Moving pictures and sound!
March 28, 2018 5:06 AM Subscribe
I run the social media accounts for a couple of charities, and I've decided this is the year I finally get to grips with video. Please suggest great tech, good practices and apps I can use!
Both charities do lots of visually appealing things, volunteers being active, fun things outdoors, kids being creative, great personal stories, working in unusual places. Really, getting all this on video is long overdue....
I'm thinking about short videos talking to volunteers/participants and showcasing what we do, Facebook/Twitter live, Instagram stories, as well as fun, vine-like things too.
First, tech, I have access to an older Android phone (Moto G3 with Marshmallow) and a work-mandated Windows phone. But I have some budget to spend! I'm wondering about a go-pro, and maybe a mic to use with the phone. Anything else I could thing about? I've just been using the camera app on my phone for video, any recommendations for video apps for android?
Good practice - we have relevant permissions from everyone filmed, so we have that covered. I've done a few live broadcasts and have an idea about planning out what you're going to do in advance. What else should we be thinking about?
Apps - we primarily use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Both charities have unloved Vimeo and Youtube accounts. Should we upload all our videos, even short fun ones?
I'm no good at keeping up with what's hot. I've played around with slo-mo video and Boomerang recently. What other fun apps are out there?
I also came across Lumen5, which turns blog posts to video, suggestions for apps like this would be great. In particular, is there one that can turn groups of photos into a slideshow, preferably with a desktop option (for photos taken with an actual camera)?
Both charities do lots of visually appealing things, volunteers being active, fun things outdoors, kids being creative, great personal stories, working in unusual places. Really, getting all this on video is long overdue....
I'm thinking about short videos talking to volunteers/participants and showcasing what we do, Facebook/Twitter live, Instagram stories, as well as fun, vine-like things too.
First, tech, I have access to an older Android phone (Moto G3 with Marshmallow) and a work-mandated Windows phone. But I have some budget to spend! I'm wondering about a go-pro, and maybe a mic to use with the phone. Anything else I could thing about? I've just been using the camera app on my phone for video, any recommendations for video apps for android?
Good practice - we have relevant permissions from everyone filmed, so we have that covered. I've done a few live broadcasts and have an idea about planning out what you're going to do in advance. What else should we be thinking about?
Apps - we primarily use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Both charities have unloved Vimeo and Youtube accounts. Should we upload all our videos, even short fun ones?
I'm no good at keeping up with what's hot. I've played around with slo-mo video and Boomerang recently. What other fun apps are out there?
I also came across Lumen5, which turns blog posts to video, suggestions for apps like this would be great. In particular, is there one that can turn groups of photos into a slideshow, preferably with a desktop option (for photos taken with an actual camera)?
This may not be quite what you’re asking, but I teach people how to do persuasive messaging campaigns on social media for advocacy purposes. My number one tip is to have a clear objective, audience, and call to action in mind before you start any video project. That will help you to write the script and storyboard it beforehand. You will save time and create videos that your audiences will care about.
I’m fond of Clips for the iPhone and iMovie is very easy to use. GoPro also has an app for the phone called Quik which is easy to use on the go. Good luck!
posted by eulily at 7:10 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m fond of Clips for the iPhone and iMovie is very easy to use. GoPro also has an app for the phone called Quik which is easy to use on the go. Good luck!
posted by eulily at 7:10 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Hi - good on you to tackle this, it will certainly generate a lot of attention and sounds like you have great ideas for a stream of content.
Sounds like your platforms are a good place to start, but is there an organization blog to serve as the ‘hub’ for your content to live permanently - that you own?
A FB and Twitter and Insta presence is great and all, however video (and photos, and posts) are owned by them and controlled by them. They may or may not limit who sees them.
For YT, that would make sense to place them there too. But what is the glue to hold this varied content together? I would suggest taking the time and long-term commitment to speak directly to your audience and stakeholders. A blog serves this purpose, but it takes sustained effort.
Onto specifics of your question, you can do better than trying an all-mobile video effort. A real digital camera is used by vloggers. Why? Because it gives control and flexibility you just don’t get with mobile. Of course you can go cheap and make it look like someone just grabbed a phone and started filming, but you indicated wanting to do interviews.
Thus lighting will be important, and a tripod, and a dedicated mic. My DD decided to get a setup for her initiation to do videography, and it was below $1k.
In a past work life I did video interviews as part of my job - I can say that I am very impressed with what video $1k worth can do.
A few months ago I had to produce a work interview myself on short notice, and ended up with something that worked very well for my needs (including intro music, slideshow features and ease-of-use to get this done quickly). It runs on Windows and is called Filmora by Wondershare.
Memail me if you’d like a link to the final video.
Good luck!
posted by scooterdog at 7:11 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sounds like your platforms are a good place to start, but is there an organization blog to serve as the ‘hub’ for your content to live permanently - that you own?
A FB and Twitter and Insta presence is great and all, however video (and photos, and posts) are owned by them and controlled by them. They may or may not limit who sees them.
For YT, that would make sense to place them there too. But what is the glue to hold this varied content together? I would suggest taking the time and long-term commitment to speak directly to your audience and stakeholders. A blog serves this purpose, but it takes sustained effort.
Onto specifics of your question, you can do better than trying an all-mobile video effort. A real digital camera is used by vloggers. Why? Because it gives control and flexibility you just don’t get with mobile. Of course you can go cheap and make it look like someone just grabbed a phone and started filming, but you indicated wanting to do interviews.
Thus lighting will be important, and a tripod, and a dedicated mic. My DD decided to get a setup for her initiation to do videography, and it was below $1k.
In a past work life I did video interviews as part of my job - I can say that I am very impressed with what video $1k worth can do.
A few months ago I had to produce a work interview myself on short notice, and ended up with something that worked very well for my needs (including intro music, slideshow features and ease-of-use to get this done quickly). It runs on Windows and is called Filmora by Wondershare.
Memail me if you’d like a link to the final video.
Good luck!
posted by scooterdog at 7:11 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: We have websites and blogs where we can share things. I'm focusing on social media, because a sizeable chunk of our audience only engage with us that way, such is the internet of 2018.
Specific recommendations for equipment: brands, models, etc would be helpful. I've no clue where to start with this. scooterdog, when you suggest a real digital camera, do you mean a camera camera, or a video camera?
posted by Helga-woo at 7:42 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Specific recommendations for equipment: brands, models, etc would be helpful. I've no clue where to start with this. scooterdog, when you suggest a real digital camera, do you mean a camera camera, or a video camera?
posted by Helga-woo at 7:42 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
It was a Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G7, which as a micro-4/3rds format is able to do fancy 4K video. The audio microphone is a Rode VideoMic Go, which mounts on the flash shoe and simply plugs in, offering much better audio than the built in one in the camera.
posted by scooterdog at 4:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by scooterdog at 4:28 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seconding the recommendation of Clips - it’s amazing and super easy.
posted by guster4lovers at 8:09 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by guster4lovers at 8:09 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:39 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]