Upgrading Your Cellphone Footage: Part 2
Last time we talked about some basic tips on how to upgrade your cellphone footage to make it look stunning. Today we are going to dive a bit deeper into how to use light, frame rate, and video sizing to make an even more engaging video that looks like it wasn’t shot using just your cellphone.
Lighting Matters with Cellphone Videos
Last time we talked about lighting and how the small lenses on cell phone cameras have trouble letting light in. Now let's look at some things that can help even more.
Turn off your flash. We don’t use flash on our phones! Whether you are taking photos or video, you will always get a better result if you learn how to use natural light or off camera light. While it may be “easier” to just use the flash on your camera and get the subject lit up, you will not be happy with the results.
Learn to use of camera light. This is a skill that takes time to learn, but once you do, the quality of your cell phone content will skyrocket!
Bounce light is “soft light”. Putting your subject in/on lighter colored surroundings out of direct light will help you get even lighting. Using your natural environment to bounce light can take some practice. You can use walls, lighter ground services, and even clouds! You can use things to “shape” light” even. A reflector is a great tool to shape light! You can also use white sheets, white curtains, or anything that will cut down on the direct harsh light, while still bouncing light onto your subject.
Know the direction of your light. If the sun is your light source, then knowing the angle and way the sunlight is hitting your subject will help you position yourself to get the desired lighting effect. I’m going to give you a few light effects to try. “Peter Pan” lighting is when the light source is directly behind your subject. “Direct light” is when the light is in front of your subject. “Side light” is when you light source is to the side of your subject. Each one of these has its place depending on what look you are trying to obtain. Most of the time when you are doing selfies or videos of people, you are going to use Peter Pan lighting or side light.
The Impact that frame Rates Make on Cellphone Videos
Last time we talked about shooting for the edit, while there are a ton of things to consider, a big one is what frame rate should you use? Well it depends! here are 3 things to consider.
Do you want your footage to be in slow-motion? If so, then shoot in 120 fps (frames per second). If you want it really slow, you can shoot in 240 fps on most newer phones. Keep in mind that the higher frames rates need more light, so if you are in lower light, the footage could start looking grainy and not as sharp.
If you don’t need/want slow-motion, then stick to 24fps or 30fps. 24fps has been the gold standard for Hollywood productions. Somewhere between 24 and 30 frames per second is what our eyes naturally see, so keeping it within this frame rate feels natural for the viewer experience. When you turn your head fast, you notice that there is a natural blur to your view or at least in the background of the subject you are following. This is called motion blur and 24fps and 30fps have nice motion blur, which will give your video a realistic feel.
Set your default frame rate to the one you use the most often. this just makes it faster if you need to grab a quick clip of something and don’t have time to mess with frame rates.
4k vs 1080p for your Cellphone Videos
If you are using your phone to capture videos that will be shared on social media and you are editing on your phone or social media, then do yourself a favor….Shoot in 1080p…It will make your work flow much faster and easier. Most social media platforms have video size requirements and a vertical 1080p will be the most compatible.
Shoot in 4k if you are planning to download the footage and edit it in something like DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Primer. This will give you lots more data to use and will look the best! Just remember, when you export that footage, you will need to downsize it for social media or it will end up looking low quality because it’s in the wrong size.
There are so many things you can do to create amazing videos from your cellphone. Using these tips to adjust for lighting, frame rate, video size will make a massive difference in how your footage will look. To expand even more into the viewer experience, next time we’ll talk about video transition and filming styles to help you shoot videos that draw people in even more and keep an engaging audience, even if they are shot using your cellphone, just by using some simple upgrades in how you capture the video on your cellphone.