Creative Video Guide: Part 1
A number of members have asked for some support for making videos. Here are some tips that can make even your quick clips for Instagram more interesting. Try combining a few of these suggestions in each Reel you make for content that holds your audience’s attention.
Perspective:
If you are shooting a space that is in front of you while standing, try to include the horizon line in your shot. This simple tactic grounds the viewer and helps them feel oriented in your video.
For a more creative feeling, change the height from which you are shooting to move the horizon line up or down and get a more creative shot. This new perspective adds interest for the viewer. Look at the scene in front of you and decide: who is the main player here? Do I want more sky or more ground? Try both if you’re not sure.
Next, consider a different viewpoint for some shots all together. Give your audience an angle that they can’t normally see when they are walking around. This adds excitement to your videos. Consider shooting from above (bird’s eye view) or below.
Include a range distances - from wide angle shots that are further away to close up shots with details.
Framing:
Look for unique ways to frame your shots with the spaces/features that are available to your in your working environment. It can be fun to create the feeling of peeking through a lens, or magnifying glass, or even just a tight space - like through plants that are growing close together.
Similarly, there is interest in a frame that is expanding - like an opening door. People love the anticipation of seeing what will be behind a door. Some of our most like videos are of rather boring doors opening to show all the flowers growing or stored inside a space.
Consider ending your video with a frame that is closing. This is a natural way to tie things up. Examples of closing frames may be a bucket being filled with bouquets (camera is inside the bucket and everything goes dark), a door being closed by someone else (like the gate/door of a truck or van from the flower’s perspective after being loaded up, a light being turned off in a workspace, etc.
Focus change:
Try changing your focus during a shot. This is an easy way to create the perception of movement without actually having to move your camera. Choose one item in the background to focus on and then shift your focus to an item in the foreground (or vice versa).
Play with speed:
Take something that is typically fast in it’s everyday motion (like water being sprayed) and slow it down by filming in your camera’s slo-mo setting.
Take something that is typically slow (like assembling lots of flower bunches) and speed it up using your camera’s time lapse setting.
Note: You should generally be playing with contrasts when you play with speed. If you take something slow and make it even slower, you may end up boring your viewer. If you take something fast and speed it up, you may create a frantic scene that is too much for people to enjoy.
Add MUSIC:
This simple step makes all the difference. Music transforms videos and one of the easiest ways to make sure that your shots and your music go together is to pull up the music first in your video editor or Instagram Reels and make your edits to match the changes in the music.