Trip Alertz For Jetsetters, By Jetsetters
Have you ever been in trouble when your family members would return from a holiday trip and force you to watch their boring and shaky holiday footage? – Your cousins were hiding their faces in that video, the lens got covered by your aunt’s hand, 2 long hours of boring shots panning around the beach and your uncle was narrating in the background with classic lines like “we are on the beach now, here is a palm tree and it’s a very hot day”, etc. Feels like real trouble, right? Thankfully, we have outreached those dark days of family documentary behind. Now we can make outstanding vacation video editing with the help of high-quality phone cameras, GoPro and some digital cameras. In fact, you can add the magic of Final Cut Pro and iMovie and even amateurs can take their video to the next level with the magic of these magical tools.
If you play around with your travel videos, each one of your videos will get better. You just have to capture the shots that make an easy edit and have a basic grasp of an editing program. In this article, we will walk you through the top ten tips for creating a holiday video that would take your video to the next level. Let’s get started.
1. Shoot a lot
A camera should be used to shoot the entire process. It’s not like you only have to get the camera when you reach the destination. It’s not a good way for it. From the packing to getting your passport stamped to finding your seat on the plane, you should shoot everything. This way you can tell a story. Putting together a series of clips of your destination won’t make a great video. You get a built-in narrative when you film an entire journey.
2. Get yourself in the frame
Your family and followers watch your video because they like you. So they would surely like to see you in the video. They could just google the place if they wanted to see that only. But they want to see you in the location and that’s why they are watching your video. You need to include yourself along with your actions like what you did, what you ate, the rain falling on your shoes. Many think that they can’t get themselves into the shots when they are traveling solo. Well, selfie sticks come in handy in this case. Or you can just put your camera on the ground and shoot yourself walking in front of it. Mirrors and reflective windows are also useful. You just have to be inventive.
3. Shoot the scenery
People want to see some of the scenery too. You can capture some shots of where you’re staying, including the people around you. It’s creative to ask passersby to wave into the camera or capture a cute good. You can be able to tell a good story of our trip and destination if you follow these things. But you should make sure if you can shoot them or not because it can be unacceptable in some cultures and it’s just basic respect.
4. Find interesting angles
It’s easy to get interesting angles when you’re using a GoPro. For interesting angles, you can place it at the bottom of a pool and shoot yourself swimming above it. Sometimes I strap it to my head when I’m hiking, extend my selfie stuck and spin 360 degrees. The shots that you think are useless can actually make an interesting video. It’s also good to get close-up shots. The professionals use a combination of long, establishing shots, mid-shots, and close-ups, and you should do just the same.
5. The camera should keep moving
If you like wide shots, go with static shots. But keep the camera slightly moving so that it appears more interesting. It’s also effective when you’re editing the video. Just move your arm slowly as you shoot but don’t go wild.
6. No longer than 2-3 minutes
They don’t have much time to watch your video, so keep it no longer than 2-3 minutes of your holiday. Jealousy starts to take over if it’s any more than that. 2:30 minutes us an ideal length if you want to share your video, but you can always keep a longer edit for yourself. When your shots are short and punchy, it can give enough overview of your trip.
7. Choose a good track
You might not be an owner of a professional voice-over studio or you don’t have a very good mic on your camera, so you can just out a song over the whole video. You have to incorporate some song that would match with your video, and if possible hire a local musician. Find a site where you can buy licensed tracks because if you’re uploading it to youTube, you won’t be able to monetize it.
In a nutshell, a great holiday video consists of interesting shots, short and punchy, and a great music track. Don’t worry if you can’t do it right at the beginning. Because nobody could ever do it for the first time. Everyone needs practice and patience and you need the same. So have patience and keep practicing and you’ll see that you are doing it right one day.
