Remember when selfie sticks were all the rage? It was an essential tool for creators and everyday people to document their life as it happened–work or play!
Selfie videos started evolving ever since Snapchat introduced their video feature back in 2012. When Instagram Stories evolved shortly after, it lead to the rise of vertical selfie videos on different social media platforms.
Right now, there are wide varieties of vertical selfie video formats and platform options to upload on. This can become confusing for aspiring influencers, creators, or entrepreneurs who want to market their business. That’s why we’ll explore some useful tips to take better selfie videos for all types of social media stories.
Facing the camera
A lot of selfie video stories require the person to directly address the audience by facing the camera. Since everyone isn’t a trained actor or an emcee, we need to build the communication skills required to reach out to every individual that watches the selfie video.
Here are few things to keep in mind while recording a vertical selfie video.
Confidence
Speaking to the camera should be like speaking to a friend or a person you connect with, this makes you more comfortable and real. Being your honest self in front of the audience will make sure that they connect and relate to you. You must be confident and interact with the audience with a smile as it makes you welcoming and approachable.
Speech Delivery
You need to be clear with your words and modulate your voice to grab the audience’s attention. Try to avoid fumbling while speaking in front of the camera. It’s okay to take multiple re-takes as long as you don’t let your energy down. The audiences will respond to your enthusiasm and energy so be enthusiastic while addressing them.
Angle
It’s important to hold your phone correctly in a way that your face is visible and is directly facing the camera. Hold your smartphone vertically and record when your camera is at a slightly higher angle than your eye level. Doing this will make your vertical selfie video appealing to the audience.
Technical details and equipment for selfie videos
Businesses need professional stories and posts and one needs to be at par with the competition to boost engagement for their profile. Apart from knowing how to handle and interact with your smartphone’s camera, there are a few basics that you need to apply for the best output of your vertical selfie video.
Composition
The rule of thirds rule applies to vertical videos as well so you need to compose your selfie video in a manner that will be soothing to the eyes and balance out the frame. The rule of thirds is a guideline that helps you to compose your frame.
Light
You need to be facing a light source and make sure that your face is well lit to record a selfie video. Although, natural light is good sometimes you need to punch in that extra source of artificial light that makes the frame vibrant. You can use a mini ring light that can be easily attached to your phone to help you when you’re outdoors.
Sound
Smartphones nowadays have a good microphone to pick up your voice but when you’re outdoors or in a windy environment you might need a wireless lapel like rode wireless go || that can capture and amplify your sound clearly while giving you the ease of recording with movements.
Background
When putting up selfie video stories from your smartphone, we often overlook the tiny details in our background. To create a good frame that is appealing overall you must select a good backdrop either one which is distraction-free and a plane or the one which adds character and compliments to the tone of your selfie video.
To create depth you need to step away from the backdrop and make sure that there are distance and space behind you. The depth makes your video story raw and real rather than a rehearsed studio recording.
Stabilization
No one wants to see a shaky video story so it’s best if you use a handheld gimbal like DJI Osmo mobile 4 to stabilize your video and get a smooth output. All modern smartphones come equipped with inbuilt stabilization but it’s not always enough for a smooth video. A gimbal also helps you to walk away with sudden camera movements and capture yourself while pumping adrenaline during adventures.
Using filters
Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have the vertical video format story feature that people use to share the moments of their lives. Much like vlogging, you can use these vertical stories to document your day. These platforms are equipped with filters that make your stories vibrant, colorful, and different. However, you can use inbuilt filters from a quality video editor to stand apart from the crowd. You have full control over these unique filters as you can customize the intensity of a filter. The filters should never overshadow your content and you. Hence, the ability to control the intensity of a filter is a great feature that is missing from these social media platforms. You can also use a video editor in adding video overlays for amazing motion graphics.
Following these tips should help you take better selfie videos for your social media stories while boosting your engagement and reach on the platform. You will soon be a PRO at recording selfie videos in no time.