Testing testing how we doing how are we looking. I think the audio levels are good we’re ready to roll today’s post will give, you the top 10 filmmaking tips to make your travel posts the best that they can be right off the bat.
So whether you’re just starting or you’ve been making posts for years this post is for, you my name is Christian. And for the past three years now. I’ve been making travel posts.
HOW TO MAKE A TRAVEL VIDEO – 10 TIPS, YOU NEED TO KNOW Photo Gallery
And by some crazy chance it has become my full-time job now the first tip is something you’re not gonna hear anywhere else. And that’s where. I pride myself on giving people insider information.
And that is to actually turn your camera on there’s a little power switch right here did anyone find that funny it seemed funny in my head, you left ok that’s all that matters alright number one for real this time is understand your equipment. And when I say understand your equipment.
I mean know how the focal lengths how the camera that you’re working with will impact the image that you’re getting, but let’s go through a couple examples if you’re shooting with a GoPro, it’s a fantastic travel camera one thing that, you should know is that, it’s waterproof. So all of a sudden, you have that upper hand of being able to achieve. And tell a unique story that most cameras will not ever be able to do another thing that, you should know with a wide-angle lens you’re not gonna be able to tell what’s going on in the distance.
So even though something may only be 20 feet away from, you, it’s gonna show up like a speck in the post shot with a GoPro on the other hand if you invest it in let’s say like a t5i rebel camera something that has the ability to change lenses well, you need to understand how those different lenses will allow, you to achieve different shots boom just like that we now have two lenses this lens right here allows me to get wide-angle shots kind of like the GoPro, but not quite as wide. And this lens right here allows me to get extreme close-ups not only does that mean that. I can shoot things further away, but it also means that the subject will now appear closer to their background.
So if. I have somebody standing in front of the mountains the mountains now become humongous whereas if. I shoot with a GoPro or a wide-angle lens like this one well what, it’s going to do is the exact opposite it’ll make the mountains in the distance seem really small.
And the subject will seem big. And up front. So understand how your different lenses how your equipment will affect the shot.
And shoot accordingly. And if you’re shooting with a cell phone that has two lenses that same logic applies. And one other implication is stability if.
I was to pan with my GoPro. I would have a much more stable shot than if. I just panned with my camera with this lens on the shake will be much more noticeable with a very distance telescoping lens travel tip number two is to understand the difference between slow motion fast motion.
And when to use them. So a lot of people when they first pickup their cameras they’re all excited because for the first time just like this they’re able to feel at like five times slower than real life if you’ve got one of those new GoPros, you can shoot ten times slower than real life. And, it’s such a cool effect, but, it’s not to be overused slow motion should only be used to emphasize a story if it doesn’t add to the story don’t use slow motion the same can be said with doubling up the speed or quadrupling the speed sometimes.
I see people using drone shots. And they just go times 10 on the speed. And then all of a sudden they’re rushing through the air.
And it feels really weird because, you can see the shake being caused by the drone moving around being pushed by wind, you can see the waves are moving 10 times faster. And it doesn’t look natural it really takes away from the moment. So if you’re gonna speed something up with fast motion at least make sure, it’s part of the intended effect personally when.
I do fast motion. I typically like to cut up my clip. So that, it’s more of a gradual up.
And then a gradual down. So in other words if. I had the clip right here.
I would make maybe five cuts here. I would have normal speed right here. I would have times two.
And in the middle. I would have something like times four what that does for, you is it gives, you a bit of like a pyramid effect where, it’s more gradual, it’s not this jarring speed up stop effect it feels natural more of a flow to it and. I need to say that if you’re shooting with a camera that doesn’t do fast motion or slow motion don’t take that as like a disadvantage sometimes the best stories are just told by shooting 30 frames a second in other words like normal speeds.
I understand your equipment. And how to make the most of it travel tip number three change up your angles when you’re shooting with your cameras doesn’t matter if you’ve got a GoPro or if you’ve got a 70 to 200 equipped on a 1 V X mark – whatever you’re shooting with make sure that you’re telling a different story than just the stand. And shoot there was an example.
I watched in another blog post is like, you see most people posting a photo of their dogs is typically just by standing up because people are lazy they don’t want to get down on the dog’s level, but if you want to take the better photo, you need to get down on your knees, you need to be willing to climb up a tree to get the up Shaw, you need to be willing to do whatever it takes almost whatever it takes don’t kill yourself, but go the extra mile in order to get that unique story that is what separates a good travel post from a masterpiece of a travel post the masterpiece will always have those unique shots that has the audience asking themselves oh my gosh how did they shoot that that’s why when I fly my drone. I actually like to risk it to get the biscuit once in a while sometimes I’ll fly between an archway sometimes I’ll fly right under a tree because.
I love to give my audience that scare factor of like oh my gosh, you really changed up the angle in a way that. I never would have done get used to your equipment. And once, you feel like you’ve mastered the equipment then, you can start pushing the boundaries trying new things.
And one more thing that can be said about changing the angle changing the angle doesn’t simply have to be altitude based, it’s not just about getting on the ground or getting up high it can also be about how close your subject is. So if you’re shooting with a lens like this it causes a beautiful background blur purely based on how close, you are to the thing that you’re shooting, you can achieve different results of the SHA this took me a good year two years to really perfect but I believe, it’s something that can come with time as long as you’re aware of it.
And willing to learn it can make a huge difference in your travel posts tip number four and, this is probably one of the biggest ones. And that is to pick your music music music music it makes all the difference what kind of music choice, you have, you will have the control to evoke emotions in the audience based on the song, you choose. So if you’re trying to tell the story of a beautiful tropical beach don’t use the hardcore EDM song because they’re completely clashing unless that’s your intended effect if you’re trying to tell a really high pace energy story that’s where, you can look at like the high BPM electronic music that gets the blood flow going there is no wrong genre of music to use, but it has to complement the scene in the story you’re trying to tell now with that being said there’s one place.
I get all of my music from. And when I say all.
I mean, it’s my go-to every single day. I’ve actually partnered with them to create my own album. I feel like Kendrick Lamar right now, it’s the exact same thing except.
I didn’t make the music. I just picked a song, but if you want to check it out. I actually have my own loss LeBlanc album on epidemic sound right now, it’s got 16 tropical travel adventure songs that it will be amazing for any of your travels coming up.
And the awesome thing is not just the fact that they have great music, but, it’s the fact that. I can use this music on blog on Facebook on any social platform. And not have to worry about legal consequences it’s.
So crucial that. I know that every single song. I use in my post will not be struck down by a copyright or by another artist.
And the awesome thing is they actually have a free one-month trial. So no commitments see if you like it. And they’ve been kind enough to reward team get lost the people here on this blog by using the coupon code loss LeBlanc you’ll actually save 15% on your first six months.
So check it out number five, this is a huge tip especially for beginners who often overlook this. And that is the importance of stabilizing your footage now there’s two ways, you can stabilize it, you can stabilize it in a software. I’m not gonna talk about that, you can figure that out by whatever post editor you’re using it can sometimes help it can sometimes do bad things to your footage.
So use that with caution, but the thing that. I will focus on is creating the most stable post inside of the camera. So that, you don’t have to do that extra step at least rely on it in post-production whether, you got a cell phone whether, you got a GoPro they now have gimbals automatic electronic stabilizers that allow, you to achieve incredibly buttery smooth footage, you can buy stabilizers for believe as affordable is like $300.
And it will be a game-changer in your footage now if you’re shooting with a heavier camera they also have those gimbals. I personally use a big heavy-duty one, but there’s some pretty easy strategies that, you can do without even having extra equipment. So let’s talk a bit about that this right here is my backup camera.
And I’ll show, you one of the easiest ways, you can stabilize use your camera strap put it against the back of your neck. And simply keep your camera as extended as possible. So that tension is being applied on the camera strap.
And by doing this what you’re actually accomplishing is you’re creating more stability on the camera when, you pivot when, you turn your camera is not going to be freely moving in your hands, it’s gonna stay nice. And stable by having more points of contact against your body if you’re gonna do walking shots then, you know this will still help you, but at the end of the day nothing will replace an electronic gimbal or a Steadicam which is just a counterweight system, but it does an amazing job, but one other kind of getaway that, you can get away with creating a moving stabilized shot if you have a flat surface you’re working with is a skateboard or a Rowley chair that way you’re not getting that motion that comes with every step instead, you just kind of roll around. And it’ll give, you a much more stabilized shot.
And one last little bonus tip because. I’m all about value here on this blog if you haven’t already commentd go ahead. And hit that sub button if you’re shooting with a drone, you can actually walk around with your phantom with your Mavic you’ve got yourself a Steadicam number-6 the storyline what, you want to do with your travels with your posts that you’re filming.
And editing is, you want to have in mind what is the story. I’m trying to tell. I like to have things in chronological order where they kind of show the travel that’s been going on over the past month or over the past week don’t just insert random travel Clips all together over music, you know that’s going to get, you a C or a B gray, but, you will not be best of class by putting a posts together that way what will help, you though is let’s say you’re traveling with your friends.
And this post kind of follows the day in the life through a cinematic eye maybe it shows your start of the day hitting the alarm clock to wake up maybe it shows, you putting on your pants with like a POV shot, but, you know try to keep it below a certain point. And then maybe it shows, you getting into the bus heading to the kayak station where, you then get in your kayak all of a sudden you’ve diff angles you’ve got an angle that shows your paddle going into the water you’ve got a wide angle that shows, you leaving the shore you’ve got another even wider angle that’s been shot with a drone these are the things that, you can accomplish when, you expand your equipment arsenal of course that doesn’t happen at first, but, you could do it with any camera, you can always change up the shot, you can always tell different stories with different perspectives but I really think, it’s important that there’s a bit of a continuty a flow that shows what’s going on in this post.
And that will definitely be a key if you want to take your post from it to uh-huh número how do, you say 7 in Spanish no lesense number 7 here we go a goal in French alright. So number 7 is movement. So if.
I’m going to shoot a cinematic sequence. I see this all the time with beginner sorry. I’m just throwing all the beginners under the bus like, this is this is getting a little graphic there’s just too many people under that bus right now what, you want to do is, you want to think of movement as one continuous motion.
So if you’re shooting a nice pan then the pan should look something like this, but then not of a sudden jerk back. I mean there’s a few exceptions, but for the most part, you want to do it with one continuous motion either uniform meaning, it’s just like this or an exponential acceleration maybe it can be like this, but what, you don’t want is random. And sporadic movements is what.
I’m trying to get out here don’t go like this then like this again, this is going back to shake it’ll be horrible to watch, but another key example that. I see beginners doing is when they’re flying their drones they tend to use a clip of their drone where, you actually see the drone readjusting. So if you watch any of my travel posts almost without fail the only shots.
I use my drone are the shots that are continuous if. I’m moving forward with my drone. And tilting the camera up if my camera stops tilting up that is the end of the shot even though my drone may still be moving forward that is a stop in continuous motion the worst is when.
I see somebody use a drone clip they speed it up in the null scent it just turns left as somebody who’s made a lot of posts that is one of the most horrible things. I can see what’s much better is if you want to do a turn have it a nice gradual turn now building on the importance of getting the right shots is actually making that shot match with the music. So once we’ve headed over to epidemic sound we’ve picked out our amazing songs from the loss LeBlanc album what we’re going to do is we’re going to of course want to tell that beautiful story with that song when.
I’m putting together the story. I take my posts. I take my song of choice and.
I make everything based around the song your post needs to build around the song because the song cannot be altered cannot be changed at least not easily, but, you have the ability to move your clips around find the song that has the right mood the right tempo the right amount of beats per minute when there’s a well-defined beat in the song, it’s very easy to cut to it. So every time, you get that very audible sound where, it’s like either a percussion or, it’s a drop that is a great indicator that this might be a good time to cut to the next click. And what.
I like to do is based on the beats per minute the speed of the song that is what kind of indicates how many Clips should. I be using. So for example if the song is very mellow I’ll probably let each clip draw on for anywhere from three to seven seconds each whereas if, it’s a high paced song then you’re going to be going through a lot more Clips individual cuts every time, you hear that that’s an indicator that is probably time to move to the next clip now sometimes, you can have two or three or even four of these beats within every cut, but try to keep it uniform, it’s completely up to you, but, it’s about training your ear to hear that little here’s a couple of examples of mellow versus high-octane.
So it can be argued that there’s no right or wrong way to do this, but if you don’t cut your clip on the beat you’re doing it the wrong way find the right song train the ear make the cuts to the beats and, you will bring your post to the next level tip number nine is particularly important. And I’ll stress it with a very well-known example. And that is the GoPro highlight posts every year when GoPro releases their brand new cameras, you see this beautiful highlight reel that shows the most incredible shots extraordinary colors vibrancy contrasts all this beautiful stuff in these shots.
And you’re like oh my gosh my shots are going to be incredible, you get your GoPro or any other camera for that matter and, you start shooting with it you’re probably gonna find you’re a little disappointed your iPhone photos didn’t look like they looked on the Apple website the reason the footage, you shoot doesn’t look like their footage is because there is so much work put into the color grading color grading is one of the most important ways to tell your story, you can literally take a gray sky. And make it seem like a beautiful fiery red sunset if you know what you’re doing now color grading is an art, it’s something that takes months.
And years to get good at. So, you want to make a WoW post versus a post then learn to color grade because contrast saturation the curves there’s so much, you can do with your colors to tell that story for me color grading is like getting a set of play-doh you’ve got all these beautiful colors.
And, it’s up to, you to mold them into the story that, you want to tell. I think, it’s exciting, it’s a lot more work though alright now. I’m gonna give, you a bonus one because.
I just thought of it. So technically, this is a twelve tip post, but, you know again that’s the loss of long value, you get here on the blog. So if you haven’t already stop when you’re making travel posts.
I want to show, you some hand motions that can be really fun for transitions if you’re doing a pan shot on the beach what, you can do is, you can actually end it off with a really quick movement like that because you’re actually moving. So quick at the end of the shot the human eye can’t keep up with what’s going on in the shot and, this is actually an opportunity when you’re cutting to cut the scene right here when the camera moved really quickly. And transition to another shot that’s maybe panning in the same direction the same can be said if you’re shooting upward if you’re doing a slow pan upward.
And then you’re like whoosh like that the viewer sees, you panning up to the sky. And then all of a sudden, you move really quickly they lose track of the shot now take a drone shot, it’s like all of a sudden you’ve transported the viewer into the sky when you’re going underwater that moment right where it goes underwater the viewer kind of can’t see what’s going on because the breaking of the waves gets in the shot cut that shot with a beautiful underwater swimming shot with like a dolphin. And all of a sudden it seems like this magical thing.
So use those kind of creative thoughts – like how can. I make a unique transition within this moment that was not even a full tip that was a nine point one now the tenth tip the final tip is don’t overdo effects crossfades the wacky little drizzle effect that brings on the next frame. And, it’s like it depends who your audience is or what your goal is if you’re just trying to make a fun home post that’s nice go ahead use those, but if you’re trying to make a like professional-looking blog post that, you want to be proud of.
And be able to share that with other people then these are effects that will definitely make your stuff feel a little bit beginner. I know some people that use effects. And it can be done very tastefully, but personally.
I don’t use any effects in my posts fine I’ll do all my own effects basically manually what that means is. I’m either doing stuff with my camera like this or. I’m cropping in on my post using post-production, but.
I’m not just using a plug-in. And dropping in the effects be wary when using effects that it might not have the intended effect that you’re looking for that has been 10 travel tips for your next travel post. I hope, you enjoyed this post guys if you want to see some of my travel posts how.
I use my cameras my lenses very the shots well I’ll link one of my posts that. I think does a really good job showing that if you’re looking for some tropical vibes escape the cold weather check it out. And if you want to learn more about my business how.
I actually run all of this how. I’m able to travel the world stay in hotels for free. And get paid doing it then check out my patreon community.
I actually post weekly behind the scenes posts just recently posted a couple posts like how to beat the algorithm on blog how to make money as a freelancer how to game Instagram Facebook they all the behind the scenes to how. I’m running this. I will not plug it anymore but.
I do have an album on epidemic sound the best way to get music for anyone who plans to do blog Facebook Instagram etc. So if you want to check it out, it’s also in the link down below guys without further ado let’s get lost again in the next one. ?
Maybe You Like Them Too
- Top 10 Islands You Can Buy
- Top 10 Underrated Asian Cities 2023
- Top 10 Reasons Upsizing Will Be a Huge Travel Trend
- Top 10 Scuba Diving Destinations
- World’s 10 Best Places To Visit
