How to Shoot a Great Travel Video – Top Tips for Beginners

Travel commercials, video guides, professional travel videos, clips for adventure TV, travel vlogs, TikTok – videos are everywhere. Cool clips get millions of likes on Instagram, highlight authors on YouTube, capture our unforgettable memories from the road, teach something important, or just show an exciting landscape.

We believe that everyone can make a great video and in today’s post we’re sharing with you the main rules that can help you take your video creation process to a more professional level.

Pre-production

Pre-production includes all the preparation and planning steps that you need to follow before shooting. Perhaps this is the main part that sets the tone for the whole shooting.

Give maximum attention to the idea

Believe it or not, scripts are developed even for TikTok. So, first of all, you need to work out the idea and answer the question of what the video will actually be about. The idea can transform in the process, but knowing where to start when shooting is vital.

Decide on video timing

This will directly affect the preparation time, filming process, and project budget. If you are only on your way to video making, start with short formats. Don’t try to fit the feature-length film into a short clip. A cool 90-second video is more than enough for the first few times.

Choose a location and be sure to check the weather forecast

Make sure it’s legal to shoot wherever you want. A lot of bloggers who filmed travel videos even with the best camera for hiking had to cut out a good part of the filming due to their illegal location.

Also, check the weather for the shooting day. If the weather conditions are far from perfect, the equipment must be properly protected.

Most important tip: check your equipment!

All batteries must be charged and all memory cards put in a camera bag. It seems obvious, but this is what often fails.

Wipe the camera. Not with a finger, but with a special napkin or at least a T-shirt. If you will be filming with your phone, put the device in airplane mode so that the call from granny/bank/work doesn’t spoil the take.

Shooting

Shooting is the most important step in the whole process – here, you can let your imagination run free. But there are a couple of crucial rules, the following of which can make the viewer watch your video to the end.

Set composition and light

It’s impossible to tell about the composition in several sentences. Just read detailed articles, look at other people’s work and, of course, trust your sense of beauty.

The beauty of the shot also depends on the light. When shooting indoors, use natural light from a window. If little light enters the room, use local sources – floor lamps, table lamps, garlands, and so on. This will help add some dimension to the background and improve the picture.

Check sound

This is the most important part of the final video. If the sound cannot be heard, the viewer will turn off the video – and all the work will be down the drain. At the same time, flaws in the picture are not pernicious if the sound is good and the content is interesting. So don’t skimp on sound. 

Use a tripod

A stable platform is important to keep the picture from shaking. So buy a tripod. If you think you’ll often move, a belt tripod is a lifesaver. If there is no special equipment, try to fix the camera with improvised means – put it on a stack of books, a table, or simply your knees.

Follow diversity

If you shoot a video from one location for more than a few minutes, then the viewer will quickly become bored. Take it as a rule: the duration of frames from one angle should be 5-10 seconds. Shorter ones will create a flickering effect, while longer ones will cause boredom.

Combine master and detailed shots

It’s a must, especially if the camera’s zoom allows it. Experiment with the basic functions of your camera.

How can you improve the footage?

Knowing how to shoot videos is half the battle. The second half consists of at least simple video editing of the material to make footage “tasty.” 

According to statistics, videos less than a minute in length are twice as likely to be watched to the end than longer videos. This is the first reason to turn all your footage into a small, dynamic video. Use free video editing software in which even a non-specialist can cope with editing, setting contrasts, applying special effects and music. For example, Movavi, Pinnacle Studio 24, Lumen5, OpenShot are great options. They have a great number of features and good galleries with titles and extra elements that will immediately make your video stand out from those made at bench scale. Pros can delve into Adobe Premiere Pro.

Wrapping Up 

You should understand that video making is exciting but at the same time a long and exhausting journey. And all you have to do is pick up your camera and practice.

Record the first test video, watch it from the viewer’s perspective. Does something annoy you? Try to fix it; work on yourself. Click the record button and go: sooner or later, you will succeed!

Are you ready for your shooting your first great travel video?