Do you wish you could create videos that look as good as a scene from your favourite movie? It’s not easy, but it can be done.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a huge budget and not a lot of experience shooting videos. Of course, it helps to use a good video camera, but you also need to take your time and be dedicated to doing things right.
If you are looking for some ideas for cinematic videos, these tips will help you figure it all out. Whether your goal is to have fun creating a short film or you need to make promotional videos for your small business, here is what you should do to shoot and edit truly beautiful footage.
Idea #1: Plan your video before you start shooting it
Movie directors don’t just grab their cameras and start shooting; neither should you. To make a cinematic video, you first need a plan.
Create a storyboard that details your vision for your video. Plan each of your shots, and be clear on the necessary equipment. Will you shoot with a tripod and a microphone? Do you need lighting equipment? Will you add subtitling services?
Decide everything ahead of time!
Idea #2: Use a camera that allows for a shallow depth of field
You probably noticed that when you watch a movie, there are many scenes where a portion of the frame is in focus while the background appears a bit blurry. To create cinematic videos, you need to be able to reproduce this effect.
This means you need a camera that has a shallow depth of field or a prime lens that allows you to get an out-of-focus background.
Idea #3: Be sure to shoot at 24 fps
Most movies are shot at 24 fps or frames-per-second. This should be one of your goals to make your videos appear more cinematic.
The problem is that most cameras are set to shoot at 30 fps. You should try to find a camera that allows you to change the settings to 24 fps or only shoot at 24 fps.
If you can’t find the right camera for this, you can still shoot at 30 fps and slow down your video when editing it.
Idea #4: Shoot with a high dynamic range
Another thing you should be concerned about is the dynamic range of the video camera you use. Cinematic footage is shot with cameras with a high dynamic range, which means they can record bright and dark areas with the same level of detail.
If your camera has a low dynamic range and you want to shoot a video outside during the day, the sky in the background will probably appear way too bright.
Idea #5: Use the RAW format
You could go one step further and shoot your videos in the RAW format. This means your camera will not compress your videos to make them smaller.
It will result in much larger files and incredibly detailed shots, giving your final video a stunning cinematic look.
Idea #6: Create some cinematic lighting
If you want to shoot your video indoors, you should take some time to think about lighting. You don’t want your video to appear too bright or too dark.
You can reproduce simple cinematic lighting with at least one LED lamp, a reflector, and some trial and error. A reflector can also be useful to shoot outside and make the most of natural sunlight.
Idea #7: Don’t use your zoom
Using your camera’s zoom as you shoot your video will instantly give it the opposite of a cinematic look. In most modern movies, no zoom is ever used. When a movie director wants to focus on something, they will instead plan for the camera to slowly move closer to its subject. This is called dollying.
If you have the budget for it, you could rent a dolly. But you could also move slowly and smoothly towards your subject or place a small tripod on a desk chair with wheels, for example.
Idea #8: Add the right music to your video
Your video will sound and feel more cinematic if you add the right music. Look for tracks you can use for free or buy them so you have the right to use them for your video.
You could also compose music yourself or collaborate with a composer or musician who will create the perfect soundtrack for your cinematic video.
Idea #9: Spend some time editing your video
How you edit your video’s different scenes will also make a difference in how professional and cinematic it looks. Get good editing software, and learn about its different features.
Above all, you should look into colour grading and correction, as this will make your videos look more cinematic.
