iPhone Video Mastery

WARNING! This page contains the incomplete, under-construction, unchecked grammar script for my upcoming course. Read at your own risk. It will disappear into the paid zone when completed.

Ultimate Guide to iPhone Videography + Tips, Tricks and More!


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Take the fast lane to iPhone video mastery!

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

Question.

What video are you planning to make?

Goal.

  • You are going to be better than other iPhone users. Everyone can make a video on their iPhone, BUT yours is going to stand out like a pro.
  • You will be able to post more videos regularly. The more videos you post, the more opportunities you will have., like sales, leads, and sponsorships.
  • Your videos out there are your mini-me sales people working for you 24 hours a day.
  • You will make videos faster and more confidently. You will learn the tricks to churn out videos faster if making videos is not your core business and you have other tasks that might stop or slow you.
  • You are going to get out of your comfort zone and go to the next level from where you are now. For example, some people are comfortable shooting with their camera on a tripod and that’s it. You want to go beyond that to make your videos look more interesting, like a professional commercial or a movie.
  • DON’T just shoot beautiful artistic cinematic pretty shots… You want to convey a message, a purpose, a story. A lot of YouTubers are obsessed with getting cinematic shots to make the scene look amazing. That’s great if that’s all you want to do. We re here to learn how to make a video for business, to tell a story, or to put out a message.
  • DON’T keep searching for the best gear, best technique… and never start making a video. There is a group of people, who say they seriously want to make a video and for months never got started because they are still gathering ALL the best ‘gear’ and learning ALL the best ‘technique’. Having all that won’t guarantee you’ll make the best video. In fact, a BIG NO if you are a beginner.
  • You will get more comments, likes, and followers.
  • This course is going to be fun a little bit different. After every lesson, you be given a brief hands-on assignment to complete. So you can practise making videos straight away.

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

Membership

Are you new to making videos and want to get started FAST? Members get…

  • Live and recorded training sessions
  • Lessons that build up over time with variation
  • Updated reviews about the latest innovations
  • Advanced topics on top of the core basic training
  • A private group for sharing and asking for help

▶︎ JOIN the fast lane to video creation.

iPhone Video Benefit

Using the iPhone as camera has many advantages over using a mirrorless camera or DSLR or even a camcorder.

  • You already have the iPhone, so all you need to do next is to prepare to get yourself some accessories.
  • The best camera is the one you’ve got with you, so you can always capture a spontaneous moment.
  • An example of a spontaneous moment is to shoot someone’s impromptu testimonial or a reaction or even shoot something you come across which you want to talk about.
  • It’s connected to the internet, so your videos are ready for quick sharing directly. Great for sharing those spontaneous moments after doing some trimming.
  • You can shoot videos that look less corporate, less polished, and hence get more social acceptance.
  • You can shoot high-quality videos that look like it came from a professional camera… with the proper accessory and setup.
  • You can shoot without drawing attention from people around you. A big camera might even get the attention of the security staff in certain areas.
  • You can shoot in small spaces, like in a car, on a plane seat, from a bookshelf, or from inside a fridge.
  • You can shoot at a very high 4K resolution with the latest phones. It is recommended to shoot in 4K then edit in 1080p.
  • You can shoot Multicam style if you have more than one iPhone, or you can borrow one. A popular Multicam shoot is an interview where we have 2 or more cameras placed at different angles.
  • You can stream live from the iPhone on Facebook or YouTube and some other social media platforms.
  • You can install various apps, free and paid, to help your video look better, fix bad audio, create graphics, or edit videos.
  • You can edit on the go with a video editing app. NO more excuses for not having access to a computer to finish your video production.

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

Basic Settings

Take out your iPhone and do the following settings.

  • Go to Settings
  • Switch on Airplane Mode
  • Go to Storage and make sure you have more memory than you need for the number of minutes you are going to shoot. Delete unnecessary apps. For easy calculation, 1GB of memory can store about 3 minutes of video in the highest quality.
  • Go to Photos and Camera > Preserve Settings > turn on Camera Mode. So it won’t always switch back to the default Photo app when you turn on your camera.
  • Turn on Grid.
  • Set Record Video to the maximum 4K 30 fps for a realistic look. 4K 60 fps for a smooth clean look. (Setting availability depends on the phone model)

Basic Camera Control

Go to the native camera app and try the following.

  • Switch to the main or rear camera.
  • FOCUS. Tap on the screen to focus.
  • Tap and hold on the screen to lock focus and exposure. “AE/AF LOCK”. AE = Auto Exposure. AF = Auto Focus. Especially when shooting an interview where the subject keeps moving left and right.
  • EXPOSURE. You will also see the sun symbol. Move the sun up to manually increase the image exposure brighter and down darker. Very useful when you have a very dark or very bright background.
  • ZOOM. Tap the 1x circle to zoom in 2x. You can also manually zoom in further but that will be digital zoom which will degrade the image.
  • LIGHT. Flashlight. Auto, On or Off. Not recommended to use it unless you really can’t see anything. Better to invest in a more powerful external LED light.

Basic Video Editing

Let’s go into the Camera Roll to do basic editing.

  • Select a video clip from the gallery.
  • Go into edit mode.
  • Drag the sidebars of the film strip at the bottom to trim the front and the back.
  • Click Done.
  • Choose Save as New Clip. So you won’t override the original in case you made a mistake in the trim.

Questions and Answers

Feel free to ask a question in the group…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/smartphonevlogging/

Homework

Shoot a one minute video to show us something interesting around you. Post your video in the group and tell us what is it about. The group…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/smartphonevlogging/

Question

What is your biggest question about using your iPhone to create videos?

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

Stabilization

The latest iPhones have built-in stabilization. Even so, we still need to keep the camera steady. There are ways to hold the phone steady with your hand. Then there are devices to help you steady your iPhone. It is not uncommon to own a few different devices for different situations.

Hand-held

The iPhone is with you all the time, but not your tripod. And for those spontaneous moments, you have no time to setup a tripod. So here’s some handheld stabilization tricks.

  • Do not hold your iPhone with one hand on the right and one hand on the left.
  • Shakes appear bigger on the tele lens and smaller on the wide lens, but a shake is a shake.
  • The right way to hold your iPhone stable. Hold the phone with the right hand, palm facing the back of the phone. grip your right wrist with your left hand.
  • You can lean against a wall, rest your arms on a railing, or place your elbows on the floor. Just to keep the phone steady.
  • If you need to move the phone, keep your feet firm to the ground, knees bent, and move your torso left, right, forward or back.
  • If you already have a shaky video, you can use Emulsio app to stabilize it.

Grips

Grips allow you to hold your phone comfortably.

  • The Manfrotto Mini Tripod acts as the mini tripod as well as a hand grip.
  • The Shoulderpod S2 Handle Grip makes holding the phone so much easier and can be attached to a tripod.
  • The Ztylus Pistol Grip is yet another hand grip with a cold shoe mount on top to fix a light or external microphone. It can also attach to a tripod at bottom.

Flexible Tripods

The Joby Gorillapod is one of my favorite. Also a favorite of Casey Neistat. There are different sizes.

  • You can use it as a hand grip, stretch your arms out, and shoot yourself walking and talking.
  • You can also use it as a mini tripod on an uneven surface.
  • You can curl the flexible legs on a branch, or railing or pole, to shoot from unusual angles.

Rigs

Rigs are pieces of brackets to the iPhone together with other accessories like lights and microphone.

Tripods

Using Video Tripods are the most common way to steady any form camera.

  • Make sure the tripod is a video tripod and not a photo tripod.
  • The Video tripods have a fluid head that gives you smooth pans and tilts.
  • Ensure you get the right height. Taller tripods tend to be more useful when shooting taller people at their eye level.

Mechanical Stabilizers

A mechanical camera stabilizer is a device designed to hold a camera in a manner that compensates for unwanted camera shakes, by the use of counter-weights. No battery required.

Gimbals

The big trend now is Gimbals. “Gimbal” is the popular name given to electronic stabilizers designed to give you handheld shooting without camera vibration or shake.  Other than stabilization, most gimbals can also do motion time-lapse and motion tracking. You can also attach a long pole under the gimbal to create a drone flying effect.

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

Shooting Basics

Let’s talk about shooting.

Horizontal or Vertical

Generally, shoot your video horizontal It’s better for YouTube and for formal videos.

Go vertical for informal social media mobile platforms.

Before pressing the record button, turn your phone horizontal. If you press the record button while holding the phone vertical then later turn it horizontal, the rest of the video will become sideways up.

Rule of Thirds

This is about how you compose your scene. It looks more pleasing to the eye if you put your subject on a third line.

Show examples.

To be continued…

MAKE & PROFIT from Better Videos without Breaking the Bank!

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