Make Better Cell Phone Videos with these inexpensive Accessories.
So you want to make videos, you have an iPhone but you have no idea where to start, excellent! You are the person I wrote this for, you’ve come to the right place.
The iPhone has been a handy tool for both photography on-the-go as well as getting high-quality video for a LONG time now and it’s been getting better and better every year. Feature-length films have been recorded exclusively on the iPhone, many professional filmmakers use the iPhone for B-Roll and in some cases A-Roll!
With that being said, There are a TON of great ways to use your existing iPhone to create spectacular videos! Accessories, Apps and more, lets talk about some of them here!
Hardware
Audio
In arguably the single most important part of making a high-quality video, or even a video that is tolerable, is the audio. If you want to make films, blogs, videos or anything you absolutely need to make sure your audio is on point!
The Rode Video Mic ME and accompanying windscreen are designed specifically for the iPhone and great for getting started. At the bare minimum you should have these if you want to be serious! You can watch a video with not so great video quality, but if the audio sucks most people will stop watching.
Rode Video Mic ME: http://amzn.to/2yq2tO0
Windshield for Video Mic ME: http://amzn.to/2yq9vSX
The Simple Tripod Adaptor.
Stability is extremely super double-plus important to both photography and filmmaking. And no real photographer or filmmaker would be caught dead without at least a basic tripod. Camera support is often more important than the camera itself! Don’t believe me? Compare the handheld footage on a 100k Arri Cinema Camera and compare that to putting an old $150 handy-cam on a tripod. The handycam will win.
So how do you get your iPhone onto a tripod? You get a super-simple tripod adaptor that will cost you about $5 on Amazon, I mean, unless you want to “splurge” and get one built by one of the greatest Tripod manufacturers on earth, Manfrotto, then you’ll be spending a whopping $9.99 (crazy right?)
I actually recommend the Manfrotto Mount, you can get it here: http://amzn.to/2x2gcJ0
The Tripod
So now you have a tripod adaptor, what are you going to put it on? Maybe you already have a tripod, or maybe want to get something new or you need something. The last thing you want to do is not have a tripod! There are about 10 million options for tripods, some of them are absolutely amazing and some of them are pretty useless. I recommend keeping it very simple, get something that is sturdy, portable and easy to use.
One of my favorite tripods for the iPhone is the manfrotto mini tripod, it’s my favorite because it is inexpensive, made by one of the greatest companies in the tripod business and it goes almost anywhere. It is, however, pretty limited compared to the Joby gorilla pod, which is the very first tripod I think you should get for your iPhone. It goes everywhere, is crazy versatile and extremely durable!
Manfrotto Mini Tripod $25: http://amzn.to/2x2CtX3
Joby Gorilla Pod (full size) $50: http://amzn.to/2eW2L3i
Joby Gorilla Pod (small) $30: http://amzn.to/2jnReie
Stabilizers
So sometimes you want a little bit of motion in your video, you want to move the camera around but prevent it from being insanely shaky. That is extremely hard to handheld, luckily, three axis gimbal stabilizer‘s have gotten so unbelievably inexpensive it is definitely worth looking into!
The Dji Osmo Mobile is one of the first that has come out to fill just this need, however the Smooth Q by Zhiyun looks to be nearly identical at almost 1/3 the price! If I were going to the store today to pick up a handheld stabilizer for my phone I would pick up the Smooth Q. in fact, it is so inexpensive that I may end up getting one anyway!
DJI Osmo Mobile $300: http://amzn.to/2f5DqHM
Crane Smooth Q $140: http://amzn.to/2f5NHUF
Lighting
Sometimes you just need a little light! There are 1 million different ways to get good light for video, but if you do need to pick up something inexpensive and decent I recommend Aputure M9 . It can be mounted on a light stand, a tripod or you can use the hot shoe connector on the bottom to mount it to your phone Rig, which we will get into in a minute!
Aputure Amaran M9: https://amzn.to/2Fg7CqA
Putting it all together:
So you picked up some lights, got a microphone and now you want to put it all together with your iPhone conveniently. That’s what a rig is for! For most people the basic iPhone rig, less than $20, will be perfect. As you grow you may find yourself wanting something a little bit more sturdy with a few more options, so getting something a little more advanced may be up your alley.
Basic iPhone Rig: http://amzn.to/2yIv8tE
Advanced iPhone Rig: http://amzn.to/2yokwny
Video Recording Apps:
There’s nothing wrong with filming with the built-in camera app on the iPhone, but if you want high-quality video and way more control than I definitely recommend purchasing FiLMiC Pro. Allows you to set specific focus and exposure point, change color profiles and it even has a LOG profile that is surprisingly useful! If you don’t know what log is yet, that’s OK, you will soon discover the power of flat picture profiles!
Post Production Apps:
iMovie is a surprisingly powerful application on the iPhone, made by Apple, for editing videos!
There are a lot of other options for video editing right on your phone, but I recommend purchasing film maker Pro to give you a few more options. Whatever you do, learn the basics of editing but don’t get so caught up in it that you lose sight of the stories you are trying to tell!
Don’t forget to tell a story!
More important than the gear you use, or how pretty your videos are, or how flawless your audio is, and how seamless your cuts are is the story you are trying to tell. Before buying anything ask yourself “is this going to help me tell the story that I want to tell?” And if the answer is no, or you have no idea what the story is to begin with, it may be a really good signal you either don’t need it or you need to adjust your focus a little bit.
Now get out there and make some videos!
Contention Media is a Photo & Film production Service located in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. You can find us online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/contentionmedia/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/limitededitionjonathan/
Website: www.contentionmedia.com
Phone: (570)702–4991
email: jon@contentionmedia.com
