When I asked my Mum what our next blog posts should be about, she suggested something about slow motion or time-lapse. Great ideas Mum, this week is slow motion so guess what we’re covering next week! If you have any ideas for blogs we should do, let us know. Sometimes it can be hard coming up with things every week!!
So, slow motion, it sure does look cool when it’s done correctly. Here at Media Melt we enjoy a bit of an interesting shot, and if it can be humorous then even better. Video production is fun and trying new ways of doing things is fun too. So of course, we tried to get some funny shots of a very hairy Meg catching a ball in the back yard. Here are our tips!
PICK AN ACTION
There’s no point using slow motion for a landscape pan for example. Slow motion is at its most impressive when capturing something that happens quickly, like a dog jumping to catch a ball. Lucky for us, we have our model in residence, Meg who is all too happy to catch a ball a few times until we get the shot we need. Other shots that suit slow motions might be sports or water splashing, even something being destroyed! Get creative with it!
NATURAL LIGHT
Indoor lights can flicker, especially if they’re LED or fluorescents. You want to make sure you have enough light to compensate for the low shutter speed needed to keep the slow motion from being grainy. Natural outdoor light on a cloudy day is always your best bet. However, if you want to get a bit fancy, you could try a backlit sunrise shoot like we did.
STEADY AS SHE GOES
For god sake keep the camera steady! Nothing says amateur video shot on an iPhone like a shaky shot. Invest in a mini tripod, or brace your arm on a fence (or your leg if your crouched down), anything to minimise shake. Don’t forget that when footage is slowed down, any camera mistakes are a lot more obvious.
SAY NO TO VERTICAL
Vertical video is the devil unless you are on snapchat or Instagram stories. Those are the only two places it is allowed. I don’t want to see it on my Facebook feed or in your holiday videos on your phone. TURN THAT GOD DAMN PHONE AROUND.
ADD SOME INTEREST
Try adding things to the background or foreground of the video while the action is happening. It adds another element to the video and just kind of looks cool. We filmed ours while the ground was still dewy so that the water would spray up as she ran. We also tried to get the low winter sun in the background.
STORAGE SPACE
Shooting slow motion requires more frames per second than regular recording. Regular recording is typically 1080p, 24 or 30 fps, for slow motion my phone can do 1080p at 120fps or 720p at 240 fps. That’s a lot of frames per second. More frames equal larger video files which means it will take up more storage space than a regular video. Make sure you have room for it.
So, follow these tips and you’ll have some great videos of your pets looking funny in no time!
Catch you next week!
Eve
Media Melt is a Video Production Company based in Dunedin, New Zealand. If you have any enquires, feel free to contact us here
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