Smartphone Shooter

12/05/2022

The old drone alternative. iPhone on a pole.

28/09/2021

“Your course didn’t bore me to tears!” Is there higher praise?

This unsolicited comment came in from a client this week. Official feedback has its place, but this made me smile.

02/05/2021

I’m increasingly impressed by the S21 Ultra’s zoom. Here from 10x to 1x to 3x to 10x to 20x (20 being digital is a bit much) 10x is very usable. Plus this is all handheld.

26/02/2021

Moon filming with a smartphone. I know there have been a few of these going around, but I have just got my hands on the Samsung S21 Ultra so had to try it for myself. Crazy AI magic or not, I think it is impressive. See the zoom in my stories.

24/02/2021

I have a new recruit to help with some upcoming filming tips videos. Any suggestions on a name?

22/09/2020

See what you can do with one simple light - and see how little you have to spend!

18/09/2020

Trying to combat the sun with two Led lights. It just about worked for tonight’s ITV News London piece.

17/09/2020

Proof that face to face training can be done in Covidland. I had two great days training staff from the City Property Association in London this week. We covered all the usual things like composition, video storytelling, audio, lighting, editing and so on. But socially distanced and with a lot of hand sanitiser! A first for me too teaching the laptop version of Adobe Rush. The mobile app has always been popular but even I am prepared to admit sometimes a larger screen trumps portability!
This was my first non-remote session in six months. The main thing I learnt it keep the groups small.

11/08/2020

Just what will your workplace look and feel like when you return from lockdown? Are you dreading it? This week I've been training a team from Aon Ireland to make videos with their smartphones that pack in the need to know changes and aim to put minds at ease.
It was a great couple of days made all the sweeter as the work came following a recommendation of my services from the Aon UK Comms team.

15/07/2020

Pre-lockdown I would have needed at least 1 🛫, 6 🚈 , 3 🏨 and 10 🚕 to pull off this week's 3 training courses. In fact 3 smartphone video courses with international travel would have been impossible.
I miss the face to face training, but love commuting from my kitchen. Are you longing for the end of remote working or happy for it to continue?

11/06/2020

‪My current live, remote training set-up. Easily reconfigured to cover all aspects of mobile filmmaking. (Apart from face-to-face of course!) ‬Compact for sure but works well.

23/05/2020

Shot 1 or shot 2? For me getting wet feet is a small price to pay for a more engaging image.

08/05/2020

Back in mobile reporting mode this weekend, but need to stay 2 metres from everyone I speak to. This is the kit i’m taking. Is the tape measure a step to far? (I also have a lot of disinfectant not pictured!) and are all being used.

05/05/2020

How to control the cameras of two smartphones remotely for multi angle shooting.

14/04/2020

My first home studio live. (We**am rather than smartphone though) The biggest challenge was tidying the room.

07/04/2020

This is a behind the scenes video showing my attempts to take my face-to-face training business online. I normally train people to shoot and edit professional films on their smartphones. I have set up a home studio with a green screen. I'd love to hear what you think and whether you have any tips for live online training.

30/03/2020

This is a behind the scenes film of a report I did for 5 News shot on iPhone and edited on iPad.
It is ten minutes long so perhaps a little niche, but shows the whole process of making the film. I hope some of you new to either mobile filmmaking or indeed journalism might find it useful. The final film that went to air is linked here: https://twitter.com/5_News/status/1243603032018993158?s=20

10/03/2020

Next level work avoidance with lightspeed timelapse app and luma fusion.

26/02/2020

Childish? For sure. But as I always say the most important thing about filmmaking is to have fun.

25/02/2020

‪Green screen with an iPhone? I’ve been playing around with and - anyone else got any great app recommendations for the perfect keying? ‬

05/02/2020

What’s your giant dog mascot? Finding a story that will attract attention isn’t always easy. Last week these smartphone video students from did it with this. If you don’t have a giant mascot then think about who you want to reach and what you want them to do. That should start you off in the right direction.

21/11/2019

Do you want to make your videos more watchable? One answer is get more shots. Get around the angles. Here you can see how even a simple sequence of someone using a phone box needs a lot of leg work. My trainees learning here that variety is key, mix up those closeup, medium and wide shots to keep your audience engaged.
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13/11/2019

This is an interesting attempt to replace a pro video camera with an iPhone 11 Pro for a top gear style shoot (this is the behind the scenes - see the final film in the comments)
https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-11-pro-good-enough-to-replace-a-professional-video-camera/

We challenged award-winning filmmakers to shoot a film using only the iPhone 11 Pro.

01/11/2019

Smartphone Video Tip - Do you want to edit video on your smartphone? Here are my app recommendations: For both Android and iOS check out KineMaster. I just taught it to these broadcast journalism students at in London. There is a free version with a watermark or it’s a subscription. Adobe Rush is also cross platform and very user friendly, but you have to pay a subscription.

InShot also does both iOS and Android but doesn’t offer multi track editing. It is free though.

For Android only also check out Power Director. This one also is a pay to play app.

For iOS the best app by far is Luma Fusion. It’s a one off payment and well worth it. This is my go to app.

Video Leap is another good choice though. Less complicated than luma. There is also a free version that offers loads of options. This is a much better option than iMovie for example.

That should be enough to get you started. Let me know if you have any questions.

25/10/2019

Looking for a way to add some interest and movement to your event at a conference or lecture hall? Then check out this video. Here I shot the timelapse with an iPhone XS Max and the Lightspeed app - then added the digital move in . I had the pleasure of teaching mobile journalism to these students at this morning. Back next week for mobile editing.

18/10/2019

Today’s filming lesson - get close and shake off your British reserve. My trainees wanted to film in the world famous skate park at London’s Southbank. The Undercroft as it is known can be an intimidating place. Let’s face it skaters are cool - the rest of us are spectators.

We hung around on the edge of the site getting a few wide shots, but nothing that exciting. But after some encouragement I persuaded the trainees to go and actually speak to the skaters. We found them to be warm and welcoming and even able to suggest a good spot for some shots.

The film I’m posting is three of those shots. The set-up filmed my me - then the actual shot achieved by my trainees. The closer we got the more dramatic the shot.

Yes we could have been told to leave - but in my experience most people like that you are interested in them and so they are interested in you and will help out.

So be brave and enjoy your filming.

10/10/2019

How do you decide what should be in your video? This was a question on my latest course. The answer doesn’t start with what shots you need, or locations or even interviewees. In fact it doesn’t involve an idea for video at all. You always start with the question - what do you want to achieve for your organisation? Make that plan first. Then ask if video is an appropriate solution. It often is of course, but it pains me to admit not always. When you know what your video is meant to deliver it’s much easier to know what should be in it and thus how to plan it.

03/10/2019

Great to be back at Cardiff Uni today teaching their Future Leaders in Cancer Research (Flicr) to tell their stories with smartphone video. It’s always a humbling group to meet. Also a pleasure to be working with Ursula at Hard Truth Media once again.

03/10/2019

Why and What? These are the questions you need to answer when commissioning a video for your business. Why are you making a video? What do you want it to acheive? Gone are the days of video vanity projects. It needs to have a purpose, with a goal that can be measured. By training your comms teams to shoot and edit films on their smartphones it allows them to bring their own ideas to life. It saves time and money not having to hire a production company. You can see from this course I held at you don’t need a lot of kit to get started. (It’s also a lot of fun!)

02/10/2019

Ironically the iMovie app which has lagged behind other iPhone video editors for years will only now be supported on new iOS13. So that means you need to be on iPhone 6s or newer. Let me know if you need some pointers to other apps.