It’s time to improve your instagram video (and photo) making & taking
Ah, Instagram. The photo and video sharing website celebrated its ten-year anniversary in October 2020. And, in doing so, made the site older than over ten percent of the Earth’s population.
Irrelevant statistics aside, this bad boy of social media doesn’t seem to be slowing down. But the problem with this is, that is the case, what will happen to your photos and videos? How will you capture an audience? Maybe these five ideas may help spark some ideas in your head and shoot you up in the “getting seen” business on Instagram.
Raise your camera game
“The best camera is the one that you have with you”.
This quote, often attributed with award-winning photographer and white shirt wearing enthusiast Chase Jarvis, basically states that it doesn’t matter if you have the top-of-the-range camera body with expensive lenses or a dinky little point-and-click, as long as you have a camera in hand.
And, what spot of luck, most people will carry their best camera with them, thanks to smartphones, and thanks to many apps, you can get some fantastic shots out of your phone, during (with Filmic Pro, as seen in this video from Film Riot - or after (with Lightroom).
Key takeaways: Making use of apps on your smartphone can really boost the look and feel your imagery. There are many that focus on taking the shot or editing it after, with many free options available through any app store. Take your time to find an app that works well for you.
Let's light it up
Fun fact, it takes just over eight minutes for the light from the Sun to arrive to Earth and to your eyes. And in this day and age of overcrowded trains, sports drinks and Swiss Army knives, that may be too long to wait.
Enter portable lights, your new best friend!
There are many ways different lighting can be used, and you don’t need to break the bank with expensive lighting equipment, even a desk light pointing to your subject can help with this. This technique is used in both photo and videography.
From personal experience, I’ve used a spare iPod’s flashlight pointed at a wall as a secondary light to add an extra definition for shooting rare Pokemon cards, ‘cause that’s just how I roll. But that aside, it gives an extra dimension to your images, and can be a creative feature for video posts.
Key takeaways: Getting your hands on a small little light can help add something to your shots. And that thing, is nicer lighting. This doesn’t have to be an expensive light, even the flash from another phone can help if you put it in torch mode.
Show your working
A personal favourite of mine — showing the behind the scenes of how something comes to be is an interesting insight. It has always been an intriguing part of any Instagram feed, seeing the workings of people’s work and, in some ways, their minds.
As this is such a broad subject matter, there’s multiple ways you can take this. Your current project in production? Capture it, write some intriguing stuff for the description and boom, you’ve got yourself something interesting. Worried that any photos of your in-production project will be too much of a spoiler? Concentrate on close-up shots of different elements.
Not only that, this can be used as a feature for your website’s blog, or even a taster for a larger video content. We’ve even done this ourselves with our behind-the-scenes video of Sherman Theatre’s trailer for their production A Doll’s House, which shows how the trailer was made, with a little taster of how we went from an in-camera look to the final aesthetic.
Key takeaways: There are many benefits to showing what’s behind the curtain - it shows potential customers how much work goes to what you do, while also giving a glimpse to those with no knowledge into your world, which could be a start of something beautiful. Almost brings a tear to my eye.
Look into some hardware
There are some sweet equipment that you can get yourself that would improve your overall content creation life. These include mini-tripods, microphones, even lenses.
These won’t make your Instagram content shine on their own; they need someone to orchestrate everything to produce the output. Spending time to experiment with different equipment (or making your own if you are DIY-savvy) can inspire you with creativity and developing your skills as a content creator.
Key takeaways: The camera and audio that comes with a smartphone have come leaps and bounds within the past few years, but it’s always nice to have a little help every now and then. Mini-tripods help get your hand away from the camera, avoiding camera wobble, while a microphone will help focus the sounds on what’s important. Don’t forget the previous point about lighting, either.
Quick review of 3 cheap smartphone tripod adapters and mounts. This video also covers a great budget microphone and light for creating videos with your andro…
Plug into the grid
Whether it’s cattle, the starting lineup in a Formula One race, or electrical, everyone talks about grids. And although the ones previously mentioned may not help much with improving your Instagram images, other forms of grids will.
Making use of, or even just knowing about, different grids can really boost your composition of images. The most used grid, and the most common, is the Rule of Thirds (https://iphonephotographyschool.com/rule-of-thirds-tips/), You can also experiment with other grids such as the Golden or Silver Ratio.
Of course like the previous points, this isn’t limited to photography. This short video essay on the 2011 film Drive shows how well a basic grid such as the Quadrant grid can be used in blockbuster films.
Key takeaways: Sometimes a quick point-and-click photograph just won’t cut it. Making use of any form of grids can help give a dynamic look to your final image.
Grab that camera and shoot
So, get armed with a bit of knowledge and take some inspiration. Next time you’re staring at your subject, dimly lit in the centre of the camera - think, ‘how can I make this better’ - and start shooting video with more oomph, and we guarantee it will raise your video game for social media and your digital channels.
Struggling where to begin to implement your own video marketing strategy or looking to develop your video making skills on mobile (for business purposes), please get in touch.
Written by: Gareth Aled John