you're an Android user, I'm– sure there's a way you can– do that.
Hack #6: Lock your exposure and focus.
[groans]
Ok ok ok ok back please.
Dadadadadadada
Gooood!
Yaaaas!~
You know that thing that your phone does when it brightens and dims
and refocuses whenever you move around?
You can actually lock that in place!
Just open up your camera app, tap AND hold your finger down on the area that you'll be dancing in,
until you see the AE/AF lock icon pop up at the top
and slide your finger up and down to set your desired exposure.
This will ensure that your phone is not sporadically brightening and dimming
and shifting focal points everywhere whenever you're filming those sick dance moves.
Hack #7: Experiment with creative filters.
Wanna take your video to the next level?
Then grab a pair of color-tinted sunglasses and place it right in front of your phone camera
so that you're viewing the frame through the lens.
Sort of like a– poor man's color grading..
Hack #8: Know your video's purpose.
After you shoot your video, take time to review it.
Go over it a few times; it's important to remember why you filmed that video in the first place.
Are you trying to post it to Instagram or TikTok?
These "why's" will guide you through the editing process and help you decide if you need to make any tweaks.
Don't be afraid to re-record when necessary.
It's much better to spend more time on making something that you love
than spending less time making something that you feel "meh" about.
BOOM! There's your high quality, at-home, DIY dance video
that you can post to Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook
or whatever app is popping in the year 3000!
OR you can post it to STEEZY Studio's community page..
Yeah that exists.
Before you go, SMACK that subscribe button
and ding that cute, little notification bell right there
so that you can be in tune with STEEZY's weekly videos all da time.
And leave a comment for any tips that you may have for recording, editing, or posting videos on your phone.
Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next week.. if you're subscribed!
Ciao now brown cow!
Get it? Cause it says cow there..