These are slides from my video workshop Oct. 15, 2019 at Drake University in Des Moines. This was a hands-on workshop focused on shooting video on phones and editing with the Videoshop app.

1. Video workshop
Chris Snider | Oct. 15, 2019

2. HELLo. I’m Chris snider
• Associate professor in Drake
University’s School
of Journalism and Mass
Communication
• Teach classes on video, audio,
social media, design, storytelling
and web design
• Also teach a variety of classes
on those topics in our
Online Master of Arts in
Communication program

3. • I’m passionate about how businesses can use social
media and digital media
• Formerly editor at Juice Magazine and the Des Moines
Register
• Continue to run social media accounts and build websites
for clients and several related to Drake University

4. Video is more popular and more
in-demand than ever
The problem is… most people don’t
know how to make quality video.
But you can do it with only a smartphone.

5. https://youtu.be/gyOogqIqgmc
FiLMiC Pro Contest Reel - 2015

6. How to make great videos…

7. Shoot in shots
• Don’t shoot in one continuous movement or hold one
shot for too long
• Shoot a series of unique shots and put them together
to tell the story
• This is a terrible video (with millions of views)…

9. Move, point, shoot, stop.
Move, point, shoot, stop.
Move, point, shoot, stop.
• Frame your shot, then press record until it gets boring.
• Then stop and move on to the next one.
• Shoot more than you think you’ll need (you don’t have
to use it all)

10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyzRy3-wXAU

11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo8HR711y2w

13. Camera movement…
• Pan - move the camera horizontally
• Tilt - move the camera vertically
• Zoom - move toward/away from to subject
• Always begin and end stable

14. … avoid camera movement
• Any sort of camera movement is advanced technique
• Hold the camera still and let the movement happen
inside your composed shot
• Most great TV/movies are a series of still shots

16. COMPOSE
YOUR SHOTS
• Take charge and
properly set up the
shot.
• Pay attention to
backgrounds.
• Don’t be afraid to
rearrange the furniture
(in non-documentary
situations).

17. RULE OF THIRDS
Source: http://ecvphoto.weebly.com/the-art-of-composition.html

18. FRAMING
Source: http://ecvphoto.weebly.com/the-art-of-composition.html

19. LEADING LINES
Source: http://ecvphoto.weebly.com/the-art-of-composition.html

20. FOREGROUND/BACKGROUND
Image by Georgie Pauwels. Used with Creative Commons Attribution.

21. Shoot
wide,
medium
and cLose
For close-up
shots, look
for hands
and faces

22. <— Wide
Medium —>
<— Close-up —>

23. <— Framing
<— Rule of thirds
Foreground/Background —>

25. Go to Facebook or Instagram
and look at the first video you see
How are they doing?
• Shooting in shots
• Avoiding camera movement
• Composing shots (rule of thirds, framing,
leading lines, foreground/background)
• Shooting wide, medium close-up

26. Let’s shoot, Part 1
• Shoot at least five shots of someone doing an action
(using a prop, being “lost on campus” or ????)
• Include wide, medium and close-up shots
• Hold the camera steady
• Compose shots - rule of thirds, framing, leading lines,
foreground/background
Shooting in shots

28. Let’s edit,
part 1
• Open Videoshop
• Import your clips

29. A visual timeline representation of your video
Indicators about effects, titles, music, sounds
Preview area - shows video clips as they are
playing
Tools you can use as you edit
Library of clips you’re working with. Press,
hold, and drag a clip to re-arrange your clips
in your timeline.

30. • Trim ends
• Cut from middle
• Split into two
clips

31. Move clips around

32. Add music from
your phone, tracks
in Videoshop or
add sound effects

33. Add
text
and
text
styles

34. Play around
with stickers
and transitions

35. Save your video when done

37. Tips
FOR BETTER VIDEO

38. Shoot in sequences
• Think in terms of scenes
• For each scene, follow the action, shoot wide, medium
and close-up
• Reconstruct the event so it appears to happen in real
time. Look for things that repeat (so you can shoot
more than once). Or have your subject repeat them (if
possible)

39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaiJIaQAvUI

40. Two things that work on video
Motion Emotion

41. Storyboard, then shoot
• It’s important to think through all of your shots ahead of
time.
• Easiest way is to storyboard what you will shoot.

42. Use Pattern interrupts
Pattern Interrupts are elements in your video that are different than the rest
of your video (they literally "interrupt" the “pattern"). Pattern Interrupts can be:
• On-screen graphics
• Animations
• New background or setting
• B roll shots
• Different camera angles
• Sound effects

44. Tell a story
• Every video will be better if it tells a story.
• A story should have three elements
• A sympathetic character
• An obstacle (the thing in your character’s way)
• A pot of gold (the end goal or reward)

45. Sympathetic character
Obstacle
How overcomes obstacle

46. Sympathetic character: Miguel
Want: To play music
Obstacle: His family doesn’t like music
Overcomes: Finds out the real story of family history

47. Chubbies Shorts: Pants Problem

48. Let’s BRAINSTORM
• Choose a topic: the not-so-great outdoors
OR trouble at birthday party
OR first-date disaster
• Who is your sympathetic character?
• What is the obstacle? How do they overcome?
• What happens in beginning, middle, end?

49. you’re only as good as your audio
• A video that is difficult to hear will turn off viewers.
• Avoid locations with bad acoustics.
• Avoid distracting background noises (busy areas, heavy
machinery, lawnmowers, etc.)
• Use an external microphone for quality audio.

50. Hardware
FOR BETTER smartphone VIDEO

51. Smartphone video has
four main weaknesses
Hard to keep phone stable
(stabilization does get better every year)
Lack of quality audio when too far from camera
Not great in low-light situations
Limited zoom options (also getting better)

52. <— Stability
<— Audio
Light ☀

53. Promaster tripod - $70
Manfrotto tabletop
tripod - $20
DJI Osmo Mobile - $130

54. Joby Griptight - $20
Shoulderpod - $30
Square Jellyfish - $20
Ulanzi smartphone rig - $13
Vastar tripod
mount - $6

55. iRig Mic - $60
Rode
Reporter
mic and
i-XLR -
$280
iRig +
XLR cable
+ mic -
$70-170
Generic
lavalier -
$12
Sennheiser
ClipMic
digital
- $200

56. Two for $80

57. Zoom with your feet,
not with your lens
• Shoot at your camera’s widest setting for stability
• 10x zoom = 10x shakiness
• Can be uncomfortable to get in close, but it’s our best
option

58. Let’s shoot and edit, part 2
• What we’re focusing on
• Quality audio
• Variety of shots
• Shooting in sequences
• Tripod for steady video
Interview with b-roll

59. Click impose to add
cutaway shot
• You’ll need to size up the
video (use 2 fingers) to
completely cover the
interview
• Just watch the ad to get
this feature for free

61. Apps
FOR BETTER VIDEO

62. A BETTER VIDEO APP: FILMICPRO
• $15 for iOS and Android
• Professional video tools such as smooth zooming, lock
focus, lock exposure, sound monitoring.

63. Creative videos: Quik
• Free for both Android and iOS
• Quickly make videos, add text and music

64. I created this in less than 60 seconds with Quik app.

65. SIMPLE ANDROID EDITING: VIDEOSHOP
• Free & quickly turns multiple clips into one video

66. IPHONE EDITING: IMOVIE
• Free
• Includes many of the same features as the desktop version

67. ANDROID/iphone EDITING: KINEMASTER
• $5/month or $40/year
• Full-featured professional video editor

68. MUST-HAVE:
GooGle Photos
• Free for iOS and
Android
• Edit and backup your
videos

69. PRO editing: LUMAFUSION
• $20 for iOS
• Powerful multi-track video editor

70. Mojo
High-quality motion graphics
templates. $40/yr for pro.
Unfold
100+ templates for Stories
photos. 25 for free.
InShot
Convert shape of videos
and add text.
Tools for creating Stories

71. MORE VIDEO APPS TO TRY
• YouStar - add special effects to videos
• Jumprope - create step-by-step how-to videos
• Action Movie FX - add Hollywood special effects
• Adobe Rush - shoot, edit and share videos
• Cinamaker - shoot videos with multiple phones

72. Let’s shoot and edit, part 3
• What we’re focusing on
• Storyboard
• Quality audio
• Variety of shots
• Tripod for steady video
5 shots about you

73. QUESTIONS?
Follow Chris:
twitter: @chrissnider
Instagram: @csnider
chrissniderdesign.com