In the past four weeks, I have had at least five clients ask me similar questions about what I thought about recording company videos on their iPhones.
My response is I love it. In a previous social posting, I highlighted an example of a national advertisement that was filmed on an iPhone. Granted, it was an ad promoting an iPhone 11 Pro, showing off its impressive video capabilities. Even though the ad was shot on Apple’s devices, this does not put aside the videographer’s digital mastery and cinematic skills on top of their unbelievably talented storytelling abilities. Still, you would have thought that this particular ad was developed with various high-end camera equipment that exceeded the tens of thousands of dollars.
I have a good friend and colleague who is a well-known videographer, and I was with him on a video shoot. During his session, he had his elaborate camera rig set up. Then once he was done filming a particular scene, he took out his iPhone with a gimbal (a fancy term that allows your device to rotate on multiple levels), and he shot additional b-roll videos with his device.
I laughed, and said, “wow, how much footage do you use from your iPhone?” He smiled and said, “more than you think.”
Now please understand I am not downplaying these high-end camera devices used by industry professionals. My point is if you, Mr. and Ms. Businesses owner, want to shoot videos on your iPhone or even Smartphone Android device — then do it!
Of course, there are limitations. If you try to do too much, you will run into two problems: audio and lighting. But if you can keep your videos filmed in a well-lit area and limit your audio to a smaller room with limited background noise distractions, then you should have some promising footage.
Once you have some great content, you’ll want to edit these videos. The industry standard is called Adobe Premiere, which is expensive and takes some time to learn. However, I have found an alternative called Camtasia. It’s a relatively inexpensive piece of software that allows you to quickly edit videos and export the file to an mp4 format that can be uploaded and shared on YouTube.
So, if you or your marketing/management team are feeling a burst of inspiration, then what’s stopping you? Go create some content. But, be prepared. There’s some trial and error involved. But If you focus on keeping your videos simple, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you come up with.
