Creating marketing videos with your iPhone
“The best camera in the world is the one in your pocket”. These were the opening words at a recent presentation on the pros and cons of using your iPhone to film video, attended by eJournal Editor, Alexandra Middleton. Videos are a great way to market your fitness business. Whether they sit on your website, on Facebook or are sent out within an email marketing campaign, videos catch people’s attention and encourage them to linger longer to learn about your brand.
A short video could be an opportunity to portray the culture of your facility, demonstrate a class or personal training session in action, promote a membership deal or provide a virtual tour of your facility. What’s great news for small business operators is that videos don’t have to have a high production value to be effective. In fact, a simple video can easily be created on your iPhone. Though there are some steps you have to take to ensure the video’s quality.
The shot
First and foremost, always hold the phone horizontally. A vertical video is not intuitive for viewers and when hosted on YouTube or Facebook will be cropped to an awkward size. Switch the phone to flight mode to avoid interference and let the lens settle and focus before recording.
Composition
The way you set up a shot has a huge influence on a viewer’s engagement. When shooting a subject position them so that you are filming from the shoulders up, and don’t include too much empty space above their head. Your subject should be positioned in either the right or left hand side of the frame and be looking into the frame, rather than off screen.
When choosing a location for the shoot consider neutral lighting, rather than somewhere where there are bright overhead lights or sun. A tip for avoiding overexposure is to hold your finger down on the place you want the light to be brightest. A symbol AE/AF will appear which means you have locked the exposure at this point.
Audio
When filming on an iPhone don’t be afraid to get up close and personal. Avoid filming in places where there is a lot of noise, such as passing traffic, as the microphone picks up a lot of ambient sound. If you plan to film a lot of interviews with trainers, managers or members, consider investing in a lapel microphone, which plugs straight into the headphone jack of your phone. If you are filming outside, a trick to reduce the impact of wind or other sounds is to position the wind behind you and shelter the microphone with your hand.
The best way to ensure you produce a polished and professional video is to keep it simple. Avoid using unnecessary panning and where possible use stable surfaces to brace the phone.
When it comes to editing the footage there are a multitude of programs that can be downloaded to your desktop. Simply email the footage from your phone, find a program that suits your needs and get editing.
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