Videos are incredibly popular online as they have the ability to spread messages better than text or images. While anyone can use their smartphone to record a video, if you are looking to do something a little more sophisticated, this article will guide you through the five basic steps that will take you from beginning to end of making your first video.
Choosing the Recording Method
How are you going to make the video? This might seem straightforward, but there are a number of ways to create a video. You can use your smartphone camera, dedicated video camera, screen capture software, image slideshow and so on.
The recording method determines how the video will look and what equipment you need. For example, a video camera allows you to record real people or events while a screen capture program allows you to record what you are doing on a computer screen.
Mapping Content
While you could just turn on the camera or program and start doing shooting, this is far from ideal. You need to map your content to ensure that your video is good. This can be as simple as having a rough idea of what you want to say or convey, or you could create a script that you will follow during the recording.
Just make sure that you know what you are filming. While you can edit out mistakes and errors, a poorly planned video will be unsalvageable.
Film
Now it’s time to create your film. Make sure that you do a few tests before actually starting the film. For example, take a test shot to ensure that everything looks correct. You may need to adjust lighting or your computer screen until you are happy with the results.
There’s no reason to rush into filming. While you shouldn’t be neurotic and look for perfection, you should ensure that the video looks good before proceeding with the next step.
Editing
Video editing looks a lot harder than it really is. The hardest part is getting used to the video editing program, but once you do everything else will be easy. At the most basic level, video editing involves deleting bad or unusable footage and only keeping the good stuff. You will also want to ensure that the video transitions properly from one scene to another and that the final product is coherent.
You can add audio or text on top of the video through an editing program. This will add to your video and make it even better.
Upload
The final thing you have to do is save the video as an MP4 or other usable file type and then upload it to your website or YouTube. The editing program should be able to compress the video so that it’s a manageable size for online viewing. This step often takes some time as your computer generates the final file, but it’s simple. Once it’s finished saving, go to your preferred website and upload the video.
Conclusion
Video production can seem very daunting, but it’s actually an easy process once you break it down. You just have to choose how you will shoot the video, what content you wish to include and then edit the video until it’s perfect. Then all you have to do is upload it and wait for people to view the video.
