Four things for beginners to avoid when filming

Are you new to filming video? Do you want to shoot higher-quality professional videos?

Here's our top four recommended things for beginners to avoid when filming to take your videos to the next level.

1. Avoid unnecessary zooms

Think about the real world, what would you do if you wanted to see an object more closely? Most of the time you'd physically get up and move closer to the object. So when filming, why would you zoom when you could physically just move closer?

If not executed properly, zooming can also just feel unnatural and weird to the viewer. It can also have the negative effective of drawing the viewers attention away from the films content as zooms are obvious and you can't miss them.

A final reason to avoid zooms is that they can be tricky to pull off as it's essential that you make it silky smooth and subtle. You need a steady hand to be able to pull off a zoom with smooth starts and stops, without jerky speed changes, or unintended stutters.

Simply, we just don't recommend zooming for beginners!

2. Avoid Shaky Shots

While we recommend avoiding unnecessary pans and zooms, we recognise that this isn't always possible. However, the important thing to remember when you're shooting killer crane shots or dollying from side to side is to make sure that your shots don't look shaky.

Shaky videos can make your viewers feel seasick and gives your efforts a home video feel, which is obviously the opposite to the professional grade footage that you want capture.

A simple tip is to use a tripod, use a smartphone gimbal or anything to stabilise your device. When you do have to start panning or zooming, treat your camera like a hot bowl of soup – move slowly, keep your speed consistent and don't make any sudden or abrupt movements!  

3. Avoid overlooking the importance of audio

When starting out, it's easy to focus primarily on the scenes you want to film, the angles and the different types of shots. The unfortunate reality is that beginners frequently overlook the importance of audio, despite it being a crucial component of filmmaking.

The easiest tip to overcome this is by thinking about where you're filming. Is there ambient street noise that's going to ruin your shot? Is there a refrigerator humming loudly?

4. Avoid relying on in-built camera or smartphone microphones

Whether you're using a dedicated professional DSLR camera or a smartphone, recording audio using the built-in microphone on the device is often poor. This is because many have low-quality microphones built-in that pick up significant amounts of unwanted ambient noise such as wind, traffic or crowds. We therefore recommend using a dedicated audio recorder or microphone. 

We suggest using a lapel microphone as they're inexpensive to buy, they're discreet and are great to cut out background noise. If you're interested in our full recommended beginners kit list, you can read more by clicking here.

If you have any questions about these tips or you want to find out more information about how Property Video Solutions can help your business please visit our website.