Social networks 101: How to create engaging content for social media

Want to create awesome content for social media?
Learn tried and tested methods to keep your audience hooked and coming back for more. We’ll cover: which social media platforms are best for you, how to engage your audience on social media, what gear you’ll need to get started, the basics of editing, lighting, and sound, how to create a consistent personal brand.

Let’s get social y’all.

Hello, I’m Sam Holland, and in this video, we’re going to be looking at some of the different types of social media platforms, their pros and cons, and which one is best suited to you as a creator who’s trying to grow your audience.

Now, this video will help you figure out where to position yourself for the best exposure, which will then enable you to express yourself in the most authentic way possible without feeling overworked and then hating what you do. Because there’s nothing more demotivating than pouring all of your energy into a project, only to have nobody see it or engage with it. And I honestly believe that the number one reason why people don’t achieve the results they want and then give up is because they don’t understand what, where, why, and how they are posting. That’s why it’s important to know how each of the social media platforms work and how people actually interact with them.

Since we’re trying to help and inspire as many people as we can, our goal is to reach as big of an audience as possible. And like it or not, social media platforms are becoming the best outlets to educate, entertain and engage with people. And to keep up with a sea of people all fighting for the number one spot on people’s homepages, search results or even notifications, we’re told to post as often as possible and across as many platforms as possible.

Now, obviously, the more places you are, the more chance you have of being seen. But out of context, this advice can lead to frustration and burnout because inherently all social media platforms are different and some may not work for you or your audience. Luckily, though, I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to post everywhere to make an impact.

So which platform should you be using? Firstly, I want you to think about your strengths. What would you say your best at, video, written word, animation, speaking, live streaming? If you’re good at speaking but don’t enjoy being in front of the camera, then a podcast might be the best option. Or if you’re terrible at speaking, like me, but are great at the written word, then a blog might be the right way to go.

Whatever you prefer, there’s always a way to deliver your message to the world. Matching your strengths to your target audience’s preferred platforms will help you know where you should be focusing your efforts. With this in mind, as we go through this list, you can be thinking of where you will slot in best.

Each platform has their own unique characteristics and formats, which leads to the way the viewer interacts with them. I used to think that you could just create a piece of content and repost it in the same way everywhere. But no… The key to figuring out how to use the platforms is to actually observe the format and how people use them. Now, this might seem obvious, but stick with me because understanding this will make your job so much easier and even save you time.

First of all, YouTube. YouTube is a video platform primarily focusing on long-form videos, although they now have started adding the YouTube Short feature much like TikTok. But YouTube is also a search engine. So it’s the best for people who want to learn and gain in-depth knowledge on a subject since you can go deeper into a topic in longer videos. You can learn just about anything using YouTube. I guess the downside is sometimes you just want a quick answer to a question, but it might take a little while to find the right video. And before you know it, you’ve sat through an hour of videos trying to find the right one, and you’re down the YouTube rabbit hole.

So Instagram was primarily a photo-sharing app, much like a portfolio, but they’re now shifting towards a more video-centric platform. Again, trying to keep up with what’s happening with TikTok. What I really like about Instagram, though, is the story feature. You can engage with your followers, keep them up to date with what you’re doing, and conduct polls or questionnaires to find out what they like and what they don’t like. Now, this really helps your audience get to know you, and you also get to know your audience in return. And that can really help when it comes to making your content, and you can tailor it for what your audience likes.

What I don’t like about Instagram is that, unlike YouTube, old content won’t be seen by people unless they scroll all the way back through your feed. So you have to continuously keep posting content to appear in search results.

Right, TikTok. Love it or hate it, TikTok is great for reaching a wider audience as a creative. It takes the form of portrait-style short burst videos and has a huge audience and is continuously growing. Most content on here is created by using the phone camera and adding effects and text within the app, so anybody can create really clever videos without any experience in editing or filmmaking whatsoever, just from using the app. Now, depending on what you do, you might have to adapt your style to fit to this platform, but there are plenty of trends that you can jump onto the bandwagon, so to speak, and make your own and really do something different to fit in.

The TikTok algorithm seems to work in a similar way to YouTube, but without the search engine, and it will feed you more of what it thinks you’ll enjoy watching. So if you like a certain style of video, for example, TikTok is going to feed you similar content to that because it thinks you like it.

Now, Facebook is kind of the one that started this whole thing. It’s been around for a long time now, and it’s kind of a mixture of everything combined. But the thing that I like the most about this platform is the ability to create groups. You can plan events, share ideas and engage with an audience here in a way like you can’t on any other platform, really. And you can use this to create a deeper connection with your fanbase and even, like, get to know them on a personal basis or set up some sort of like meet and greet, for example. Unfortunately, though, Facebook doesn’t seem to like cross-promotion, so it’s not the best place to market a YouTube video, for example, because each platform wants to keep you there, basically.

So a podcast is basically like an audio discussion. So instead of watching people have a discussion about something, you can actually just stick it on in the background and listen to the conversation that’s happening.

Now, if you’re thinking of making content, a podcast is great if you don’t like filming yourselves, but you’re really good at speaking or you like to have a lot of guests on and get their perspective on things. And I really like podcasts because you can listen to them on long journeys or when you’re tidying the house or whatever and they’re really easy to edit as a creator, you don’t really have to do a lot. The downside is you’re limited to what you can show or explain because there’s no imagery. So you have to be really descriptive when you’re doing a podcast and make sure the audience or the listeners know exactly what you’re talking about.

Then you’ve got streaming sites such as Twitch. Great for gamers who want to share live streams whilst they’re playing games for the first time and interact with fans in real-time. I suppose the downside is if you’re a viewer, you can watch it later, but it’s usually unedited content, so you might have to sit through a long video, for example, in order to get the key piece of information that you came there for in the first place.

So my advice is to choose one main platform to create content for, then select a few others that work best for you to promote and or engage with your audience. You can then decide how you’re going to manage your time or divide it up into which parts you create content for.

Now, my main platform is YouTube, it’s my favorite type of content to create, and I really enjoy it. That’s where I spend most of my time. I then use Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to promote and engage with my followers. And that’s where I typically share short clips, how-to carousels, and behind-the-scenes stuff.

So each platform has their own audience demographic that prefers to consume content in their own unique way. For example, gamers will be more likely to spend time-consuming Twitch content over reading Facebook feeds, while the older generations are more likely to interact with people and their friends by using Facebook than scrolling through TikTok. You have to pay attention to this and deliver your content how the people want it. Watch what others are doing for a whole week on every platform. Consume as much as possible. Read the comments. Take note of the format and the lengths. Don’t post anything yet.

You can even ask people in your niche what platforms they use and why. Then observe your own behavior whilst you’re consuming this content. What do you like? What don’t you like? When do you click away? Why do you click away? How long do you stay on a piece of content and why? When do you use those platforms? How much time do you spend on each platform and why? Which is your favorite and why? So be mindful of these questions instead of mindlessly scrolling through or creating content without even thinking about it will really help you create content that people actually want to engage with and want to see, and that will increase your chances of people following and engaging with you as well. And that’s what you want.

If you’ve been making content for years already, but you’re not seeing much progress, you may have to just change the way you do things. A lot of people blame the algorithm or the platform, but really, it’s your fault. See what type of content is working for others and test new things. Don’t be afraid of experimenting. A good thing to do is check your analytics, see what types of content of yours is performing the best and why, and do more of that. It’s different for everybody. So what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. Just because TikTok was once filled with dance trends doesn’t mean it can’t be used to share your cooking tips in a unique way. And finally, it’s important to know that social media is constantly evolving and constantly changing with how the users interact with them.

So it’s good practice to check in with them every now and then, even if you don’t like them, because things might change, and they might become better for you. Just because it might not work now, doesn’t mean it won’t work in the future. Don’t forget to check out the other videos in this series for more tips on content creation. I hope this video has helped.

Thanks so much for watching!

Do you wear air jordans? Are you a GaryVee entrepreneur? Do you use Mel Robbins Methods? All these are personal brandings that we are all familiar with. Why? Why would someone listen to you? How would you stand out and build your own brand too? Well then, you are at the right place. Hi, let’s find out what makes you unique.

Why would people look at you or listen to you in the first place? You have strong beliefs, cool stuff to share. But is it really enough to be successful? Here’s a clue: no, it’s not. It’s like a salesperson. What they sell is important. But if they don’t know how to sell it, it becomes pointless. The other way around, if you are the best seller, but what you sell is garbage then it won’t be sustainable. You need the combination of these two aspects. Besides, if you start well in your niche, and you manage to build your brand, build a charisma, build a strong personality, authentic and polarized – then you will be able to expand your audience so much beyond what you started with in the first place. Peter McKinnon has almost 6 million followers on YouTube. He started with filmmaking, but he has now expanded to so many businesses related to filmmaking, but not only. He is so meticulous. Now, a product stamped McKinnon means expensive, but high quality. Whether it’s a bag, an ND filter, jewelry, it doesn’t matter. He loves quality. He loves taking care of the customer experience. The result is every detail is thoughtful. That’s what his name is.

Self-branding is so important. It’s the foundation of your growth. Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, has almost 300 million followers on Instagram, and trust me, it’s not only fans of wrestling. He built a personality that became a brand and that is now in so many different businesses. You don’t buy a tequila. You buy a piece of The Rock. Do you know who has even more followers? Kylie Jenner. The most followed woman on Instagram. She’s like 24 something? She built an empire thanks to who she is. You don’t buy any cosmetics you buy a piece of Kylie Jenner. People buy from them and not from somebody else for what they embody – their personalities, their values, and this is what you need to work on.

Don’t think about what people need to hear. They don’t know it yet. Focus instead on how you deliver the message to them. You find your audience. You know what you want to say. You need to focus on delivery. Every great influencer, YouTuber, politician, has their own style. From Barack Obama to Martin Luther King to Mr. Beast or whoever you follow or get inspiration from. They did not get this level overnight. It’s a long process to build oneself up. It’s your personality, your face, your voice, your style that you’re going to promote.

Michael Phelps, who is the greatest swimmer of all time, said when he was competing for eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing to beat Mark Spitz, which was seven Olympic gold medals at this time, “I don’t want to be the next Mark Spitz, I want to be the first Michael Phelps.” And I believe that is a very powerful mindset to have and to carry throughout your journey.

The mindset here, that’s everything. Of course, he has always been inspired by other people, but he just wants to be himself. You feel that maybe what you want to say is not unique. And sometimes it is true. You can not bring new things to the world every single time. So you might feel like, why should someone else listen to you more than anybody else? People will listen to you because it’s you. Because you’re unique. Your DNA is unique. Your journey into life made you unique. It means that what you are going to say will also be unique. Maybe not the contents, but the way you will communicate it will.

This is why there are so many creators on social media. A lot of people you may follow in one specific niche might spread one common message. But you are, I know you are, you are going to watch every single one of them because they all have a unique way of telling theirs. Self-branding is not something that should scare you. If you mix authenticity with some personal details, it’s a good beginning. Your uniqueness might be your face, your size, your language, your accent, your body language, your editing style, your habits, your catchphrase, your design, your colors, your music. So many possibilities to be unique. So many possibilities to be you. Be yourself and you’ll already be unique. Mr. Beast, besides his content, has a very fast-paced edit, he always wears shorts and regularly his straw hat. Daniel Schiffer has his own unique edit style that makes him different from competitors. Zach King makes magic tricks in video using a mix of in-real-life techniques and edit techniques that nobody else is able to replicate. Sam Kolder, a famous filmmaker, also created a unique style of editing with complicated transitions, sound design, and personalized color grading. This is why these people have a big community. They are different from their competitors in the field.

Am I the best editor? No. Am I my best storyteller? No, I’m not. Do I have the best English accent? of course I don’t. Can I improve everything I just said? No doubt about it. But am I the best me? Yes. Because nobody else can be a better me than myself. All these flaws I have can become my advantage. Do I have a French accent? That’s a great way to remember me. Is my editing style different? Also, a great way to stand out. Make an omelet from all your scrambled eggs. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you cannot be inspired by somebody else. I would even say it can be one of the best ways to build yourself up. Get inspired, take a little bit of him, him, her. Mix it up, do it your own way. And this is nobody else than you.

Being unique, being you, does not prevent you from improving your skills either. Becoming a better storyteller, improving your speaking, will always help you to reach more people and help you assert yourself in your niche. I hope you know a bit more about yourself now – what value you carry and how you can differentiate yourself from other creators. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you soon.

Hi, my name is Austen Paul, and I’ll be your teacher for scriptwriting 101. So you want to start writing a script, but don’t know where to start. You feel overwhelmed with the daunting task ahead, and that’s okay because I’m going to walk you through the basics of scriptwriting and where to start.

The first and most important thing to know is don’t force the script. Allow creativity to come to you. But when creativity strikes, capitalize on it and build off of that. I personally carry a small notebook and pen around with me wherever I go. And whenever I have a big idea or a small idea, I write it down. And from there, I let it build.

For example, I could come up with an idea like a string of disappearances in a small town leads a washed-up detective into the underground sewers to find answers. This is also known as a logline and a great place to start formulating your script.

A logline is a brief summary of your story. Typically one sentence long. In this logline, we have already so much information to work with. We have our protagonist the detective, who is the main character of our story. We have the antagonist, the murderer, who is the villain of our story. We have the goal for our detective to solve the murders and uncover our antagonist. And lastly, we have our conflict, the unanswered disappearances.

After creating a logline and coming up with the basic idea for our script, I like to use a method called The Story Circle by Dan Harmon. Dan Harmon’s Story Circle is split up into eight steps for you to build your story and a great way to work through your script. The Story Circle’s eight steps are: One – a zone of comfort. Two – they desire something. Three – enter an unfamiliar situation. Four – adapt to the situation. Five – get what they desired. Six – pay a heavy price. Seven – a return to their familiar situation. Eight – they have overall changed. These eight steps will dictate the path of what your protagonist will do throughout your story.

So let’s start building our story circle. One – a zone of comfort. This is the protagonist’s day-to-day routine before being introduced to the events that will unfold. For example, our washed-up detective once great at his job is now an alcoholic, barely attempting to try at his job, let alone his life. He’s alone and his wife and daughter have both left him. Even though this is uncomfortable, this is a zone of comfort for our detective because this is the life he’s been used to for many years.

Let’s do the next step. Number two – they desire something. In this section, our protagonist desires a goal that they will achieve at all costs. We already know the goal from our logline, but can detail it even more and give reasons for his goal based on our character we built so far. For example, the detective uninterested in the missing people popping up around town suddenly wants to solve the case when a little girl that reminds him of his daughter that left him goes missing.

Number three – enter an unfamiliar situation. Now our protagonist must enter an unfamiliar situation, a situation that is beyond their control, that drives their story forward. For example, our detective now in a state of caring, must battle his inner demons as he focuses on this case. He gets wind of weird sightings outside the water tunnels that run underground throughout the city and must enter them to find the girl.

Number four – adapt to the situation. Our protagonist must adapt to the new situation that he’s put himself in. For example, in the tunnels, finding his way farther and farther from civilization, our detective gets lost. He slowly starts to run out of the alcohol he brought with him, facing withdrawal and uncomfortable memories he’s buried inside himself. He must fight through the pain. As he knows, there’s little time to save this girl’s life.

Number five – gets what they desire. At this point, our protagonist gets what they have desired. For example, the detective finds the girl and is able to save her life. But not without paying the price.

And number six – pay a heavy price. The protagonist gets what they wanted but must pay a price for their reward. While fighting off the withdrawals, the detective discovers a true reason his wife left him. He allowed the killer to previously walk, which caused the deaths of multiple people.

Number seven – return to a familiar situation. Now the protagonist returns to their original life. The detective is hailed a hero as he safely returns the little girl to her family, returning the town slowly back to normal.

And lastly, 8 – they have changed. Even though our protagonist has returned to a normal life, they’ve changed because of the journey that they have overcome. For example, the detective learns to cope with the truth on what he has done and learns to forgive himself for the murders of the other victims. He’s able to stop drinking and starts to rebuild his life. Ending with him, with flowers in his hand, knocking on the door of his ex-wife’s house. And that’s the Story Circle.

This Story Circle is a great foundation for a script and has now given us a very solid foundation to work off of. Think of the steps as the main points that drive our story and everything that will be written in between will help lead from step to step.

Now let’s build on our main characters. This is an important process in scriptwriting because it’ll help determine the dialog, actions, and outcomes of our characters in each scene. We can already take a lot of information from what we’ve created so far.

Let’s start with Dan Carter, our protagonist. His occupation: detective. Location: small town in Flora, Mississippi. His age: 35 to 43. His backstory: once a successful detective in a bigger city, he was too reckless and too aggressive, which ended up overturning a case where the man that was guilty got let free. He was put on suspension from his job. So him and his family packed up and moved to the small town of Flora, Mississippi. There he faced a day-to-day boredom and shame of his last job. The end of his work routine slowly required more frequent stops at the bar before heading home. Alcohol started to overtake his life and he wasn’t there for his wife and daughter. Fighting with his wife, Louise Carter, more often, she eventually had no other option but to leave him and take their daughter, Jenny Carter, who was seven, with her and move far away. This sent Dan in a deeper spiral, where he became bitter with life caring less and less about his job and his health.

And lastly, we can talk about his characteristics. He’s tough. He’s a good detective. He’s an alcoholic, but he’s overall morally good. This back story and details may seem unnecessary, as a lot of it will never come up in the actual script. But again, this will help you write and determine your character’s actions in each scene. I’ll let you build the rest of your characters. Make sure you do this for every main character in the script. Also, this doesn’t have to be done right away. You can let your story unfold and the characters themselves tell a story as it goes on. As I stated from the beginning, there are many different ways to write a script and this is just one of the techniques.

The famous writer Stephen King once said, “I never know the ending of my story when I begin writing it. I allow my characters to tell the story and determine where to take us.” And even with the rough outline that I’ve created so far, my story can change from revision to revision. Maybe I want the antagonist to be aliens, or maybe the government maybe our protagonist isn’t led into the sewers, but into a different dimension. As you write, you’ll run into roadblocks and you’ll have to rework your script and write what fits best for your imagination.

Now it’s time to begin writing the script, and the best way I like to do that is by using a scriptwriting software. Luckily, there are quite a few out there, and there are quite a few with free versions. Two scriptwriting softwares that are commonly used are Final Draft and Celtx, both great in their own way. But I’ll let you do your own research on what works best for you.

Now, I’ll show you the basic outline on how to format a script. There is an industry-standard for formatting your scripts and you must do it properly if you want you and your script to be legible and taken seriously. Luckily, most softwares are formatted for this, so it takes a little bit of guesswork out. For each scene, you’ll start with your headline or slug, where and when the scene is taking place and we will format it like this. If it’s inside, you’ll start with INT. period for Interior, or if it’s outside EXT. period for exterior.

Next, you will write the locations, like the doctor’s office or Dan’s house or town square. And lastly, you will write the time of day. For example, day, dawn, night, and so on. Next, we’ll write the action. This is the description of who and what is in the scene. You’ll want to communicate the best you can the look and feel of the scene. For example, I could write something like this: Hazy light beams from the sun hit the interior office of the detective’s messy desk. The office is worn out and disorganized. Dan, sitting in his chair, had his head laying on the desk, trying to nurse his intoxication. But a rattling fan keeps spinning, breaking the peace and silence that he’s seeking.

Next, we will write the dialog. First, I’ll start with the character’s name that is speaking, for example, Dan, and make sure you put it in all caps. Dan says, “Ughh.” Then depending on if there is dialog with another character, you would write the next character’s name in dialog. If not, you can go back to the next action. We will continue the action since Dan is alone, for example, you can say Dan rolls his head over-looking directly at the fan as if mocking him. As if defeated by the fan, he reaches into the top right drawer of his desk, fumbling around, pushing empty mini bottles of whiskey around. He finds one with a few drops left in it. He opens it up and holds it over his head to shake out the remaining two drops. He tosses the empty bottle back into the drawer and gets up to grab his coat and leave. But his desk phone rings.

All right. Now we can go back to the dialog. We can add a parenthesis right after the name and right before the dialog like this to convey the character’s intentions clearly. In parentheses: Exhausted. Then Dan says: “Sighs.” Now back to the action. He takes a second and walks over the phone. Now back to the dialog. Dan says, “Yeah.” Now we switch to our character on the phone. We’ll put their name, then in parentheses O.S for offscreen. This means a character is in the scene but off camera. Or you can put V.O for voiceover, meaning the character’s not in the scene, but you can hear them like a narration.

For example, Sergeant Bill Dunningham. O.S (angry) “My office now.” Back to Dan, “Sarge, I was actually about to…” Back to the sergeant, “If you aren’t in my office in the next minute, your ass will be looking for a new job so fast you won’t know what hit you.” Now back to Dan, “Yes, sir.”And now we can finish with the action. Dan hangs up the phone and walks over to the inner office window and using his two fingers, peers through the blinds across the sheriff’s department to Sergeant Bill Dunningham’s office, where you can see him visibly upset behind the desk. Dan takes a breath, grabs his coat, and exits the office. And that will do it for our short scene.

Here are a few key takeaways when writing your script. Don’t be too hard on yourself, with your first draft. You’ll write and rewrite and write some more. And most scripts that become movies have had more drafts than you can even imagine. When you’re struggling or hitting a roadblock, take a break and go for a walk and recenter yourself. Working under stress will never produce the results you want. And lastly, practice-write as many scripts as you can. Most famous writers talk about their first few scripts and how terrible they are. It takes a lot of practice to become great at this process. And a lot of learning along the way.

Good luck with your scripts and allow your creativity to take you wherever you desire. That’s it for scriptwriting 101. Join me for the next one.

Hi, I’m Anthony from the YouTube channel Anthony LiPani, Talking about Workflow & Preparation.
In the beginning of your content creative career, the idea of preparation might seem a little overwhelming and confusing. It does for all of us. But one of the great parts about content preparation is, there’s no rules to follow. It’s all about what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to look at other content creators to help you with inspiration for some ideas or methods that you can add to your own repertoire. as you go you’ll pick up little techniques here and there that resonate with you, to help you increase your productivity. And you’ll slowly start to develop a solid workflow that you can rely on to help you get the job done better and faster.

Some people like to fully script out their projects, which could significantly speed up the completion of your videos. But if you’re not careful, reading the script line for line can cause you to come across as robotic and just not natural on camera. Another method is to not fully script your videos but instead use bullet points. This strategy is probably best use for somebody that’s more comfortable on camera and speaks well off the top of their head.

But just like a fully scripted video, there are some things you need to be aware of with bullet points. You’ll most likely need to redo more shots without a script than you would with one. You also have to be aware of fluff. If you’ve never heard of the term fluff before, it’s basically filler words in between your sentences that add zero value to your project. Words like ‘umm’ or ‘uhh’ as well as awkward silent seconds in between your lines are what’s called fluff, which can occur pretty often when you’re shooting from the hip. Always cut out the fluff. People’s attention spans are incredibly short, and leaving fluff in your videos is an easy way to lose your viewers’ attention fast.

Another situation you might come across when using bullet points is making a mistake that you might not realize you made while filming, but you’ll notice it later on when you’re editing your video, and by then it might be too late to redo your shot. For me, I mostly use bullet points because I’m pretty good on camera and I find that come up with funnier jokes off the top of my head during my shoot. But I will script out some super detailed projects, like an in-depth review I might be working on, or paid sponsor project, and I want to make sure I don’t leave anything important out.

Now, a little earlier I mentioned that there are no rules when preparing for your video, and I’d like to explain a little bit. Some people use an app, others like to go old school with a pen and paper. I myself like to use a notes app because most notes apps are cloud-based and can sync up with all my devices so I can access them at any time and there’s no chance of me losing what I wrote down. I find that if I use a physical piece of paper, there’s a much higher chance of me not bringing that paper everywhere I go, which will limit my filming times and also I’ll probably lose it.

When I’m writing in my notes app I script on my projects much different than I’ve seen other people write theirs. I use checkboxes for my lines like you would see for a to-do list or shopping list. It helps me not lose my place in my script and I’m able to check off my lines as I go through them. It also helps prevent me from over-explaining something, which is another good way to lose somebody’s attention fast. And if you’re the only one reading your notes, then your style of writing notes won’t matter as long as they make things easier for yourself.

Another method I use is I spell my words in a way that I know I would naturally say them. I’m an Italian city boy from Queens, New York, and as you might be able to hear, I got a little bit of an accent, so I spell my words in my script with my natural accent. For example, if one of my lines is, “what do you want to do?” I know that I’ll sound weird accentuating the T’ in “want” and “to do” So I’ll write instead, “whatta you wanna do?” to make sure I sound natural when I speak my lines because that’s how I pronounce my words. This technique helps me immensely when I’m working on a project that requires a full script.

Another great tip if you find yourself struggling on camera, is to film in a place that makes you feel more comfortable. This could be a bedroom, a basement, maybe an attic that nobody’s using. Maybe even go on a hike somewhere by yourself and just hold the camera up and speak. And don’t assume that everything you film has to be seen by the world. If you don’t like something, you can simply cut it out or completely redo it or delete it. Practicing over and over will make you feel more comfortable and help build confidence in front of the camera.

And don’t forget to speak up. Try not to mumble or some monotone. Pretend the camera is one of your friends that you enjoy having a conversation with. And if you make a mistake, just have patience until you get it right. Don’t panic. There’s been plenty of times where I’m just having an off day and my brain isn’t working as well as I wanted to. We’ve all been there. Don’t get frustrated. Just gather yourself, keep going until you get it right.

Being a creator is the same thing as going to the gym or being in a relationship. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. And there’s no better time to start than right now. Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you guys next time.

If you’re just getting into filmmaking, you probably don’t have access to a film crew, and it can be difficult to make videos by yourself. Once in a while, you can rely on family and friends, but sometimes you have to take things into your own hands. Let’s take a look at a few tips to make things easier for you.

Tip number five is to buy a tripod. You can avoid doing this to save money, but at some point, you need something reliable to hold the camera. The cost for a tripod can range from 15 to hundreds of dollars.

Tip number four is find a way to view what your camera is seeing. Purchasing an external monitor is an option. But first, take a look at what your camera offers. For example, Canon has the EOS utility software, which lets you bring up the camera view on a laptop. The Panasonic GH5S, which is what we use as an image app to show it on your phone or tablet. You’ll probably also be able to control certain aspects of the camera through the interface, like the aperture, ISO, or focus. This makes it much easier to fine-tune your shot without having to walk back and forth to the camera.

Tip number three is to film creatively. Now, it’s easy to advise someone to be creative, but it can be harder to actually do it. As an example, take the White Walker tutorial we did a while back. I filmed this by myself with a 50-millimeter prime lens, which had a really shallow depth of field. I found it difficult to walk into the shot and stop at exactly the right spot in order to stay sharp, and I didn’t have anyone else to work the focus ring. So instead, what I did was stand in front of the camera, set my focus, and then walk backwards out of the shot. I reverse the footage and you couldn’t tell the difference. Also, that green side light you see on my face is actually me holding my iPhone on my right shoulder with the flashlight turned on. I didn’t have a stand or light available, so I had to improvise.

Tip number two is zoom out. This one applies more if you don’t have a way to see what your camera is viewing. Once you frame up your shot and get it looking just right, zoom out a bit if you can. This prevents you accidentally cutting off important information in the frame, which can’t be recovered in post. It’s better to have that extra room and reframe if needed.

And tip number one is to plan ahead and don’t skip out on pre-production. It’s easy to think of a bunch of different creative shots in your head, only to get to the set and realize that you can’t do any of them without extra help. So when you create a shot list or a storyboard, make sure that what you’re planning to do can be done with one person. I’ll see you all in the next video.

In this video, I’m going to explain cinematography, what it is, and give you some examples of how you can use the camera in various ways to aid your storytelling.

So what is cinematography? Cinematography, in a nutshell, is how you use the camera, the lighting, and the set design to aid the telling of the story. Rather than being literal through narration or dialogue, the way in which the camera, the lighting, and the colors are used can help fill in those gaps for the viewer without them really knowing. For example, a bright, vibrant scene with lots of color and pleasing angles can be used for a happy or fun mood, whilst a dark, handheld shaky clip could portray chaos or horror.

There are many elements that cinematography consists of, but the ones we’ll be focusing on in this video are camera settings, camera angles and lens choice, and camera movements.

Now you can have the best camera in the world, but if you don’t know how to use it, you might as well get a three-year-old to film with a potato. And that’s why working on these skills is essential to becoming a better videographer.

Now, first things first, you need to know what each of the settings do and how to control them to get the type of image you want. Now, resolution is the quality of the image. The higher the resolution, the more detail you’ll capture. And you’ll also be able to zoom in further in post if you need to, whilst retaining a decent quality image.

If you start with a lower resolution cropping in or zooming in, it will only get worse. But just be mindful that the higher the resolution, the more data is recorded. So you need to think about memory cards and storage costs because it can get quite expensive.

You can choose whether you want a natural playback speed or slow motion, and you adjust this using the frame rate options in your camera. So video is achieved by capturing a series of still images or frames and then when they play back in sequence, it looks like it’s moving.

24 frames per second is the most common frame rate used for real-life speed. If you want slow motion and you try to slow down 24 frames per second footage, you will see it start stuttering because there aren’t enough frames being captured. But 50 frames and above will give you a nice, smooth-looking, slow-motion shot. In summary, if you want a natural speed, go for 24 or 25 frames per second. If you want slow motion, go anywhere upwards of 50 frames per second.

Shutter speed is how long the shutter stays open for each frame that’s captured. The longer it stays open, the more light it will let in. Plus the more motion is captured. So a longer shutter time will give you more motion blur. Once you’ve chosen your frames per second, it’s usually a good rule of thumb to set your shutter speed at double the number of what your frame rate is.

This is called the 180 Degree Rule. For example, 25 frames per second, you want a 1/50 shutter. If you’re using 50 frames per second, you want to set the shutter speed at 1/100 because 100 is double 50. Now, this isn’t always the case, though, but it’s a good starting point. If you stick to this rule, it will give you the most natural-looking motion blur. But for higher action-type sequences, you could go for a shorter shutter speed, which will give you that choppy look. It looks quite cool. And a longer shutter speed will give you a blurry, dreamlike feel.

When you’re setting your exposure it’s basically making sure that your image isn’t too dark or too bright. One way of adjusting the exposure is by using the ISO setting. ISO is how sensitive your camera is to light. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive it is. If you need more light in your shot, you could raise the ISO, but you’ve got to be careful because raising the ISO can add more grain and noise and lower the quality of the colors in your image. The lower the ISO or the closer to the camera’s native ISO setting, the better. Another way to alter the exposure is by using your aperture. This is how wide or small the iris can go on your lens. A lens with an aperture of f /1.4 is really wide, and it’ll let more light in. But f/8 is a lot smaller, which will result in a darker image because not as much light can get through the whole.

Shooting wide open will give you lots more light, but two things will happen. Your depth of focus will be shallower, meaning it will be harder to keep things in focus when they’re moving, and your background or foreground will be blurry. So if you want more in focus, go for a higher f-stop. We all tend to like that nice depth of field with a blurry background or blurry objects in the foreground, but sometimes you’re going to want to draw the viewer’s attention to other things that are going on in the frame, so we don’t always want everything to be blurry.

If you can’t control the lighting, for example, if you’re filming outdoors on a bright day but you want to have your aperture open because you want a blurry background, your image will most likely be overexposed because it would be letting in too much light. So rather than changing the shutter speed to compensate for this, you could use a variable ND filter, which will reduce the amount of light coming into the camera or lens. It’s kind of like putting sunglasses over your lens.

White balance is integral for getting your colors right in the camera. If you get this wrong, it will be harder to correct and color grade in post, and it just won’t look the way you want it to. So color temperature ranges from cool or blue to warm or orange, and is measured in Kelvin’s, around 1,000 on the warm end, and about 10,000 on the cool end.

If you’re using lights, adjust the white balance in your camera to suit the type of lights that you’re using, daylight or tungsten, for example. And if you’re outside, the time of day and the weather conditions will affect the temperature of the light. So be sure to adjust the white balance in the camera to suit the conditions. You can set a custom white balance on most cameras, which is as easy as holding up a white balance card and taking a picture. The camera will analyze the image and then set the white balance for you, so it’s super simple. But setting your white balance correctly will give you the most natural-looking colors and make it easier for you to color grade. That’s what you want… You want ease. So if you follow these steps, you should get a pretty good image. But these are just the basics and a general overview. There is so much more to getting a good image.

Other than lighting, composition, and framing plays a huge part in taking your shots from looking amateur to professional. And it’s really easy to do and doesn’t require any additional gear or equipment or cost. And that’s why I like it so much.

Now I’m going to share just a few of the key tips that I use to help guide the viewer to where you want their attention to be. Rule of thirds, leading lines, and symmetry. They’re my favorite things. If you turn on your rule of thirds grid on your camera or monitor, a guide will appear. And if you place your subject in one of the cross sections of the grid, it can make for a more pleasing composition.

Leading lines are my favorite. You can guide the viewer’s eyes
towards a subject by using any long, straight lines that are in the scene already. Our brains like symmetry, so having your subject in the center of the frame with either side looking very similar can be very pleasing to the eye, and it focuses us in on the middle of the image.

Camera angles are important because you’re choosing what you want the view to focus on and how you want the subject to be perceived. This can help the viewer understand what’s going on and feel more connected to the story or the characters. For example, if you want to show how emotional someone is, it would be good to have a close-up on their face to emphasize this. This way, the viewer isn’t distracted by something else in the background.

I’m going to show you some common camera angles and lens choices and what they’re typically used for. These are just examples, not rules. So feel free to do whatever you want and find your own style, but there’s a reason why they are what they are.

So wide shots usually establish a location, and this gives the viewer a sense of the setting. You could also introduce your character in a wide shot if you want to make them look small, insignificant, or lonely. For a wide shot, you’d typically be using a 24 to 35-mm lens so you can fit more in. Super wide or fisheye lenses can be great for action and sport because it’s got like extreme warping on the edges of the frame, and it’s got a quite a distinct look. It also makes objects such as skate ramps look a lot bigger as well, so it’s like it brings you into the action.

A medium shot is a little bit closer, usually from the waist up, and it’s usually to focus in on what the character is doing. And that draws the viewer in because it’s typically how you would be stood near someone in person and it makes you feel close to the action. For medium shots, you’d probably be wanting to use around a 35 to 50mm lens.

Then we’ve got tight shots that usually focus in on someone’s face to show an expression or even a particular part of an object or a building, 50mm are great for this. But again, you can use whatever you like.

Extreme detail shots can be used to show intense emotions, detail or an object to signify its importance like a clock and a time, for example. It draws the viewer’s attention to exactly what you want them to focus on. 50 to 100mm lens would be great for this, or even a macro lens, so you can get really close and still focus on the detail. Then we’ve got camera angles. Having the camera low and pointing upwards makes your subject appear larger than life and have position of power and dominance.

Wider lenses are really good for this. So this is the direct opposite of low, and it makes the character seem small and inferior because the viewer is looking down at the character from above. In a point of view (POV) shot, the camera’s positioned from the perspective of the character, and it shows what they would be seeing or what they’d be looking at. And this helps the viewer understand the state of mind and what they will be going through in that moment. Wide lenses are great for this again because it can show the full surroundings.

The movement of the camera can have just as much importance of the angle in which it is facing. I’m not just talking about panning or tilting to reveal something. We can also choose how the movement is made. Usually, a stable or smooth shot would feel safe, whereas a handheld shaky shot would mean there’s action happening. And that handheld motion makes it feel like you’re there experiencing it in real life, so it really brings you into the action and what’s happening on screen.

Then if you’ve got a zoom lens, zooming in or out quickly can really suck the viewer into the action too, whereas dollying in slowly can gradually entice you into a monologue, for example.

So the use of camera equipment like tripods, stabilizers, cages, cranes, or even drones can help you get whatever type of shot that you need. So all of these elements are there for you to use in whichever way you feel will tell your story in the way you want to. Art is kind of subjective, so there are no hard and fast rules. However, there is a reason why certain things work the way they do and why people use them in that way. So just be mindful of that next time you pick up the camera.

Anyway, I really hope these tips have helped. Don’t forget to check out the other videos in this series for more tips on content creation. Thanks so much for watching, and I’ll see you in another one.

In this video, I’m going to share with you some tips and techniques to help you get the most out of your camera phone. I’ll also be showing you some accessories and apps that will help supercharge this little camera that fits in your pocket. We’re constantly bombarded with new camera announcements and new technology that will supposedly improve your footage. And whilst the gear does matter, not having it shouldn’t hold you back from making a start because you don’t have to spend a fortune on camera equipment anymore to share your story or provide value to people’s lives.

One of my personal favorite quotes from Gary Vee is, ‘Nelson Mandela’s speech wasn’t filmed in 4K!’ It’s so true. He gave one of the most famous speeches in the world, and nobody cared what it was filmed on. He still got his message across. So hopefully this video will remove any of those mental blocks that stand in the way of you starting and get you on the way to sharing your message with the world.

So our phones come with everything we need to get started making videos. The features built into most phones will allow you to set the frame rate to enable you to film in normal speed or slow motion. You’ll be able to change the focus area of your image, zoom in and out, and most of them will have auto exposure, so you don’t even have to think about your exposure.

They’ll also have image stabilization to stabilize your footage for smoother moving shots and also overlay the rule of thirds grid to help you frame up your shots. Now, all phones will be slightly different, but they’ll usually include these features as a standard, so it shouldn’t take long to find any of these options that I’ve just spoken about.

But if you did want to have a little bit more control over your settings, you can install third-party apps on your phone, which will give you similar options to, like a mirrorless camera, for example. Now there are loads of apps out there, some more expensive than others. You just have to pick one within your budget that also includes the features that you will use the most.

I would personally look for ones that allow you to change the resolution, the frame rate, the shutter speed, the ISO, the white balance, have separate control over the focus and exposure, and allow you to monitor your exposure with a histogram or some sort of waveform, and also monitor your audio levels and adjust them. That would be a bonus.

Now, some of these camera functions and settings will be explained in detail in another video, but basically having control over these settings will allow you more creativity over the way the video looks.

You don’t even need to have a computer to edit your content on anymore because there are so many video editing apps, even just on your phone. Adobe Rush is completely free and includes some of the best features from Adobe Premiere, my favorite editing program. You can now film, edit and upload straight to social media just using your phone. It’s insane. Imagine back in the day when you would have to film something on film, send it away somewhere, wait for it to get shipped there, they would chop it up, physically chop it up and edit it, stick it back together, then they’d have to send it back, make multiple copies of it… It’s just mind-blowing. Now we can do it all on the phone instantly. Literally within seconds. And we still moan that things aren’t quick enough. Well, I do anyway… I don’t know about you… probably got a bit more patience than me.

Now, if you’re like me and you struggle speaking to a camera, it might be worth downloading a teleprompter app, and that means you can prepare a script in advance. Display the text on your phone right next to the camera, so it still looks like you’re looking into the lens and connecting with your audience. And teleprompters are great because they’ll save you heaps of time whilst you’re filming and editing as well. Because there’ll be less outtakes. You’ve just got to be mindful, though, that you’re good at writing.

You’ve got to be able to write how you would speak and also be good at reading in an expressive way. It’s so difficult. I’m actually using one now, so hopefully, you can’t tell. If you’re doing a talking head shot much like this where you just want the camera to be stationary, then you need some sort of tripod, either a mini tripod or a regular-sized tripod. But because it’s a phone, it doesn’t weigh much. You won’t need a heavy-duty one. But what you will need is a phone clip so you can mount your phone instead of your camera, for example. Some tripods come with these now, but if not, they’re really easy to find and they’re super affordable.

If you want a handheld type shot, you could just use your phone as it is. But because of the shape, it can be quite tricky to hold, which means you might get a little bit of wobble or shake. So investing in some sort of camera cage will allow you to grip the phone with two hands for a more comfortable and natural hold, and cages also allow you to mount accessories to them, such as microphones and lights.

Although phones have pretty good stabilization built in, nothing compares to when you’re using a gimbal or a stabilizer, for example. There may be times where you need to get a super smooth movement for a particular shot. And that’s where a 2-axis or 3-axis gimbal will be great. 2-axis gimbals stabilize the pan and the tilt axes, whereas a 3-axis gimbal smooths out the roll axis as well, so you can make it really smooth.

Now, if you really want to get creative, there are a wide range of lenses, including anamorphic lenses that you can just clip onto your existing lens or phone case, and that’ll convert it into a different focal length or style lens.

Now, this will let you create a variety of different-looking shots on a budget compared to lenses for a mirrorless camera, for example, which cost a fortune. Super wide angle lenses are great for sports, whereas a tighter focal length is great for interviews or details like bird photography or videography, for example, where you want to capture something a little bit further away.

Now we all know that how your image looks is important, but your audio needs to sound good too, because people can get distracted by bad sound in videos and your phone will be picking up sound from all directions and might result in some unwanted noise. So plugging in a microphone will give you a more direct signal, and it will be clearer. And you can easily mount the microphone to either a small clip mount on your camera case or a camera cage.

So hopefully you can see now that you don’t have to break the bank, and nothing should stand in the way of getting started on your content creation journey. Don’t forget to check the other videos in this series for more tips on content creation. I hope this video has helped! Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in another one.

Today’s lesson will be a little different from the previous ones. We will try to sum up and put into practice all the skills for optimal work in social networks. So let’s start.

This time we won’t have a long theoretical part because all of you know what is social media and why we are involved in them. Most people want to express themselves through social media, and this creates a huge competition. Therefore, the most important task for a blogger is to create content that will be interesting to the audience. In my subjective opinion, the most important success factor is the personality of the blogger. And this formation is work that requires many years of involvement, and subjects only to the individual and his personal eternal motivation. However, there are other factors that can help a person succeed in blogging. We can divide them into these two groups.

Our previous status dealt mainly with the first group of factors. Today we’ll try to touch on both with particular emphasis on personal factors that require greater inclusion. I mean hard specialists can shoot, edit, and even post your content, but your personality uniqueness is almost impossible to pay, especially for a long time. I asked you not to take this as hard truth, but simply as a list of useful tips from someone with some experience.

So, understanding your audience. It may seem trite to you, but practice shows that such a simple matter as choosing your own audience is often ignored or misunderstood by people who want to share their content. There can be many reasons for such carelessness. I would single out the one: that artists desire to create for himself. It would seem a great idea. You create as your heart tells you and you are not for sale. On the other hand, use the opportunity to have a good advice.

Working with high-quality elements – video, audio, motion graphics, as I told you before, technical aspects are important, especially if you want to share with people some professional information.

Remember, before you who that attention, people will watch you with a critical point of view. Moreover, you should prove you’re a real key opinion leader. That is why technical and personal professionalism has a huge role, especially in the beginning of your way. keep the audience engaged with high-quality B-rolls. It might seem not to be so necessary, but extra footage will help you to tell your story better than just putting A-rolls of yourself talking to the camera.

Analyzing trends. Trends are not as simple as it looks. Some can tell you they are the main thing you should learn. Someone can say the opposite. However, the truth is always somewhere between. Analyzing trends is the obvious part of every blogger’s work. Social networks require you to repeat successful trends. But the main thing is not to make the end in itself. It is more of a certain balancing act between originality and trend following.

Making something unique. Maybe seems too general but it should be something that can help viewers to remember you and only you. For example, the simplest is to wear some unique clothes or use some unique phrases. But remember, with the least of time you will need something more serious to express yourself.

Always try something new, not repeat the same content many times. It is a huge problem of creators. After getting some success. They try to repeat it with the same methods and techniques. The result is a constant self-repetition which is not only boring for viewers but also reduces critical thinking and kills creativity.

Giving not only entertaining but also educating, helpful, developing material. This is not the obvious condition of hooking the audience, but you should always remember – the creator is responsible not only for his creation, but also for those who consume it. Therefore, it is desirable to educate and develop your own audience while developing yourself.

Still on the topic of your video in the first five seconds. This advice you may hear very often. I won’t dispute this thesis but I’ll add on my own behalf that the content being sold should be clear, understandable, and ironic enough to catch the attention of the audience.

Hooking with hashtags and geolocation. That advice is more about the technical than the personal factor of hooking. Nevertheless, I put it here because many people are hesitating about working with all the instruments inside of a social network. I insist that you shouldn’t be embarrassed. This toolkit is no less important of constant promotion than the content itself.

Being ready for long-term walk with the audience. It is not so difficult to interest an audience as to keep it for a long time. People with clip thinking are constantly looking for new sources of information. Therefore it is not so easy to get your own audience in short period. And in such a situation, don’t despair, just continue to go into success. Naturally, with healthy self-criticism and self-irony.

This was my subjective list of advice for anyone who wants to hook the audience. It is based on my own experience right or wrong decisions I’ve made on my way of blogger and content creator. I hope this course was interesting and informative for you. I want to believe you have learned something new. So it’s time to finish. I wish you all good luck. It’s CameraGirlHelena that’s all, and till next time.

In this video, I’m going to highlight the importance of editing and how it can dramatically change the impact of your video. I’m also going to give you some examples and techniques that you can implement into your workflow.

An edit is much more than just chopping the start and ends of your video and putting the clips together, it’s actually comprised of many elements, such as your footage, sound effects, music, the types of cut, shot selection, color grades, and loads more. These elements, and how you use them, can dramatically affect the pacing and the style of the content. And it can actually determine how the viewer relates to it.

Now you’re going to use different styles and techniques, depending on the type of video. For example, a YouTube tutorial video will typically be edited much differently to a corporate interview. You could take all the same footage and give them to different editors, and they would build the story in completely different ways based on how they perceive it or how they want to interpret it themselves.

So an edit is where the video or the story can really come alive. Sometimes I’ve started out thinking a video will take the form of one thing, but actually, a different edit served the story better in the end. Other times you’ll know beforehand exactly how you’re going to edit it before you even start filming. So it’s good to be able to work in both ways. That’s why it’s so important to know just a few editing techniques or styles in order to have control over how you build your videos and make your own unique style. And I’m going to be showing you some later on in the video.

So here’s a typical example of a sequence in Premiere Pro. Now, a sequence is where you build your video and what the edit consists of. Now, in most editing software, sequence windows appear very similar, with a horizontal timeline across the bottom, and video and audio tracks can be stacked on top of each other. I’m using Adobe Premiere Pro and you can see the audio at the bottom, which consists of dialogue and music. And above that line, there are video clips, B-roll, graphics, and text.

Now editors work in different ways, but for certain types of videos, having a format, a structure, or a system to how you assemble your sequence can really help cut down that editing time and help you see more clearly what’s happening. I like to have a tidy workflow because this can come in handy when you’re passing it over to another editor to check your work or continue working on because then they’ll be able to see exactly which element is which in the sequence.

When I’m making my YouTube videos, my first pass will be cutting all the main A-roll or the talking head footage together to get rid of any mistakes or pauses. This will sit on one layer on its own. And the reason I trim this down is to keep the viewer engaged. If I left all the pauses in, people get really bored and click away. This type of cut is called a hard cut. It’s kind of become its own style, which is acceptable in the YouTube world. But if I was doing an interview, this type of cut can be a little bit distracting so we can hide them using another camera angle.

You can cut between the two camera angles to hide the jump cut. Then, once the story is built, I then add the B-roll on the layer above. Now, adding B-roll helps visually support what I’m talking about further to give the viewer a deeper understanding and to hold their interest. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been using B-roll throughout these videos to emphasize what I’m talking about. And also, let’s face it, you don’t want to be looking at my face for a whole ten minutes straight do you? And then I’ll add any graphics or title cards on the layer above.

The last thing I do is add the music or any sound effects onto the audio channels. Now, this is a lot quicker than building the edit bit by bit and enables you to get the feel of the video and the story down first before adding any unnecessary elements that might not work once the story is built.

So having a sequence or a scene from beginning to end, all filmed in one shot can be effective, but there are other ways to make it a little different and a bit more engaging and exciting. I already briefly explained hard cuts, but I’ve put together a few examples of my favorite types of cuts that bring a different energy to your videos. For these examples, I’ve used footage from Artgrid’s stock footage library, and it’s amazing because sometimes you can’t always get the footage or the location that you need.

So having access to Artgrid’s professional library of stock footage can really come in handy for many types of projects. For example, I live in the heart of England. Where am I going to get a shot of a waterfall? So there’s so much footage on there, and they’re constantly adding to it as well. And it’s all professionally filmed and you can edit it in whichever way you like and it’s all license free.

Cutting on action is where it looks as though the action is still taking place all in one take, but the camera angles or framing changes. The cuts need to be precisely timed in order for it to look smooth. But, you can highlight or focus on the important expressions, actions, or subject in the frame. Montages are great ways of visually showing something happening over time rather than explaining it, and it can be a really good way of reengaging your audience or even adding a little break in between scenes.

Now, these are usually used when showing something that happens over a period of time, which allows you to quickly cover a lot of information or detail. For example, I could show you me building a desk by showing you some of the main elements without making you sit through the whole process of me making the desk or just talking about it. And then obviously, if you put music over this, you can portray loads of different types of moods. This is where you repeatedly switch between two or more scenarios to either show what’s happening somewhere else at the same moment in time or to create a connection in various ways between the different clips. Now, this is really effective because you can show more than one emotion from different perspectives at the same time.

Music is an essential part of your sequence. I’d also like to add that it’s not only important to choose the right type of music, but also when NOT to use music. It can help support your story, but silence in between dialogue or footage can be equally powerful. What I’m saying is, don’t just use it for the sake of using it because it won’t always work.

Now, I love using Artlist because their library has so many different genres of music in various different moods and sound effects. So whatever you’re looking for, you’re going to be able to find it. So here’s an example of a sequence with just sound effects. Now here’s the same sequence, but with one type of music. And again, the same sequence, but with a contrasting style of music. You can see how contrasting these sequences are just by swapping the music out and without changing anything else. Applying all that you’ve learned today will give your content more variety and because of that, people might even be more engaged and potentially watch for longer.

Don’t forget to check out the other videos in this series for more tips on content creation. I hope this video has helped. Thanks so much for watching.

Does gear matter?
Hi, I’m Anthony from the YouTube channel Anthony LiPani, talking about the age-old question that will forever be argued in a world of content creators – does gear matter? Some people believe with all of their heart and soul that it does, and there’s no convincing them otherwise. And some people feel the complete opposite. The reason that this question will never have a straightforward answer is because the real answer is not yes or no. The answer is- it depends. I can make a compelling case for both sides of the coin, and I will.

Number one, let’s just get this out the way immediately before we even start. Your gear is not a flex move. It’s not there to make you feel good about yourself for having the latest, greatest, and most expensive. Nobody will know the make, model, and price of your camera simply by watching your videos unless you tell them. Don’t treat your camera gear like it’s a flashy new car. It’s a tool that exists for delivering specific features to specific people that need those features in order to get the job done properly.

Now that we got that out the way, let’s get to the question at hand. The reason my answer is it depends is based on what type of content you are creating and what you visualize your videos looking like when they’re finally uploaded. For example, if you want to deliver super cinematic videos with high-quality footage that looks like a movie with amazing audio and super slow-mo and aerial shots and shallow depth of field, a.k.a. blurry backgrounds. Then the answer is absolutely yes. Gear definitely matters.

You’ll need the proper tools to help you achieve all of that. It’s hard to get a drone shot without a drone. For good audio, you’re going to need a good microphone. And even though some smartphones do do a decent job at blurring out the background, it will never look as good as actual shallow depth of field from a real camera and a good lens. Besides YouTube, I also shoot weddings, corporate events, music videos, and promotional videos, so it makes sense for me personally to own top-shelf camera gear.

One of the biggest mistakes I see time after time is people assuming that the most expensive cameras will skyrocket their channel to a new level. And the fact is, this couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s a pretty popular creator on YouTube called Mr. Beast. You might have heard of him, he only has like 90 million subscribers or so. No big deal. And believe it or not, creators like Mr. Beast and David Dobrik don’t use the latest, greatest, and most expensive cameras on the market on purpose. They intentionally shoot on lesser-quality cameras to appear more relatable and down to earth.

Now, I’m not saying that this is a recipe for success. I’m simply just making a point. Different niches and styles are for different types of gear. There’s vlogging and travel channels with millions of subscribers that mainly shoot the majority of their content on either an action camera or a smartphone. And there’s also vlogging and travel channels with millions of subscribers that film on high-quality cameras. Both in the same field, putting out similar types of content but using completely different types of gear.

So what does this tell us? It’s all about the content itself. It’s more about what you’re delivering than what gear you use to deliver it. Now, again, if you want all the bells and whistles in your videos, then yes, you’ll need more gear in your arsenal than just a smartphone or an action camera. But take it from me, there’s this sense of creative freedom when you’re out shooting for the day on just an action camera and a few spare batteries. There’s something special about pointing your camera anywhere and simply pressing record without having to worry about settings or autofocus or anything really. Not to mention the more gear you own, the more you have to lug around with you.

When I go on a shoot like a paid event, I’m carrying two cameras between two and five lenses for different types of shots, ND filters, which are like sunglasses for your camera lens for when it’s too bright, like when you’re filming outside on a sunny day, some spare batteries, some lighting in case I get caught in a low lit situation, a drone, spare batteries for my drone, a gimbal to stabilize my camera for super smooth footage, a microphone for cleaner audio because good audio is very important for video.

It’s a lot. For me all of those things are necessities, but sometimes when I’m shooting for my channel, I just go out and vlog on my GoPro, a nice long selfie stick, and maybe my drone. And not only is my job easier, but it’s also more enjoyable and faster because there’s basically nothing to set up or worry about. You need to think about what kind of content you plan on delivering as well as your budget and then go from there. Just remember, gear does not make or break you. It’s there to help you. You still have to use this, and you still have to use this.

Thanks for watching. I’m Anthony LiPani, and I’ll see you next time.

We all know that lighting is a big contributor to making a shot look cinematic. But how do you achieve that movie-like lighting when you’re filming with little or no budget? I’m Tom from FXhome by Artlist, and in this video, I’m going to show you some items that you can find around the household or that are incredibly cheap to help craft and shape your lighting and improve your overall image quality.

Some of the best ways to begin lighting your scene is to start off in darkness and window light can make that incredibly difficult for you. Depending on what sort of curtains you have, light is going to seep in, which means there’ll be an ambient light bouncing around the room. in order to block out that light bin bags are incredibly helpful. You can, of course, buy them incredibly cheap, and all you need to do is get one out, tear down the seams so it’s completely opened up, and then tape it to a window. You may need to add multiple bags to layer up, as some can be translucent.

Next up, paper, card, and foam board. You can get these in a range of sizes for your needs, but this material is great. Not only can you bend and shape it into different props for outfits and costumes, and cosplay, this reflective material because of its whiteness can actually bounce the light. So when I bring it here, you have a reflector coming down that’s bouncing off the light.

Or alternatively, with a stand, you could block out the light completely, and because they usually come in a pack you can even tape them together and have a much bigger reflector.

Next up, I’m going to make sure that I get my pronunciation right. Aluminum foil. I hope I made you very proud. If the foam board reflection wasn’t enough, then aluminum foil attached to that foam board can really help. That is… That’s doing quite a lot. All it takes is one sheet wrapped around the foam board and you now have a DIY reflector. And as you can see, this reflects a fair amount of light. It’s pretty good. I’d use this and then bake some cookies afterwards.

Reflectors aren’t usually that expensive, but if you’re working to no budget, this does help quite a lot. If you don’t have access to many lights, using a reflector is a great way to bounce the ambient light at your actor. By doing this, you can actually soften the shadows or accentuate some of the light that is going onto your actor. So the foam board and aluminum tin, aluminum — the foam board and aluminum foil is a great combination for you to create your own DIY reflector.

Now, let’s move on to something for diffusion — a shower curtain. The material on shower curtains is great for diffusion. All you need to do is place your light. Hang the shower curtain above your light and then you automatically have a wonderful diffusion sheet. This diffusion will soften the light that is coming through. So if like before, you can’t block out the light, with bin bags, for example, you can definitely soften the light that is coming into the room. You can also use this while you’re outside as well, hanging it over your subject like butterfly diffusion. This will break the natural daylight that is going onto your subject, and particularly on a sunny day, something like this is going to be a huge help for making sure that your image is correctly exposed. And in case it rains, it’s already waterproof.

This one is a gaffer’s friend and my personal favorite – tape. Masking tape and duct tape are huge additions to your tool belt. If your light source doesn’t come with barn doors, then you can use tape to create your own and help shape and direct that light source. It’s not just for the light source as well, it’s also for your camera. Lens hoods help shield the light from the camera so you don’t get any crazy flares or overexposure.

Lens hoods keep additional light out of the lens, so by creating your own out of tape, you’re helping the camera understand and expose correctly to your scene, avoiding the ambient light that is dancing around the room and just focusing strictly on your subject. And while traveling to the location, you’ve realized that you’ve forgotten your lens hoods, guess what? You’ve now got a solution. You’re welcome.

Not only that, but you can use the tape for being tape. You can use it for the bin bags that we mentioned earlier, sticking those foam board cards together. On set, tape is everyone’s best friend. Maybe that one is not a particular light tip, but it’s definitely something that you can find around the house that will help your cinematography in the future.

Our last tip for you should only be used on lights that are unable to overheat, such as LEDs or softbox lights. Gels can be quite expensive, and in some cases, depending on the light you’re using, they can melt and stick to the light. However, using a material like a T-shirt can actually help change the tone of your lights. Throwing a simple T-shirt over a light can change the color completely, and depending on your wardrobe, will provide you a complete rainbow of colors. With a T-shirt being quite thick, it will diffuse the light ever so slightly. But overall, you’ll have a wonderfully toned light that you can’t often get with most gels.

We use this quite a lot when we’re doing green screen stuff, we have a green morph suit that we throw over the top of an LED, and that just helps pop the green screen ever so slightly. So the light that’s going on the green screen is also green and helping us key out our footage later when we’re in HitFilm. It also helps us avoid hot spots during exposure, you know, intense white light.

I’ve had a great time making this video, so I hope to see you in the next video.

Good sound can help you stand out as a content creator. Sound is one of the most important aspects of any good video. An audience is willing to watch a low-resolution video with good audio, but not the other way around. Let’s test it out. This is how I sound with low-quality video, but high-quality audio. And this is how I sound with high-quality video, but low-quality audio. Which would you rather listen to for five minutes or even a duration of a full-length movie?

Let’s be honest. Buying a new microphone is not as cool as buying a new lens. It’s just not, I mean, how much epic B-roll can you get with a new mic? Regardless of whether it’s cool or not, your audio recorder’s pre-amps will make or break your videos way more than your camera’s resolution.

I believe in this so much that from my workflow, I prefer to make sure the audio is set up to be as crisp as possible before the visuals. I do this because I know the human ear is a lot more sensitive to bad sound than the human eye is the lens sharpness. In another class, we go more in-depth into the different types of audio equipment and their uses. So yes, there will be a gear course. Don’t worry, your pretty little gear head.

Tips to getting good audio. Getting good audio isn’t as hard as you think. Let’s briefly go over a few rules of thumb from the most basic, all the way to the more professional level. Get the mic as close as possible to the source you want to record, whether it’s an actor yourself or wild sound. Wild sound is the sound you record on set, but not necessarily while the camera’s rolling.

If you want to record a voiceover, try recording in a dry place. Dry in this context means surround yourself with objects like fabrics or furniture that will either absorb or disperse your sound in order to reduce the amount of echo as much as possible. A nice, low-budget hack is to record your voiceover in a closet. Which is a small place, so the sound has a shorter distance to travel and where you already have a lot of clothes to absorb the sound.

If you can’t get good audio for your dialog on set, then maybe try to create a video where you don’t need any dialog at all. Just sound effects. This is the easiest while on the shoot but sometimes can take a lot of time and energy during the edit. It’s really up to you, your vision, and your limitations. Another option is to turn the dialog or monologue into a voiceover. That way, you don’t need to see yourself speaking on location and can record the voiceover later in a more comfortable environment.

So far, I hope this helps you see the importance of good sound and the different ways you can record it for your videos. Let’s get more in-depth with the rest of this course.