Pivot your content strategy to capitalize on quarantine, and learn the fundamentals of photography and videography through these tips from videographer, photographer, and livestream engineer @celia_werner.
Shooting From Home
Q: What are your top three tips for shooting from home?
My top 3 tips for shooting at home right now are as simple as lights, camera, audio! These are the 3 things you need to consider when making content right now:
Tip #1: Find Your Light
Lighting is the most important thing for content because it’s the difference between being nice and clear in an image or a grainy mess.
Light is the reason photography and videography are able to exist. No matter what kind of camera you are using, it takes in light to create the image. A few recommendations would be to make sure your light source is in front of you for your photos. This can be as easy as setting up in front of a window, a lamp, a ring light or LED panel behind where the camera is taking the picture or video from. I personally like to use natural lighting from outside or a window.
Tip #2: Use What You Have
The second thing is the camera. A lot of people right now are hung up on not having “equipment,” but you have a piece of equipment in your back pocket. It’s called a cell phone! If you combine nice lighting and your cell phone, you can create amazing images. Some people love the look of a DSLR but it’s a tough time to justify spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses. Learning to use what you have to the best of your ability is more important than having the most expensive set up. Because if you don’t know how to use it, how much can it actually help? Take the time to be creative with what you have, grab a phone tripod and go live!
Tip #3: Invest in Audio
Lastly, I want to talk about audio! Audio is super important for shooting video. If you have a video with grainy images but really good audio you’ll still watch it. If you’re doing a video where the video is super clear but you sound like Darth Vader, you might have a problem with audience retention. I’d recommend picking up a cheap lavalier microphone that you can use with your cell phone and computer to spice up the sound. Music and sound effects never hurt either!
Pivot Your Content Strategy
Q: How have you adapted your messaging and content during COVID-19 to suit shifting audience needs?
Covid-19 was a curveball for everyone. As a video producer, I was already making content but the second everyone shifted to staying home I needed to pivot. I switched my creation to gear towards what people need right now which is information and entertainment. I started making videos for social media that taught basic concepts in shooting video and what gear would be helpful for creators and small business owners. In addition, on my Facebook page, I’ve been doing a daily live stream show to showcase information from professionals and specialists from many different industries to keep everyone educated on what’s going on outside of our homes. I changed the tone of my posts to promote creating a community, educating and giving people information that they need, and people have responded well to this.
Focus on How You Can Help
Q: What have you adjusted about your business strategy since the outbreak?
As someone who goes out and works on set most of the time, it was a bit of a switch having to adjust to home. I needed to sit down and think “what’s going to help the most people right now.” I decided to pivot my current business model to helping small businesses make content (whether it’s actually editing content or consulting), engineering live streams and educating people. Essentially all of these things were pivoted to because the number 1 thing creators need in their content is value. Some small businesses don’t know how to match their visual content with the value they can bring to their audience. Being there for these people to help them learn was the number one priority for me, and has already provided me with some great networking possibilities.
Like what you’re reading? Tune into Celia’s Facebook livestream to hear from various industry professionals’ take on the Covid-19 crisis!
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