You know those travel sequences where the film maker does loads of jump cuts, packing
their vast range of camera gear? Well, I can’t really do that sequence. Because if I did,
it would look like this…
(Silence)
When you’re starting out, it’s easy to feel daunted by not having
enough camera gear, money or knowledge to feel worthy enough to make a successful YouTube
video. Through some miracle however, armed only with my iPhone, this channel recently
passed 6 million views. And the footage that got me there ranged from an iPhone 5S to an
iPhone 11 Pro. There are certainly better looking travel videos out there, but the point
I want to make is, you already have everything you need to make something great. And it’s
the phone in your pocket.
So in this video, for the first time, I’m gonna go into super detail of how to make
any smart phone video, not just iPhone, look the best it can do without any additional
purchases. This is Suitcase Monkey, on how to shoot the best video on your smart phone.
Keep an eye on the bottom left of the screen throughout this video. This is all raw footage
I’ve shot for my previous travel vlogs and I’ll add which iPhone is being used. You’ll
be able to see how your device might compare and what is possible with each. Again, pretty
much everything I’ll be talking through is transferable to other smartphones. I’ll
add the time stamps here and in the description if you’re particularly interested in something
specific. If you’re new here, we normally make travel movies from around the world,
trying to inspire you on where to visit next. So if that sounds like your sort of thing,
then please subscribe to join the Monkey Troop.
So i want to start with how you can use simple composition to make your shots really stand
out. For this, make sure you have the Grid turned on in your camera settings. This will
put split your camera into sections, which is a good reminder for something known as
the rule of thirds. Roughly speaking this is the idea that by moving your subject to
where the lines intersect, it creates a stronger dynamic within your composition, making for
better framing and therefore a better looking shot. Now i use this all the time in my videos
and often find myself preferring to actually nudge the subject well into the far third
of the frame. Immediately, this will create a more cinematic look when used correctly.
Something else to consider with composition is variety. There is nothing worse when editing
than not having enough variety to play with. For our 14 More Days in Japan video, I shot
4000 individual clips in total. In the 40 minute finished vlog, I used only 1000 of
them. That travel vlog is actually my personal favourite so I think it’s a good video to
watch after this one, to see everything I’m talking about, in action.
So, whilst filming, think about getting a wide variety of shot types. You could start
with a bunch of wide shots for example, often called establishing shots. These can make
a great introduction to a scene. Maybe you have arrived somewhere and want to give your
audience a taste of what’s to come. Also get a variety of mid shots. These are great
for capturing people, since they’re usually around waist height. It allows more information
for the viewer, creating a better focussed story, which is the ultimate goal. Also get
a nice mixture of close ups, so you can really see those textures burst onto the screen.
Then, mixed within all of this, is colour. Always look for bright colours as it can act
as beautiful punctuations throughout a video. Then for the cherry on the cake, be aware
of both the light and the dark in your surroundings since finding these can create some beautiful
contrasting shots.
With all of this, your phone will automatically focus on the objects and people in front of
you, and then adjust the light accordingly. But experiment with manual focus and manual
exposure for complete control. Tapping on the screen will force the iPhone to focus
on that area, which can create a nice depth effect for the background.
To get even more control, tap and hold the screen until you see AE/AF lock. This locks
both the focus and exposure coming into the lens. This is great if there’s lots of movement
or changing light in the scene, and you don’t want the camera auto changing all the time.
This is almost a must when filming things close up. If everything is locked and you
stay the same distance to your subject, you will be getting the best results possible.
Swiping up at any time will increase the light being let into the lens. If you already have
lots of light such as from the sun, swiping down on the display will decrease the exposure
to create a dramatic silhouette.
Having all this variety of clips - wide, mid, close ups, colour, light and dark - can really
spice up your footage and allows for greater options when you get to the final edit. The
more options you have, the better storytelling choices you can make.
Another big thing that will really take your video to the next level is the movement of
the camera itself. You’ll notice that in a lot of shots I do, there is often some movement
involved. Sometimes it is moving the camera forwards ever so slightly, or from one side
to the other. This all helps add to the pace of a scene, instead of it just being static
shot after static shot. If you’re walking and moving through a scene, then use the objects
around you as if you’re dancing the Tango together! Maybe you’re walking straight
forward as an area starts to reveal itself to you. Maybe you’re shooting to the side
to provide a nice parallax, maybe you’re panning from one side to the next or tilting
the camera up or down? How do the subjects in your frame relate to each other and move
with each other? Are you using the rule of thirds or playing with symmetry: There’s
loads of options here.
Now I have had numerous people thinking i use a gimbal for my iPhone but i promise you,
my arm is just very steady. To achieve this, I either hold the iPhone from the bottom with
index and little finger running along the sides or add the other hand to steady it from
the bottom.
Connected to the movement of the camera is the added benefit of pacing your story and
emotion. So don’t forget to also film plenty of still shots. Speeding up the pace of a
scene can only really be earned if it is in contrast to something of a slow pace. Otherwise,
if everything is fast, then nothing is fast. And that’s very deep.
if you would like more tips on the editing side of things, please leave a like below
and comment to let me know what else you would like covered.
Something that helps with pace, of course, is the music you choose for your videos. The
right song often makes a good video great. So before we look at using the ultra wide
lens and delving in the settings, this leads us into this videos sponsor. For the last
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Something else I wanted to touch on in regards to composition is the new ultra wide lens,
introduced in the iPhone 11 range. The ultra wide lens allows us to zoom out, and introduces
tonnes of new possibilities. But I think knowing when to use it is key. I got to explore this
myself when we were recently on holiday in Barcelona. (Barcelona vlog coming soon by
the way.) So for example, look at this shot here, showing the impressive Sagrada Familia.
Here, the ultra wide angle really comes into its own, making the shot more pronounced due
to the composition and movement. And here, the ultra wide allowed both the balcony and
background to be in shot providing a better depth. Compare this to the normal wide lens
which only had enough space for the background. The wider shot allows you to show the setting
as well as the subject in lots of different spaces.
But one important thing to always keep in mind, is that the best quality lens on the
iPhone is the standard 1x wide lens. That lens will give the best quality picture out
of all 3. So if the composition of the shot is not improved by the ultra wide framing,
then stick with the normal wide angle lens for best overall results.
The same can also be said for the 2x zoom lens. Where possible, always use the standard
lens to get as close to your subject as you can, then using the zoom when you can’t
move any closer. And I would also suggest never zooming manually beyond 2x, because
again, you are losing quality the further you zoom beyond this. Just stick to 2x zoom
and you can always crop into the shot later if needed. So knowing which lens to use is
important for getting the most from your camera.
So lets now get into the nitty gritty. When I asked on Instagram what you wanted me to
cover most in this video, I was surprised that so many of you asked what settings I
use.
So lets talk resolution. Now if you have loads of storage space, and a powerful computer
to edit those large files then 4K will always give the best quality so just use that. Easy
answer. Having said that, everything on this channel has actually been shot in 1080 and
I’ve never had anyone complain. Also, specifically for YouTube, there’s always the chance that
the person watching your video will be streaming it on a 4G connection on their tiny phone
and they wouldn’t see the 4K anyway. So 1080 is perfectly suitable for YouTube, but
feel free to use 4K if the video is going on a big screen or you have the space and
processing power to handle it. But 1080’s fine, don’t stress.
There is one circumstance however, that I do switch to 4K within my 1080 videos. because
4K is a higher resolution, it means you can zoom into your footage and still have the
overall resolution of a 1080 shot. I often flick to 4K when I am standing in front of
a view that i might want to zoom in on later during editing. 4K is also useful for this
when filming an interview or a piece to camera. It means you can crop into the footage to
hide cuts, create camera changes or just recompose your shot.
And for anyone with an iPhone 11 or 11 Pro, you can now change your camera settings right
from within the Camera app. Just tap on the relevant presets and you will toggle through
without having to go back into the settings.
Next is what FPS to choose. This stands for frames per second and basically just means
how many still images are recorded within a single second to make up the moving video.
Almost all the content on this channel has been shot at 60 frames per second. Now there
are countless youtube videos arguing the pros and cons of all of these frame rate options.
30 frames is a good standard setting for most things nowadays, 24 frames gives a more cinematic
feel to something. A bit more dreamy, especially when the camera is moving. But I shoot in
60, because having those extra frames, allows me the option to slow my footage down. If
I only shot at 30 frames and slowed it down by 50% for example, you would be seeing the
equivalent of only 15 frames per second which would look incredibly janky.
Now, why would I want the option to slow my footage down? Well, the main reason is to
really emphasise specific moments. Take this example in my 7 days in Sri Lanka vlog.
If you watch the same footage back at normal speed, it just doesn’t have that same feel to it.
Having the footage at 60 frames gave me the option to slow it down and emphasise these
moments, which helps tell a story or highlight an emotion, which again is the ultimate goal.
With the newer iPhones, I also have high efficiency turned on. As long as your Mac or PC has the
latest software that can read the HEVC format, its a great way to compress a movie file without
losing any noticeable quality.
if you are shooting a lot more video than photos, then this next one is a must change
setting. Make sure you have Camera mode turned on under Preserve Settings. This means it
will retain the mode you had previously used, so the camera app will always stay in Video,
as opposed to defaulting back to Photo. This saves valuable seconds when you open the camera
and means you’re less likely to miss something.
If you’re interested in having unlimited access to great music, please remember to
check out the link in the description for 2 months free from Artlist. This video idea
actually started life as a behind the scenes but I quickly realised I couldn’t fit everything
into 1 video. So if you are interested to hear more about my workflow or editing process,
or you think I’ve missed something, please let me know in the comments and give this
video a thumbs up since it really helps the channel. If you’re not already, subscribe
for our future travels and check out our back catalogue to see how i incorporated all these
tips into a fully edited vlog. Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.