We have an article today on levelling up your video production skills. No matter what stage you are in your video production journey, you need to hear this.
If you ask any professional videographer out there, they’ll tell you that having state of the art equipment is good. However, the style and technique of the videographer have a much bigger say when it comes down to achieving a professional look.
Buying expensive equipment is not necessary as you can make your production look very professional simply by shedding focus on a few aspects of your work.
People judge videos not only by its content, but by other aspects such as quality, style of video production, and length. Here are some tips that you can use to enhance the quality of production of your work.
1. Prepare And Plan Beforehand
A plan is necessary. Do not start filming if you do not have a plan. Write your script. Writing a video script is hard. You can hire a professional to write it.
Do not waste your time on something you are not qualified for, especially if you want to create successful videos. Hire professionals to help you with your plan.
It’s always a good idea to prepare appropriately before conducting a shoot. If you choose to do otherwise, your output will appear sloppy and very unprofessional. That’s not what you want if you intend to establish yourself as a professional videographer.
However, if you ready yourself in advance, your attention will be focused on directing your subjects. You’ll find that planning your angles and shots before you begin is going to save you a lot of time so make sure that you prepare well in advance.
2. Audience Centric Approach
Be mindful of your target audience. Understanding who is going to watch your video will help you gain a better understanding of how you are going to go about your production.
You will have a clear picture of what visual style you’re going to use and how long the final output is going to be.
You could be shooting a documentary, short film, or a music video. Whatever it is, your audience needs to resonate with your video. This works best if the content in your video is easy to relate to.
You also need to be well aware of the platform on which your video is going to be hosted. Knowing if the video is going to be online or for personal home use will help you optimize your video accordingly.
Pay a lot of attention to your set and background. Having a distractive set where props are out of order or the cast is not dressed according to the theme of your story makes your production look amateur.
Keep in mind that your audience will be analyzing every little detail in your video. Do not attempt to deceive them by ‘set dressing’ your actual set to simulate a different look.
Don’t be afraid of being broad with your shoot locations. You do not want your video to seem dull.
3. Why Being Original Matters
Originality is also very important. Production work that is unique to you makes you look very professional and will help you stand out in the industry. Conduct proper research in your preferred field of specialization and found out what style of content is popular.
Be sure to confirm that no other brand has covered the same area that you are targeting. Copying someone else’s creativity and ideas will only make you seem unoriginal and very amateur.
4. Always Sound Check
The quality of sound is very important. You need to give it high emphasis if you want your work to be professional. Use microphones when recording. Some cameras come with in-built microphones but don’t try and trust the quality of their ability over external microphones.
Poor sound quality will make your work look unprofessional. Keep in mind that having to redo the shoot because of poor sound recording will also be an inconvenience or possibly, impossible to happen.
Do not use your camera’s mic. Use microphones such as lavalier or lapel. They are hands-free and they are perfect for sit-down interviews.
Shooting your video with your smartphone? You can improve sound quality by buying a microphone that fits into the headphone input of your phone.
5. Set Up Your Lightning
Lighting is important when filming. Do not let your footage to be overexposed or underexposed. Make sure the lighting is perfect. Eliminate unwanted shadows.
Three-point lighting is the best. Why? It illuminates video subjects from different angles. Additionally, you can shoot with natural light.
How you set up your lighting will also have an impact on the final look of your work. If you fail to set up your lighting appropriately, you’ll find your raw footage either over or under-exposed. Put a lot of thought into the final effect you are going for.
Do you want your subjects to have shadows or do you want them fully lit? Be extra careful with how you use your shadows as they might either come out as a very look or very distracting.
Filming under the natural light of the sun is a good idea. It’s an even better idea to shoot during the evening or morning when the light is flattering. Midday light is stronger and can cast undesirable shadows on your shoot subjects.
On the chance that your shoot is to be conducted indoors, you need to exercise precision with the lighting you are going to require. You need to be sure of the source and angle that the light will come from.
Here are more tips for appropriately setting up your lightning.
6. Watch Your Footage Almost Immediately
Practice watching your footage while on location almost immediately after recording it. This makes it easy for you to reshoot a scene or segment if you should.
All photographers and videographers know there is nothing as hurtful as watching raw files while editing only to find out that something did not go as planned while recording. It could either be the lighting, the sound, or the focus of the subject.
7. Capture Your B-roll
Make sure you capture your b-roll. Having another camera will enable you to get several other shots of your subject from different angles. The b-roll footage will come in handy as cutaways when you need to cover up your cuts.
You’ll find that they’re also helpful in complementing your narrative style as an industry professional. The best thing about b-roll videos is you can always take the time to go back to the set and shoot the footage if you need it.
8. Avoid Shaky And Unbalanced Footage
Try your best to avoid shaky and unbalanced footage. Any inconsistencies with respect to your subject in-focus and your camera will make your video look very basic.
It is extremely difficult to hold your camera with your hands to get a balanced shot, so try to avoid this if you can.
Use a tripod to steady your camera and try best not to move it unless you can’t help it. For those shots captured while the subject is in motion, make sure you use either a gimbal or a camera stabilizer.
If the footage still comes out as shaky and there’s nothing you can do about it, video stabilization software might help.
9. The Background
Pick the right background. You can use real or fake backgrounds. Real backgrounds include outdoor location, living room, an office, etc. And fake backgrounds include papers, curtains, green screens, etc.
Make sure your background is not distracting or messy. Green screens are perfect if you want to replace the background with anything you want.
Video Production Skills – Conclusion
Giving your production a professional look is not something you need to study for years to understand. All it needs is practice and a bit of creativity in your style.
These are the tips for video production. Video production is complicated. Therefore, you need to know what you are doing if you want to film great videos.
Film awesome videos if you want your business to grow. If you do not know anything about video production, hire a video production company to help you film your videos.
If you follow these tips, you will drastically improve the quality of your work almost instantly.
We hope you’ve found this article on video production skills helpful. What are your tips for levelling up your video production skills? Let us know in the comments below.
You definitely have to work hard to make your video production company to peak mountain. You should bring unique quality in your work and as per the matter of professionalism, you should never compromise with your standards and bring the best.
Definitely, Isaac! Thanks for the comment.