1. Content licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial
4.0 International License
Practical tips for filming a story
Main goal of this lesson is to help you out while filming your story.
Before you go out filming, prepare yourself for filming. Good
planning will make filming and editing of your story much easier.
So before going out for filming, take couple of minutes to prepare
yourself.
At the end we are sharing some of tips for getting better results.
2. 1. Research your story
13/04/2017 www.y-nex.eu 2
• What is the story? – without clear idea about the story it will be hard
to do a proper planning and filming can sometimes be very chaotic
with unsatisfactory results
3. 1. Research your story
13/04/2017 www.y-nex.eu 3
• What is the environment I
am going to film in?
• Exterior, interior or both?
• Daytime or night time –
this is important because
of available light for
filming
4. 1. Research your story
13/04/2017 www.y-nex.eu 4
• How many interviews am I having and what are the questions for
them
5. 2. Make a filming plan
• How much material I have to shoot for my story ? Ideal ratio is 6
minutes of raw material for one minute of finalized story. It can be
less, it can be more, but don’t overshoot – it will be harder to choose
material afterwards in the editing process.
• How many people will I interview / what are the questions – write
them down.
• Think of a first and last shot in the story – they are very important
• What close-up shots and detail shots can I film?
4/13/2017 5
6. 3. Prepare for filming
• Just ask yourself: “What equipment do I need besides smartphone?”
• Essential equipment:
4/13/2017 6
Tripod
Spare Battery
External Microphone
Headphones
7. 4/13/2017 7
3. Prepare for filming
Check available memory on your phone!
If needed, delete some apps you are not using,
and/or older videos and photos.
8. 4/13/2017 8
3. Prepare for filming
Check all equipment before filming.
Just make sure everything is working before going out.
It is very stressful when you realize that
some parts are not working just before
an interview…
9. 4 . Filming tips
Make sure your lens are clean
4/13/2017 9
One of the most common issues on smartphones
is that the camera lens is smudged from fingers or blocked
with lint from pockets. Clean the lens just after you’ve
mounted smartphone on a tripod.
10. 4 . Filming tips
Stay calm
4/13/2017 10
Filming in a hurry can produce bad material and can lead to
unusable material. Remember that it is better to have 3
minutes of good material, rather than 30 minutes of shaky
mess.
11. 4 . Filming tips
Use the tripod whenever possible !
4/13/2017 11
Shaky pictures are really annoying to watch.
One of the big benefits of the tripod is that
you can focus on the filming, instead of trying
to hold smartphone still.
12. 4 . Filming tips
Carefully watch the picture on the screen while filming
12
Always take care that framing, exposure
and focus are correct.
“If picture is not good while filming, it
will not look better at any point later on.
It will stay bad.” Dragan Ruljančić, DoP, HRT
FRAMING
EXPOSURE
FOCUS
13. 4 . Filming tips
Make sure that each of your shots is at least 10 seconds long
4/13/2017 13
Sure, you will use just 3-4 second in editing process,
but having shots at least 10 seconds long will give
you more flexibility later when editing.
If the scene you’re filming is interesting, don’t
restrain yourself to 10 seconds, just hold the shot as
long as it takes, but stay reasonable.
14. 4 . Filming tips
Interviews
4/13/2017 14
When filming interviews always
look at person you are talking to.
From time to time, check the
framing on the smartphone.
Never have a smartphone directly in
front of you obstructing the view
between you and interviewee.
15. 4 . Filming tips
Interviews
4/13/2017 15
PREPARE yourself!
This is crucial for making a good
interview. Do a research on your
interviewee and topic you are
covering.
At the beginning of filming, ask
interviewee to introduce him or
herself (name, surname, job
description). This is great for
checking audio quality and framing.
16. 4 . Filming tips
Interviews
4/13/2017 16
Don’t do very long interviews. In that
case your interviewee will stay focused
on your questions. But, always be
persistent on getting your answers.
17. 4 . Filming tips
Interviews
4/13/2017 17
Check your footage
immediately after filming an
interview. If necessary, repeat
the interview.
18. 4 . Filming tips
4/13/2017 18
There are so many things you should take care of while
filming.
Most common mistake is not to press recording button
after all preparations were made.
So don’t forget to
PRESS THE RED BUTTON!
19. Lesson 3 Task
Record an interview
- Person and subject of your choice
- 3 questions
- Max 2 minutes
- Take care of good framing and clean sound
- Submit your interview (YT link) to Tasks section
4/13/2017 19
