Our travels are some of the best times of our lives, so it’s only natural that we want to immortalize the great moments. While pictures can communicate a thousand words, we all know how boring it is to sit through hundreds of travel photos. Today, there is a much better way to capture memorable moments and edit them into a unified whole that is a joy to watch: and it is video.
Today, recording amazing footage is much easier than it was just a few decades ago. You don’t even have to carry special equipment and you can still get decent videos with just your mobile phone. But there is actually a lot more to travel videos than just point and shoot. It’s an art of its own and if you get good enough at them, you can even acquire a notable following on social media. If you want your next travel video to be a masterpiece, you have to keep a few things in mind, both during recording and during editing your footage. Here are a few tips that will help you take your travel videos to the next level.
Keep it concise
Firstly, you will find that editing is a nightmare when you have five minutes long videos where only a few seconds are worth picking out. So, when filming, make sure you get enough footage but remember to keep it short. The same applies to editing. While it might seem like a shame to cut that video of the beautiful scenery, too many long cuts will make the product boring to watch. Instead of including everything, keep the spots reserved for the best shots only.
Create a narrative
Human brains love stories, so to make your travel video captivating, you should strive to create a narrative with your shots. Instead of words, let the footage talk. When introducing a new place, take a few videos from different angles. Pay attention to the flow of the video. Don’t make abrupt cuts but connect the different scenes with the right transitions. Use time-lapses for a sense of the passage of time and film the locals to tell their story.
Capture the details
When filming the material for your travel video, it’s a good idea to add some dimension with different shots. For instance, don’t be afraid of getting close to your subject and capturing some details that will make the video more immersive and greatly contribute to recreating the atmosphere of the place. Take videos of food, architecture, and anything interesting you see, but you can also include mundane details that are meaningful to you and will make you feel nostalgic as you rewatch your video.
Use music
The right tune can completely transform the effect a video makes. To make your travel video more interesting and dynamic, find appropriate music to go with it! If there was a particular song during your travel that became a theme song of the trip, you can use it as a base to make the result extra personal. If you’re making your video purely for personal use, then you can go ahead and use whatever music you want, but if you plan on uploading the product, keep copyright considerations in mind. There is always the option of using royalty-free music to stay on the safe side. Besides music, you can also use some sound effects to replicate the atmosphere if you cannot use the sound from the original videos.
Hold back on the filters
You want your video to reflect the actual experience of visiting the place. Some color correction is fine, but make sure you don’t go overboard with the editing. Overfiltered footage is jarring and difficult to watch. You might like the effect now, but perhaps in years, you won’t so much. The best course of action is to keep it as close to the original as possible.
Outsourcing production
For certain purposes, a homemade video simply won’t cut it. If you want to create a piece that greater audiences can enjoy, too, you might want to consider professional video production for your travel adventures. For instance, if you’re from the Land Down Under, look for video production in Sydney and you can rest assured that experts will provide you with a creation that exceeds your expectations.
Pay attention to composition
A little attention to light, composition, and camera movement can turn your travel video from a vacation tape into a National Geographic masterpiece. Firstly, it’s useful to watch travel videos with a purpose and learn a few tricks from them. See what angles others use and how they make their shots more interesting. Learn the basics of composition and experiment with light to see what kind of atmosphere different lighting conditions create. When shooting, making sure that there are no tourists or unwanted objects in the frame will take the result to the next level.
A travel video has the power of showcasing a destination and telling a story in mere minutes. Practice makes perfect so don’t expect your first video to be perfect. Keep working and you’ll develop your own style in time!