How to Enhance Your Video Skills and Become a YouTube Megastar!

YouTube has not only made it possible for anyone to gain fame and widespread recognition, but also for people to get creative when shooting videos – exploring a different side to social media’s ever growing passion for digital imaging. Here the Jessops Academy share their top tips on Videography and filming techniques, making sure that your time in the limelight stands out!

Pay Close Attention

Your favourite YouTubers are likely to have spent years honing their videography craft, so studying their films could help you leapfrog a few steps forward. Watch a few of their greatest hits and note down key points. Where are they when they’re making their films? What’s the background like? The lighting? How long is it? What’s the sound quality like? See if you can find common themes that can be used in your own filmmaking.

Choose Your Camera

A compact will definitely get the job done, but a Camcorder or DSLR that can shoot movies is a great choice for professional-looking footage, especially if you select a lens with a shallow depth of field for background blur. Be careful which lens you pick: the shorter the focal length, the more of the scene you can capture, but a longer lens can have a widening effect on your features.

Get Support

Get a proper tripod or ensure the camera is resting on a stable surface before you start filming. If you’re planning on moving around during the video, check first to see if your footsteps cause the camera to vibrate – you might not notice while you’re recording, but you’ll certainly spot this when you watch the footage back! Jessops provides a great selection of tripods here.

Audio

Unclear sound can be an instant turn-off – if you’re lucky enough to own a camera with a microphone jack, try and get hold of an external microphone to ensure pitch perfect sound. Running a noise removal filter during post-production can also help to remove background distraction – your video editing app/software should have this feature. Find out more about Jessops’s sound and audio solutions here.

Keep it Level

Basic principle of filmmaking: keep the horizon level. Either use the real horizon or shelves and picture-rails to determine what should be level. If a straight line is visible in your background, you should try and be lined up with it. Use your camera’s built-in electronic spirit level, if it has got one, or check your tripod to see if it has a real bubble to keep your footage on an even keel. A 3-axis gimbal is also a fantastic way to keep your videos shake free, their stabilisation systems are intuitively designed to support the camera for smooth, hands-free footage. See Jessops’s wide selection of stabilising camera gimbals here.

Look Behind You

If your camera offers Wifi connectivity, use your phone as a remote viewfinder to check the framing of your shot while you’re in position. Ensure the background isn’t distracting or too busy! Think about contrasting colours, especially compared to what you’re going to be wearing for the video. Tiny stripes or huge logos never work well on camera, and can cause lens strobing – go for block colours or larger patterns to ensure you look the part.

Lights

Lighting can help a mediocre video become exceptional. Try filming near a window for natural side light, or employ a couple of desk lamps, positioned either side of the camera and behind the camera, creating a key-light, fill-light and back-light effect. Make sure they’re equally balanced to remove any undesirable shadows, and experiment with different looks by moving the lamps towards or away from your position. Get some help from Jessops’s lighting equipment here.

Avery Parker

To find out more how to became a filmmaking pro, check out the Jessops Academy Videography course, helping to increase your confidence with basic video-making and how to shoot movie-style footage using you camera.