8 Great Filming and Video Tips for Entrepreneurs on a Small Budget
By Catalogs Editorial Staff
Videos are Important for Business Marketing
For entrepreneurs, it is important to learn different aspects of filming and video content making. In today’s age, video contents are crucial for business marketing. Experts prefer videos over text and static graphic content for business marketing. Videos have more penetrative power to reach target audiences since it is easy to explain complex ideas through videos. Recent studies prove videos are effective for online marketing videos. For example, a recent study revealed an email with a video was opened 7% faster than an email without video.
The General Public Enjoys Watching Videos
Around 78% of people watch online videos at least once a week. Among those people, 55% of people watch videos every day. YouTube is the most popular platform for watching videos. However, people also watch videos on different social media websites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc. Sighting the growing popularity of videos for digital marketing, many businesses have started devoting time and money to creating exceptional video content. For creating better videos, entrepreneurs must incorporate some tips and tricks. Here are those tips for filming and video making.
1. Good Videos Do Not Have to Break the Budget
When dealing with a startup business, the budget is always a matter of concern. In business marketing, a small budget often becomes a barrier to creating good content, but it doesn’t have to. Although promotion videos are expensive due to the cost of video filming and editing, you can cut out this expense by becoming more educated on how to create your own expert videos. For promo video editing, many free tools are available online. So, can you make a good promo video with a low-cost budget? The answer is yes! Despite having a small budget, it can be easy to create good promo videos for business marketing.
Start Small
Start small, with shorter videos, and this will help you to reduce expenditure. For promo video editing and filming, look to free tools available online, such as a video maker. Also, some video editing tools that have more features, can be found with low subscription costs. Using such promo video maker tools will help you to reduce high expenditure on video making.
2. Always Create a Storyboard/Shooting Script
When it comes to filming a video, the first step is to create a storyboard. A storyboard is an outline of your video that looks like a comic strip. It “tells the story” as if you were explaining it to a friend. Although this is a basic step, many people tend to ignore the idea of creating a storyboard. From short to long videos, a storyboard is essential for every video-making process. When you have a storyboard or shooting script, you can conduct the shooting in a step-by-step manner and convey the meaning you want the audience to absorb. This ensures all crucial aspects of the shoot are perfectly covered. In the absence of a storyboard, you may not be conveying the information you think you are conveying, or worse, you are sending mixed messages, or even offending the audience. An effective storyboard curtails the confusion.
3. Know the B-Roll Footage
What is B-roll? B-roll is the additional information you’re trying to give to your target audience so they can essentially, see for themselves, what you’re trying to tell them. For example, when filming for a fitness expo, the interview with the instructors would be the A-roll, and the footage of people working out, the weights, equipment, facility, etc would be the b-roll. It gives them a snapshot of what you want to be included, without spending the time explaining it. Add these videos on YouTube or add videos on Tik Tok and maximize your exposure.
Use B-Roll Footage to Your Advantage
When you are filming a video, you need to have a proper idea of the B-roll. At the time of shooting a video, different footage was captured. This footage should not be wasted. You can even use them for business marketing. B-roll footage can be uploaded to social media to showcase the hard work of your team during the shooting process and gives them an “inside look” into the art of filming. Posting B-roll footage videos will grow the interest of the viewers in the main upcoming video.
4. Know the Rule of Thirds
In digital photography, the “Rule of Thirds” is quite popular. According to this rule, the primary subject should not come to the center of the image. Keeping the subject a little further from the center will make the photograph soothing for the viewers’ eyes. The same rule applies to video shooting. When you create a video, make sure that the subject stays a little further away from the center. This also allows the opportunity to add subtitles or text contents in the extra space, if needed.
5. White Balance Adjustment
When it comes to shooting or filming a video, white balance adjustment becomes the most crucial aspect for the video maker. Improper white balance will add a color tint. As a result, the video will lose the natural color tone. White balance can be adjusted during the video editing process, but the job would become daunting for long videos. Hence, it is always good to adjust the white balance at the time of shooting the video. In today’s advanced digital cameras, you shall get many white balance features. You can choose the preset white balance modes. You can also go for manual settings. Low budget tip: If you are shooting a video with your iPhone, the white balance actually adjusts automatically.
6. Place Camera at Eye Level
The placement of the camera has to be accurate during the shooting process. When you are giving a message to viewers, you should place the camera at eye level. This is the best angle to give you the best look. Your face is likely to look distorted if the camera is not at eye level and will distract the target audience.
When you are posting a long video, it is always good to create an introduction that features the best moments of the video. When viewers watch the intro, they will get curious to watch the complete video. For long videos, viewers often skip certain parts of the video and many viewers leave the video midway. When there is an intro highlighting the most crucial parts of the content, viewers will show patience to watch the full video. Creating such a teaser or introduction is easy with the use of professional intro maker or slideshow maker tools.
8. Good Quality Microphone for Clear Voice
Your video will be ruined if the audio is dull and noisy. It is important to invest in a good quality microphone to make the video perfectly audible. A low-quality microphone cannot capture sound properly. Hence, the sound intensity may be low and will likely have unwanted noises. The audio should be clear and soothing for the ears. Hence, you need a microphone that captures human voices neatly.
Conclusion
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Understanding the basics of video making and filming will help you know what to look for and what keeps your audience’s attention. These basic tips will get you started in video making and will help you create key marketing products to sell or display your content.