Okay, so I made this video purely because I think some people may like a how to like this better in a video format. HOWEVER I have listed a few more tips and tricks below here not found in the video! So if you want to try and make your video look EVEN MORE professional, then read on :-D
1. Planning your Videos
Even in what people may consider the easiest videos to make (which they aren’t btw) like gaming commentary, planning can really help your videos.
Now when I say planning, I literally mean when you are going to shoot, what are you going to shoot, have a script laid out for your video. Essentially knowing what you want, when you want it and knowing how it will end up in editing is crucial to making a quality video.
When you wing it on a video, even on like a blog where you are just talking, having a subject ready is the basics behind making a good vlog!
It’s like if you were a main character in a play. You wouldn’t go onto the stage on the day of performance not having practiced your lines other you would look like a fool in front of everybody!
Something you have to remember when posting a video on Youtube is that potentially thousands to millions of people are going to be watching your content. So are you going to go out there in front of everybody not knowing what you have do?
Surprisingly some people will still say yes. But if you want to try and make quality videos, then try and plan ahead. Don’t go into a game without a game plan!
2. Spend time editing your video!
Too many times have I come across channels of people speaking dreams of wanting to make it big on Youtube and not even putting the time into editing their videos.
I’m not speaking from experience here cause if you have been on my channel you can see how low my sub count is, but the basics that people should replicate is editing your video down. The big Youtube players do this, so we should to.
When you click onto a video and see the video’s length is like 10 mins long for something that seems so simple like… What did I eat for lunch today?
Even though that sounds like one of the stupidest ideas for a video ever, people will have clicked onto your video to see that, but if you have spent 3 mins talking about how you came to have that lunch people are going to click away.
Editing your video down to the essential information is crucial. If your video drones on, people will get bored and you will have lost their attention.
Now you are probably thinking “but Prof, your video was 10 mins long!”. That’s true, but that’s because I have enough information to pad the entire thing. Throughout the whole video you are constantly learning and that will retain peoples attention as it doesn’t stop feeding you valuable information.
The lesson still stands. The shorter your video while still retaining the good parts, the better.
3. Framing and composition
When you are watching a vlog about someone talking about equality, do you want the camera to be down low and looking up at the person speaking? No, cause then it will not only look like they are powerful, but also seem like them are talking down to you!
Something that is commonly overlooked in video making is how the video is framed. Here are a few things to look out for when setting up the camera for your video.
The Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds basically outlines the golden section of an image for a subject to be in. When you see a photo or an interview where the subject is focused off to the right or left of the photo, why do you think that is?
It’s because it gives the photo a better sense of composition.
Here is an example of the Rule of Thirds:
As you can see here, there are lines to represent where a golden section within the image. It’s essentially a guideline for good composition in photos. This may not apply to blogs however because you are speaking directly to your audience. But it definitely does apply when it comes to film-making.
Extra:
When you are filming a Youtube video, it’s hard to get this unless you have a fancy camera like a DSLR, but if you can get a nice blur around the subject of the photo thanks to a fixed focal length within the lens of the camera, it can make for a nicer image on the camera.
But yeah, that’s all for today. If there is enough demand, I’ll be making another one of these videos in the near future as well as accompanying it with other posts that have extra tips :-D
Thanks for reading and I hoped it helped!
LET’S BOOGIE!!
