Are you looking for a way to capture the magic of the holidays in a meaningful way? Time flies, children grow up and traditions change. Create professional quality videos to preserve those precious holiday moments and relive them for years to come.
Making magical holiday videos is not as difficult as you may think. With your smart device and a few pieces of easy to use equipment, you can make DIY holiday videos cherished by the whole family.
1. Get Your Equipment Together
Decide whether you will use your smart phone or tablet for shooting holiday footage. Depending on your device, you can purchase an affordable iOgrapher case. With the case, you can add accessories, mount to a tripod, add lighting and sound and create a professional video experience on an amateur budget.
2. Shoot Lots of Footage, Then Shoot Some More
Think about your holiday traditions from start to finish. Grab footage of holiday shopping, gift wrapping, holiday meal preparations, guests arriving, and snow falling. Reflect on the moments that make the holidays special and make sure you have footage of all of it.
3. Include Yourself
The holidays are nothing without you. Don't hide behind the camera. Use a Multi Use Tripod to capture family moments. Don't be afraid to ask other family members to jump behind the camera for a short while. Years from now you will cherish watching these moments of you and your loved ones.
4. Include Scenery
The holiday season is a holistic experience. It is gorgeous decorations, a glass carafe of fresh cranberry sangria, the gray skies of a crisp evening, the mystical glow of holiday lights. Capture all of these elements to create a holiday video that transforms you back to that very moment.
5. Play With Interesting Angles
Place your camera in different locations to capture different angles and perspectives. Most of them will get cut, but you will shoot one or two amazing clips that are better than you could've ever imagined. Capture footage from the bottom of your holiday tree facing upward, close ups of holiday wrapping paper, raise the tripod higher than usual for a few shots. Play around with it and have fun.
6. Backup As You Go
Plan for a disaster and back up at the end of every shoot. You are working hard for this ongoing footage and the holiday season is only once a year. Better safe than sorry.
7. Keep Moving
Using a tripod and including every family member is a must. But, remember to shoot plenty of footage where you are moving the camera. Video that has slight movement is easier to edit and more interesting.
8. Edit Into 3 Minute Videos
If you want to include more footage than will fit into a 3 minute video, create multiple videos. It is important to keep each video to a maximum of 3 minutes. There are a few reasons for this:
- Attention spans are not much more than 3 minutes
- Extra large files are difficult to share
- You want a glimpse of your holiday, not an historical account of every moment
Work on cutting each shot down to 3 to 5 seconds each so that the video keeps a consistent tempo.
9. Select Music
If you have a great mic, you may want to cut in and out of a musical track so that you can include voices and laughter or maybe the holiday dinner prayer. When selecting music, choose music that instantly feels like the holidays. For me, that song is Mariah Carey's, All I Want for Christmas is You. For my mother, it is Bing Crosby's, White Christmas. Whatever your song is, it should touch your heart in the place reserved for the holidays.
10. Upload and Share
While everyone else is uploading 327 holiday photos and organizing their online albums, you will simply create a file and upload your magical holiday video.
Would you like some help picking out the perfect gear for your holiday video shoots? Reach out to us and we will help you put together the perfect package for your personal needs.
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