OK, I’m not trying to talk myself out of work, but often small businesses either don’t have the budget to hire video production companies or videographers and the thousands of £s worth of kit they bring to a shoot, or they want to understand the value of it before they invest.
I was discussing this topic the other day and was asked if I could maybe give some hints and tips for people planning to do this for the first time. So here goes…
There are ways of doing it that looks professional and doesn’t break the bank. The good news: modern smartphones shoot remarkably good footage, and the biggest differences between polished and amateurish video has more to do with light, sound, and planning, than the camera.
Gear you will need
A modern smartphone, a lapel mic (lavalier) and a phone tripod / rig or gimbal. A brief look on Amazon lets me know that this can all be bought for between £30 and £50 (smartphone not included).
Planning
Have a good idea of what you are trying to say and to whom when planning.
Look for examples out there already and emulate them. They don’t have to be about the same subject just would work for what you need.
Don’t start till your plan is in place. Who is saying what? Is it just music and text? What tone are you trying to get across.
It is worth bouncing a few ideas about and see if friends or colleagues have interesting ideas.
Try and keep it simple and effective. Get to the point!
Light is Everything
Videographers spend a lot of time thinking about light, where is the strongest light source, what lights do I need to make the scene most effective and light temperature.
If you don’t have good lamps the sun is your best choice. Phones have small sensors and do not shoot in low light as well as some of the more expensive dedicated cameras.
Face a window. Natural light from a window behind the camera (not behind you) is soft, flattering, and free. Shoot in the morning or on an overcast day for the most even light — harsh midday sun through a window creates unflattering shadows.
Avoid mixing light sources. A room lit by both a window and a yellow lamp will look murky on camera. Turn off indoor lights and rely on natural light alone, or vice versa. Maybe investigate strong daylight bulbs for the rooms you intend to use.
Quick fix
If one side of your face looks too dark, a piece of white card or foam board on the opposite side acts as a free reflector to bounce light back in.
Light helps bring definition to a subject and without good lighting the camera will struggle, overcompensate and you will get a horrible noisy image.
Get clean audio
It is often said and usually very true that as a viewer we can put up with poor images better than we can with poor audio, especially voice.
Your phone’s built-in microphone picks up everything — room echo, air con hum, traffic or your own breathing.
If you are going to feature a person talking, get a microphone to as close to the subject as possible, and this is where a lapel mic comes in. The cheaper ones are wired, which can be a bit of a pain if moving, so for a bit more you can get a cheap wireless mic. Attach as discreetly as possible around the lapel (surprisingly).
If you are recording a voice over, for example, record in a small, soft-furnished room. Bookshelves, sofas, curtains, and carpets all absorb echo. A bedroom with clothes on the rail is a surprisingly good “studio.” Avoid kitchens and bathrooms — hard surfaces make everything sound hollow.
Framing and composition
A few simple rules make a huge difference.
Shoot horizontally: Websites are landscape. Vertical video looks odd embedded on a page (unless you’re creating a specific mobile-first reel format or social media videos for Instagram or Tik Tok).
Use the rule of thirds, turn on your phone’s grid overlay and place your eyes on the upper third line rather than dead centre. It looks more natural and leaves room for text overlays.
Mind your background, before you press record, look at what’s behind you. A clean, uncluttered background keeps the focus on you. A bookshelf or a plain wall works well. Avoid busy patterns, open doors, or anything moving. If no one is featuring in the video, make sure what you are shooting is clean and fit for purpose. Take time to look before you shoot rather than regret in the edit.
Eye contact tip for talking to the camera.
Stick a small, coloured sticker just above the lens and look at it while talking. It reads on camera as confident eye contact with the viewer.
Shooting well
Lock your exposure if you are moving. On most phone cameras there will be an option to do this in the settings. This stops the camera from constantly adjusting and flickering as you move.
Shoot in segments. You don’t have to record everything in one take. Record your intro, then your key points one at a time, then your ending. It’s far easier to edit together than to nail one long continuous performance.
Start recording a few seconds before you begin speaking and keep rolling a few seconds after you finish. This gives editing choices.
Shoot more than you need. Storage is cheap. Record multiple takes of anything important. Again, this gives you editing choices.
Editing
You don’t necessarily need Premier Pro or Final Cut. There are excellent free tools that are very capable.
CapCut (free, mobile and desktop) is beginner-friendly and has good auto-caption features — useful for web video where many people watch without sound. DaVinci Resolve (free desktop app) is what many professionals use and handles colour correction well. For something very quick, the editing tools built into iMovie (Mac/iPhone) or Google Photos can do simple edits well.
For website use, keep your video short and to the point (the no-fat-on-it approach).
Accessibility tip
Look at adding captions or subtitles. Many editing apps can generate them automatically.
However, if you have never done this before or this side of things is simply not you, you could look to outsource this to someone who can finish this off well. An editor will help to edit in an effective snappy way and will help enhance the image and sound, exporting it back ready to use.
Exporting for the web
A huge video file will slow your site down and frustrate visitors. Export in MP4 format using the H.264 codec at 1080p. If file size is a concern, 720p is still very watchable on most screens. Aim for a file size under 50–100MB for a short clip.
Consider hosting on YouTube or Vimeo and embedding the player on your site rather than serving the file yourself. It saves bandwidth, works on all devices, and both platforms handle adaptive streaming so your video loads quickly regardless of the viewer’s connection speed.
Things to think about
Getting friends or colleagues involved. It helps to have more that one person, especially if you are going to feature in the video.
Do a recce. Where are you going to shoot, is it clean and ready?
Keeping it simple. Don’t overreach in your scale of production. Make it short and effective.
DIY videos have a place and work well. The audience these days are used to them and value them. Just keep camera movement smooth and think about your content. The content is the most important thing.
If you arn’t happy at first, learn from your mistakes and go again.
If you shoot over different days, remember continuity. The clothes, lighting and sets should be the same as the day before.
It never hurts to talk to a professional. A chat is always free here. Look at my video production page for more information.