Videography: How to Film and Edit a Nice Video?

Hello readers!

As you have already read on the title, this DIY is intended to those who want to learn how to record a short film, with a proper style, but without disposing of the appropriate materials and equipment for it.

In this case, we (My friends and I) decided to take a surf trip to the north of Spain, and taking advantage of this, we recorded some footage to make a cool video in order to remember all these good times.

What is actually fascinating is, that this video editing is useful for almost all types of situations. So if you are not such a big of fan of surfing, don't worry because you will be able to learn a lot from this too.

Step 1: Materials and Equipment

* = Optional

Videography is not something you can do by yourself, you need people, friends, family who will be there as actors or as travel partners. So the first thing to do, is to bring some friends/family together.

You don't need to go out on a trip such as we did, you can also edit a nice video from an afternoon with your friends. The thing is, to have a good time.

As I wrote at the beginning of this DIY, we didn't count with many resources to film the video.

Equipment:

Camera/s (as many as possible). We used a Gopro Hero 4 for the closer shots, which are almost all of them. And a "Lumix fz 200", which is a digital camera and has got a proper lens to take shots from further away. As I said, these are the materials we had at home, you don't need the exact same ones! as long as you have got a camera no matter what its price is, you will be able to go on.

Tripod: In order to get stabilized shots, a tripod is the perfect and a cheap solution for this. You can always do one by yourself.
*Gimbal:The problem about gimbals is that they are to expensive. We had the luck that one of us had a homemade gimbal which works pretty good. You can see on the photos, how it looks like.

Surf equipment: In our case, we obviously need surf materials.

You won't need that many materials or equipment, the important thing is what you transmit with your video.

In order to edit your video, you will need either a computer or an electronic device that has an editing program on it.

About the program, you have to know that there are lots of different ones for free which are actually good. So just look through the internet until you find one that you like.

Step 2: Shooting the Clips

Patience is the key to obtain some nice shots. You don't need to prepare any skits or follow a script, just get on your camera what happens during the process. Let your family/friends improvise, get funny videos.

Make sure, your mic is on, otherwise there won't be any sound, as happened to us many times... -.-

We set up our cameras to record at 1080p and 60fps, which is the best quality to film a video nowadays, because not everyone owns a computer that reproduces a 4k video...

For the close shots, the ones with the go pro, we used a wide angle, so that we could record as much as possible in one single shot. The problem with wide angle is that you need to get close to the subject you are filming.

Dont panic if your shots don't come out well at the beginning, it is just practice what you need to improve your skills. We do mistakes too, just look at the video... It is obviously not perfect.

Step 3: Editing

This is the most important step to create from your single clips a whole unique video.

Using editing programs is something you get used to as time passes. You can also look tutorials in order to learn the basics. In this Instructables we will show you how we edited the video.

The first thing you need is a song, well multiple songs, in case you want to cover the biggest part of the footage with it.

Once you have a song, you should already have imagined how the video is going to look like more or less. Try to make a story out of it.

Try to adjust your video clips, so that they match the music breaks and changes. This is something that helps the viewer to follow the "path" of the story.

Mix up funny stories with your video, it will help a lot to keep the watchers looking at your video.

Another thing to do, is to put parts of the video in slow motion. Maybe some funny shots, or something that just fits better in slow motion.

It is very important to use transitions from one clip to the other. Transitions can be found all around the internet. Sometimes they already come with the program, but these aren't normally as good as the ones on the internet. Look for transitions with motion, don't use old shape transitions...

PS: dont punt transitions in every cut of the video.

You can for sure ask how we did each and everything on the edit, if you see something you like!

Step 4: Finishing the Video

By the time you finish your edit, ask your family and friends what they think about it!

They will for sure help you with specific things you missed or went through without having a deeper look at. Ask them what they would change or modify. Workout something, that all of you like and enjoy to watch.

The most common problems are the most simple ones to resolve. For example, choosing which font to use. You will need a font, at least to explain something during the video, so make sure you choose a simple one which everyone likes.

Another problem could be censoring specific vocabulary, such as insults or swearwords. Make sure, you all agree with what stays censored and what not.

Try to keep the music in accordance to the transitions and changes during the video.

There are many more mistakes in these types of videos, but we are not on a steven spielberg film, so we will just pass right next to them...

Review you whole edited video again until you can't see anything you don't like. I highly recommend you to remove anything that you possibly won't like in the future.

Step 5: Make It Viral (Optional)

In case you want to publish your video and reach as many people as possible, which is something most of the people likes, you will have to work really hard on it.

Many people say you just have to share the video on Facebook and that is it... NO!

There is something called hype, which we can introduce in peoples mind, following a process of talking about it, then releasing a little preview and finally announcing the video.

Before releasing the video, try to hype your surrounding people by saying you are filming and editing a dope video. You can do this weeks earlier... Another useful thing is to do is a countdown to the day you release the video. This will intrigue the viewers and make them want to know whats happening.

The second step is to release a preview, maybe a short part of the video, or just little parts of it, just a couple of days before the official release.

And finally, by the time you release it, make sure you fill up the internet with links of your video. Social networks are, if not the best, one of the best spots to hang your video. Try Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. (the most common ones).

Make sure it reaches your whole environment of people!