With the spread of remote work, it has become common to participate in online meetings and speak at online events. In addition to participating in real time using Zoom, Teams, etc., I think there are also more opportunities to record videos.
At Brightcove, we will deliver one-point advice on how to shoot high-quality videos at home or in the office over eight articles titled “How to Shoot Videos that Look Good”.
The content of the article is also explained in this video.
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The theme for this time is “cameras”.
## 1. What kind of camera should I use?
What kind of camera should I use when shooting video?
There are all kinds of cameras on the market, but it doesn’t matter what you use as long as you’re comfortable with it. You could use a GoPro, a single-lens reflex camera, or even an old VHS camera, but the best option is a smartphone. Everyone carries one around with them all the time, so it’s familiar, and the technology of the lens and sensor has improved dramatically, so you can take videos of sufficient quality.
There are also an increasing number of TV programs that have been filmed using smartphones.
The three key points to remember when filming with a smartphone are “fixing”, “exposure” and “sound”. We’ll go through each of these one by one.
## 2. Secure the camera with a tripod
You may not think about it when taking selfies in your everyday life, but it is important to secure the camera when you want to shoot a sophisticated video.
These days, there are tripods on the market that make it easy to secure your smartphone. It is a good idea to choose one that can be secured stably and is easy to make fine adjustments to.
## 3. Fixing the camera’s exposure
When taking a photo, fix the exposure (brightness). Press and hold down the screen of your smartphone in shooting mode, and you will see the message “AE/AF lock” appear. This will fix the exposure and focus.
AE stands for Auto Exposure, and AF stands for Auto Focus. After setting up your smartphone on a tripod and deciding where you want to take the photo, start by pressing and holding down on the part of the screen that shows your face. After you have locked the AE/AF, be careful to keep the relative position between the subject and the camera as still as possible.
## 4. You can use the microphone on your smartphone to record audio
You can also use an external microphone, but it is also possible to record clear audio using the microphone built into your smartphone.
The key to recording clear audio is to position your smartphone as close to you as possible. The closer the microphone is to the sound source, the louder the sound will be recorded, and the further away the microphone is from the sound source, the quieter the sound will be recorded.
Of course, if you get too close, your face will be cut off from the frame, so find a good distance.
If you keep these three points in mind, you can easily shoot “attractive videos” even with just one smartphone. Please give it a try.
