how to shoot video of yourself?

merlin666

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Not sure if this is the right section. Anyway, I have a fancy phone with many video functions but have never tried to do a video of myself playing a song. As I can't play from memory I thought about putting the phone on my music stand and giving it a go. There are probably many ways to do bad videos, so those of you who do this a lot please give some tips on what to do and what to avoid, so I don't have to reinvent the wheel for this. Many thanks ...
 
If your phone has front- and rear-facing cameras ( just about all of them do): The default setting is the rear. This way you can use the face of your phone as the view finder. With both cameras, you can use the screen as the view finder and photograph yourself (selfie). The function works for videos, too.

There should be a Video option on your camera app. There also should be an icon on your touchscreen that will reverse the camera from rear to front. Tap it. When you see yourself onscreen, it’s oriented properly. Set it up on yout stand in landscape mode (sideways), pick up your uke, hit the Play button, and have fun! When you’ve finished, the same button will end the video.
 
Yes, put your phone in selfie mode, switch to video, and record. I find these little cheap tripods help alot, allowing you to position the camera lens precisely. I just use the phone in the tripod on the desk in front of me. If singing too, just experiment with positioning, to get a good uke/voice balance. Playing with nails vs fleshy thumb also affects the uke/vocal balance, with nails being louder.
20191220_180044.jpg
 
There are probably many ways to do bad videos.
Haha, so true. Unfortunately, you have to do most of them before you figure out what they are. :rofl:

Yes, put your phone in selfie mode, switch to video, and record.

Best way to start certainly and that'll help you figure out what's bad or not. Be aware that with most phones, the selfie camera is not as good as the rear one, so if you want the best video, you'll have to use the rear one. Problem there is you can't see the screen. So either you need someone else to position it, or you set it up, do a quick test run, see if you're in frame, adjust, repeat...

After you've played with the phone a while, you'll know what works for you or doesn't and what you might want to replace it with to get better quality, more convenience, etc. Or the phone might be perfectly adequate for your needs. Depends on what your goals are.
 
Here is the most important piece of advice I can give (a professional photography and I also shoot video), never EVER shoot video with the phone upright, always ALWAYS turn the phone sideways. People who view your video on a computer or TV screen will see the full size of the subject instead of only 40%, and people viewing on a phone can turn it sideways to see the full image. (I never understood why the phones are even allowed to shoot upright, very short sighted of the designers.)

Here's an example, a large portion of the subject is not shot and there are black bars on both sides when viewing on a computer or TV. Sideways includes a much larger portion of the subject.

Tall vs wide.jpg



This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 13 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 37)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Before putting your phone in selfie mode check the resolution as many cameras in this mode have much inferior resolution.

I would put your phone in normal landscape mode and position it with a mirror behind it so you can see the screen and adjust your position accordingly.

Apps, Filmic Pro is the best video recording app and on an iPhone Pinnacle Studio is a very good video editing app.

Record your performance then transfer to a Computer or play it back via your TV to see what it looks like and how it sounds before editing it. Phone mikes are not exactly high tech and so do not be disappointed if with your first attempt or so your recorded sound quality is lacking.

Use editing software to trim the video and add title and end etc.

If there is to much hard surfaces where you are recording the sound will be overly bright and distant, conversely to much soft surfaces and the sound will be muted and dull. Hence you may need to adjust the recording location to achieve the sweet spot.
 
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