Are you someone who loves streaming endless hours of exotic landscapes and captivating drone shots? Do you get inspired to create one yourself? Then this is the perfect place for you.
In this guide, you will explore all the practical tools and techniques you need to create an exciting, cinematic, and meaningful travel video. You can apply these techniques with any software and with any film camera.
Research the Location
The preparation phase might not be as fun as filming or traveling, but the first step to creating a travel video should always be researching the place you will be traveling to and drawing inspiration from it. Figuring out the logistics, scouting for locations, and getting familiar with the local culture, will help you plan your video storyboard and trip. If you are going to a picturesque location, you can look up architectural locations that you can capture while researching. Or all the famous places that are worth being in a travel video.
Chalk Out a Plan Before the Shoot
Every shot in every recording should be prepared and planned for. Be your director and visualize what the final shot would look like. Visualizing will bring you some sense of clarity, so you are not struggling to think of the next shot in the hustle-bustle of the shoot location.
Practice Tirelessly
Learn travel video techniques from communities and online forums. There are many YouTube videos on travel videosthat you can start with. You can actively participate in the how-tos and apply the techniques in your videos.
For that, you don’t need to travel to an exotic location. Start in the backyard of your house or the community garden in your locality. Alternatively, you can interview family members around the house, shoot your town in a cinematic way, just practice.
Get the Right Equipment
An artist is nothing without his tools. As a videographer, you need a good one. Choice of your videography equipment should be based on how you intend to use your camera. The next point of consideration should also be what you intend to do after recording the video. If you will only look at your recording on a computer or perform little to no post-production, a high-quality compact camera that fits right in your pocket should be best suited for you.
Another great option for a travel video camera is one with a tiltable screen. You can easily move them around and play with a range of positions. No matter how you move the camera, you will still have a decent view of the scene in front of you.
Set Up Your Camera Gear
The gears that supplement your shoot are as important as the main camera. While packing gears for your travel shoot, the most important question you need to ask yourself is, “what kind of video will you be making?” That’s where answers to your gears lie.
Before asking the question, note down all your shots in a planner or a notebook. If you have a time-lapse video to shoot, you would know you need to carry a tripod and remote shutter for hyper-lapse.
Pack your camera slider if you are going for more smooth moving shots in your travel video. Another option is to get a monopod to manage handheld shots with ease. If you already have a drone with you, it always makes sense to carry it with you. Drone shots can drastically elevate the overall production value of your travel videos and make them look more cinematic and larger-than-life.
From a general perspective, some of the basic must-have gears include-
- A tripod or a gimbal
- Headphones
- A solid microphone to capture crisp audio
- Stabilizer or shoulder mount rig
- Extra batteries
- Memory cards
- An external lighting system (optional)
The rules with gears are always flexible. We have all seen those stunning transitions and landscape shots on Instagram shot from the latest smartphones. This means there’s always room for savings in this area. You could easily get away with just a smartphone, microphone, and a gimbal. If you are strapped on a shoestring budget, these 3 are the types of equipment you should start with.
Focus On the Journey as Well
While destinations are most important, travel videos showcase the journey. This means recording moments that lead up to the destination. For example, the cab you took to your accommodation, the walk to the restaurant, or the mountain top hike. These moments will bring you the most cinematic shots of your videos.
Get the Edit Right
While editing a travel video, you need to focus on a few key elements – the choice of background music, the pacing of the video, the transitions and sequence of your shots. You can use online free video cutter to crop off the parts that may not align with the rest of the video. This way, you will have video clips that you for sure want in the final video.
Paying extra attention to the transition in the post-production process can truly transform an average video into a stand-out one. Zoom shots, rotations, and slides are the most commonly used and well-received transitions in the travel video space.
Capture the Emotions
Sure, drone shots are stunning, but the real essence of any travel location lies in the people. A lot of travel video creators miss this critical point. Recording moments from everyday lifestyles is a sure shot way to connect with your viewers. It makes them feel like they are a part of the vibrant, cinematic landscape you showcase in your videos.
Switch Between Different Angles
No matter which equipment you are shooting with, make sure you are not shooting while standing in just one position. Challenging the angles allows you to capture different perspectives and tell a different story.
Conclusion
When learning how to shoot cinematic videos, it can take a bit of practice to find what works for you. All you need to do is invest your time and effort. Put in the clock to experiment with different techniques keeping the above guidelines in place. Keep experimenting until you fine-tune your style, and then you’ll be on to creating stand-out videos in no time!
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