the cameras in our phones these days are awesome but the chances are if you're filming with an Android smartphone that you're not getting the most out of it so in
this video we're gonna run through exactly how to film with Android smartphones with a complete step by step process to help you get professional looking results every time you shoot and there's also a ton of tips and tricks thrown in along the way hey it's Justin Brown here from primal video where we help you amplify your business and brand with video if you're new here then make sure you click that subscribe button and all the links to everything I mentioned in this video you can find linked in the description box below so let's jump into it smartphones are an awesome tool for creating videos not only are they incredibly easy to use the camera quality in them these days is awesome and they're super portable as well now while they are capable of getting awesome results straight out of the box with some simple tips and tricks it's easy to 10x your results when you're shooting videos on your Android device now the last time we did a video like this around filming on your Android smartphone it actually turned out to be one of the most popular videos on our channel but that now was about three years ago and phones and technology and the cameras in our phones have come a really long way since then but we've also got some fresh new tips to help you progress your results when filming with your Android smartphone so we thought it was time for a bit of a refresher so in this video we're gonna run through step by step how to film professional videos using your Android device and don't worry about taking notes as we progress through this video we've put together a free downloadable QuickStart guide that you can download and print out and use next time you're filming with your smartphone so make sure you stick around to the end where I'll share that link just before we get into the actual step-by-step process it is very important to note that you don't need any additional gear you can get great results with just your smartphone but if you are looking to take things further then we will be looking at recommended gear like tripods microphones and lights they're gonna help you take things to the next level but don't worry about that now you can definitely get great results with just your smartphone but we will be making you aware of that gear as we go through okay so step number one is to prepare your content now this is something that applies no matter what type of video or even live stream that you're going to be doing with your phone you want to make sure that you've got everything ready to shoot or record the video you get everything set up before you set foot in front of the camera so that's things like it could be writing out a bit of a plan and overview dot points or a full-on script but it's really important to have all of that stuff done beforehand so that you're not sitting there in front of the camera wondering what to say and it could be specific things like if you're doing a product review that you've got all the prices and all the features and everything listed out so for some people they're going to be better off with a full script and and maybe reading the paragraph off a sheet of paper then then presenting it back to the camera others will just need a couple of sentences we're gonna start here we're going to cover off these three points and then I'm going to finish with this so it really comes down to personal preference but you want to have all the planning and everything that you want to cover off at least as an outline or an overview ready to go before you progress any further in this process step number two is to select a suitable location for your filming now this is obviously going to be an important part of your process because you want to have a background that looks good in your video something that matches the type of videos you're creating and your messaging and your brand but isn't going to be distracting for your viewers so if you're a chef you're not gonna go on film in a gym so it's got to be something that is relevant and matches the overall fit and feel of your videos but it also can't be distracting for your viewers the focus needs to be on you and not whatever's going on in the background so it's a good idea to find something that's not distracting and there's not too much going on or a heap of movement that's going to create that distraction you also want to make sure wherever possible that there is as little background noise or environmental variables things that are beyond your control as possible when you're filming your video so it is things like background noise there is things like changing lighting conditions outside if you've got a window in the room that it's going to be changing light how is that going to play into the background and your actual scene is it going to change your shot too much so ideally you're going to be removing as many of those things as possible all the things that could change during your filming so we make the filming easier for you so as the less you have to worry about there's less that can go wrong so it could be that you're picking a location that is out of the way or away from roads or traffic or kids playing outside the further you can get away from any of those sorts of things the better now you also want to make sure that the room or area you're going to be filming in has a lot of light if possible we already know that's phones aren't that good in low-light so you want to have a room that is lit well or has the ability to be lit well if you've got additional lights and those sorts of things we'll cover lighting in a minute but you want to make sure that it is bright you also really want to be aware that the cameras on our smartphones are really going to give you that blurry background look that you might be used to on a video camera a DSLR or a more professional camera so whatever is going to be in the background of your video just be aware that it is more than likely going to be in focus and not blurred out now there are a couple little things you can do with the positioning of your phone to try and get more of that blurry background look now we will put a link up in the cards now there's gonna be a heap of links up there so this is the first one to show you how you can get some more blurry background all that shallow depth of field look in your videos so step number three then is to decide whether you're going to be using the front-facing camera or the rear camera the primary camera on your phone now there are some pros and cons of both the front-facing camera is going to be easier to film weather than create videos like this because you can see on the screen that you're in focus that the shot is looking the way that you want that you actually are recording but in most cases the front-facing camera is going to be slightly lower quality it's also not going to be as good in low-light as the back camera and then obviously the back camera is in most cases going to be higher quality but it's going to be harder to shoot with so if you've got someone there to help you out then that's going to be easy because they can do all the framing and the monitoring and make sure that you actually are recording while you're creating your videos but if you aren't doing it solo then video number two that's going up in the cards is a video where we show you some different ways or some workarounds that you can film with the primary camera on your phone and do it solo now even though we're saying that the front-facing camera is typically a lot lower quality than the back camera the front camera is definitely good enough in most cases especially on the newer phones for creating YouTube videos so this video here we're just using a samsung galaxy s A+ and we're using the front-facing camera and even the last time we did this video a few years back I'm very sure we're using a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the front-facing camera and people are still commenting on that video saying that they're blown away with the quality and can't beliee that it was just done on the front-facing camera and obviously now that's a much older phone so don't be afraid to use the front-facing camera it's all about making the process easy for you to create your videos obviously you've got the ability to use the back one then definitely go for it step number four and this is an obvious one when you hear it but it is to clean your camera lens not many people actually do it but it sounds pretty obvious when you hear it now these are our phones are up against our faces you could have dirt grime fingerprints makeup whatever it is over your camera lens there's going to make your image look pretty bad so you really want to build that habit that whenever you're pulling your phone out to even take a photo or any sort of video that you're cleaning the camera lens first so that you're able to capture the best quality videos or photos with your camera now ideally if you've got a proper lens cleaning cloth the microfiber cloth or even a sunglass case for cleaning then that's gonna be ideal but really you get away with your shirt or a dress or whatever you've got on you just make sure that the lens is clean step number five is to set up your shot so you've already picked out a location we did that in an earlier step now it's about getting your phone set up to the right height getting it on a tripod if you've got one or getting it out of your hands so that it's stable and framing the shot and making sure everything looks the way that you want it so ideally here as I said you're going to be getting your phone out of your hands one of the easiest ways to make your videos look unprofessional is to have shaky or jittery footage so by holding it in your hands it's actually probably one of the worst places that you can have your phone so the rule here is to get it out of your hands wherever possible now it could be that you're using a selfie stick if you're going to be walking around it could be that you use something like a gimbal stabilizer like the DJI Osmo Mobile now if you're not going to be walking around then obviously a tripod is going to be the easiest way to do it here you've got mini ones like the one that I'm using here this is an Archon tripod it comes with the phone holder which will mount your phone in portrait or in landscape and these are currently selling for around the $20 price point so they're not expensive so the ideal height that you're setting your phone up to is so that the camera lens is slightly below eye level I'm gonna say slightly I do mean ever so slightly if you're struggling with that in any way then just try to get it at eye level so if you're gonna be standing up then obviously you'll want to tripod to get your phone to that height or if you don't have a try then use books use a bookshelf use whatever you can to get your phone to the correct height for you standing or sitting just below eye level and so that you're not having to hold it and so that it's out of your hands that's going to give you the most stable and the most professional-looking videos but again if you don't have access to a tripod use whatever it is you've already got lying around and then whenever you have the ability to upgrade then maybe look at a tripod it's a quick reminder too that all the links to everything and all our gear recommendations you be able to find in the description box below as well step number six is to set up your lighting now the most important element of lighting is to light the subject of the video which in the case of this the subject of the video is me you've got to make sure that you are lit well in your videos so that it's easy for your viewers to consume your content and so that you look good now there's lots of great portable lighting options around which are perfect for filming videos with your smartphone the lights I'm currently using are the yongyeo yn 300 err lights and they currently sell for around the forty to forty five dollar price point so they're not expensive if you're after something a little bit more portable then also check out the aperture a mer n al m9 it's an amazing little light but I will put another link up in the cards covering off our recommended portable lighting options now if you don't have any additional lights then the same rule applies use whatever lights you've got could be a bedside light a desk light a lamp whatever you can do bring it into your scene so that you're able to light up your face so that you are lit well in your video if you've got any additional lights then use those to light up the background and the rest of your scene to make that look good but the priority is on you now if you've got no additional lights then you can use the natural light coming through a window so go and sit in front of a window set up in front of a window or go outside if that's all you've got access to so again use what you have and then upgrade or purchase gear as you need to or as you can step number seven is to connect your audio now audio is probably actually more important than the video itself if you've got great audio and something's happen to your video then you can still use the audio part and drop in additional b-roll or photos or PowerPoint slides whatever it is as long as you've got a good audio then you can still create a video if you've got bad audio though then it's be really hard really distracting for your viewers to watch there's really no way to recover that either so looking at microphones that you can use with your smartphone the microphone that I'm currently using and it's also one of the top recommended microphones on our channel is a wired lapel or lavalier microphone it's called the Boyar be ym1 i've got it hidden under my shirt here now we'll put links more links in the cards on how to hide your microphone like this and also a video covering off on our top recommended microphones but in most cases our go-to microphone for filming on a smart phone is this one the boy RBY m1 now if you don't want to be tied or tethered or physically connected to your phone then a mini shotgun microphone might be the solution for you so the one I recommend is the rode videomicro and it's an awesome little shotgun microphone it's also going to be perfect if you've got two people on camera then you don't have to worry about putting a mic on each person the directional microphones the shotgun microphone is gonna pick up good audio for both of you now there's obviously lots of other options when it comes to microphones as well these days you can get adapters so that you can use almost any microphone with your smartphone so that really opens it up to cover off on your personal preferences and your specific shooting conditions but typically the top go to the wired lapel or the shotgun microphone now if you are using one of the newer smartphones that doesn't have that 3.5 millimeter or that headphone jack plug then don't worry because you can still use that USB c2 headphone jack connector that came with your phone if for whatever reason you've lost it then you can pick those up afterwards as well and obviously once you've got that you can then get any adapters to plug in any sort of microphone there's also a really cool little adapter that you can get called a trrs splitter cable and that will actually let you plug in two microphones directly into your smartphone so if you are doing an interview with two people on and you do want to go with a wired lapel or lavalier microphone and don't want to use a shotgun microphone then you can plug two of those directly into your smartphone step number eight is to check your phone settings now this is where you're gonna set in your phone's camera app the quality of the recording you're going to be capturing so in most cases you're gonna have the options of 720p 1080p or 4k now it's going to depend on the actual phone that you're using and camera the front camera or the rear camera of your specific device but what I would suggest is that you're filming in the highest quality that you can with your phone and the camera that you're using now just as a general rule or a bit of a guide for you if you're going to be shooting your videos at 1080p then you want to allow 2 to 2.
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