I often think about how I can take better videos with my iPhone. Do you want to improve the videos you create or post on social media, like Instagram? Here are five strategies that I use to take better videos on a smartphone:
Think Motion
When you shoot a video with your phone, try moving the camera slightly by keeping your hand steady. By adding motion, you make the shot more interesting. A stationary shot is okay, and can be used sparingly, but movement is much more appealing for video. You can either pan the camera from left to right, up and down vertically or forward and back.
If there's a subject you're shooting, such as a person or animal, consider shooting in the motion that person or animal may be moving. Also, if you are compiling a bunch of shots together, such as in a multiple sequence Instagram Story, shoot all, or most of your clips, in the same direction. This helps the viewer follow from shot to shot, in a more logical sequence. It will help convey the story you are trying to tell. Shooting clips which are tracking the same direction is pleasing to the eye. It allows our brain to naturally process images. If shots move in different directions, it's often harder to follow and can lead the viewer to be disorientated.
Clean Your Phone's Camera
A simple and often overlooked way to shoot better video on your smartphone is to clean the lens surface on your phone. You can use a cloth and wipe your lens so that it no longer has smudges or debris, which will ruin the shot. So next time you shoot on your smartphone, take a second to clean your lens.
Avoid Shooting in Low Light
Most of us use our smartphones a lot more than DSLR or mirrorless cameras, but smartphones still cannot keep up with the quality you get from a more expensive camera, even in 2019. The reasons are that the sensors are smaller and the lenses bigger. Less light can be let in and processed with smaller sensors and lenses. In the process, lower light video often turns out to be less sharp and with much more noise. Lower light video on a smartphone is not as good as a video with more light. So add light to your video or shoot when lighting conditions are good, ideally during the day.
Change Your Settings to 24 Frames Per Second
On your iPhone, you can go to Settings, then scroll down to the camera settings. You can then set your frame rate to 24 frames per second (fps). 24 fps is the ideal frame rate to shoot cinematic video. Some shoot using 30 fps second or even 60 fps, so it's not a hard and fast rule, but 24 fps is an ideal frame rate for getting smooth cinematic shots. So start shooting 24 fps, and you'll be shooting better video instantly.
Shoot for the Platform
If you're shooting video on your smartphone, consider shooting for the social media platform that you want to post to. For instance, if you're shooting an Instagram story using your iPhone's camera app, you should shoot the video vertically (by holding the phone upright). This will allow you to maximize the best quality for your video.
A pet peeve of mine is when people shoot video horizontally when the platform is set for a vertical orientation. I do it occasionally so I can't complain too much, but when you shoot for the platform, you're going to maximize the quality of the video if you conform to the conventions they set out.
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