Budget Videography tips for a Beginner

  • HTML tutorial

Odyssey USA

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,010
KY
First Name
Daniel
Last Name
Kil
Service Branch
US Air Force
Hi everyone,

I didn’t really see a forum that lead me to think it was about this popular aspect of overlanding. Whether you share it publicly or keep this documenting of memories to yourself, what advice would you give as far as knowing what to capture on your travels. Obviously, the destination but I guess I wonder if there’s a basic routine/formula that works…and then you can deviate and try new aspects once you get competent from an objective point of view. Would a class teach these things and are classes just about videography available as a standalone?

I’m new to this and wanted to pop in to get some tips on improving my abilities in this new hobby.

Oh and I currently only have an OSMO Action, Rode Micro microphone, and OM 5 cell phone gimbal used with an iPhone 11.

Thanks, Daniel

Here’s my self taught results. Meh…lol
https://youtube.com/channel/UCnLvkoGrJA3V6jHdj1JONHQ
 
  • Like
Reactions: TSO_NJ

Mustang03

Rank V

Enthusiast III

1,777
Green Valley, AZ
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Lavender
Member #

29310

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KE5ATG
Service Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
Whoa. That's quite an 'ask' and simple answers won't help you. Warning: Any time you ask for opinions, it can help to have a thick skin! We participate in a local multimedia group and when someone asks for a critique on a video they've just shown, we ask them where they want the dial set on feedback. To illustrate, a "1" means polite clapping and "Oh, that was lovely, dearie". A "10" means a detailed no-hold-barred mauling. The only rule is it must be constructive criticism. This is about a "7".

First, your gear is fine. You DO realize that first camera is a 'gateway drug', don't you? (Ask my wife about the gear closet!) Stick with that setup for now.

Second, big kudos for a narrative voice-over. Many beginners just lay a music track over the video and use on-screen titling to convey information. But more about sound below...

Watched your O1E1. First thought, you spent almost 5 minutes rambling on about off-roading/overlanding etc. while driving down an interstate. Then that long walk out to where the tent is. And then more, a lot more, driving down the interstate. You lost me at that point and I started skipping ahead. Think about this: The people who run TED Talks limit ALL their presenters to a maximum of 18 minutes (and most are much shorter than that) to talk about everything from tying your shoelace to the origins of the universe. Ask yourself, 'What is the story I'm trying to tell?' and then tell that story. I strongly recommend you start with much shorter videos. Anyone can make a 30-minute video. A good filmmaker can usually do the same video in less than 10. When you show your video to a test audience, do NOT watch the video with them. Watch THEM instead. What are they doing? Focusing on the video or looking at their watches? Or checking their email?

Video on the hard recovery point pretty typical of hardware install vids. Sound uneven. Stabilize the video or use a tripod more. Tighten the narrative.

Video on what to add to your rig -- points for the stand-up narrative. Stop looking around! Look at the camera! Good information! But tighten the narrative. On down the road, you could look at some improvement to your indoor space lighting.

So here is some food for thought...

"When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films'." Quentin Tarantino

That's pretty much how we got started trying to make better videos, we looked for filmmakers whose style we really liked and tried to emulate their results, yet with our own personal style. (Favorites: Ron Fricke (Baraka, Samsara), Tom Lowe (TimeScapes), Phillip Bloom (numerous short films on Vimeo.com), and many more. We are still learning and probably always will be!

Then start finding some instructional videos on - yep - YouTube that provide good basic information in a style that you can actually learn from and apply to your own filmmaking. (DSLR Video Shooter, DSLRguide, etc.) There's a ton of them. Avoid the ones with blasting music and go for content. Other good sources can be found once you start looking around. For example, the PremiumBeat.com blog has numerous articles on many aspects of filmmaking.

"Sound is half of your movie." attributed to George Lucas

(Warning, Soapbox rant follows.) DO NOT NEGLECT SOUND. (Your in-car sound needs help.) Good sound can rescue a mediocre film, lousy sound can absolutely kill a great film. Learn how to do right along with everything else. (End Soapbox rant.) There are a ton of sources for free and royalty-free (learn the difference) music so that you won't have your video taken down by YouTube for a copyright violation. Start with Free Music Archive, Creative Commons, YouTube Studio, etc. for completely free music. The cost is only that it can take some time to find the "right" music to fit your video. If you want to save tsome time it means you'll spend some money. So, there's Premium Beat, Art List, and Epidemic Sound for a few.

Choose a decent non-linear editor that will let you grow into it's more advanced features instead of starting with a simple freebie that will come up short on features as your skills develop. No whining about learning curves accepted!! Personal recommendation is DaVinci Resolve. It is free and very powerful -- it has been used to do the editing on major Hollywood blockbusters. NO, it ain't easy... or is it? You can get started at the basic level in a few days of watching one of the many, many video tutorials available. A lot of them are produced by Blackmagic Design, the company that produces Resolve. (OK, fans of Adobe Premiere Pro/Premiere Elements, Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot, Shotcut, iMovie, etc. , my opinion, OK?! PS: I used PremierePro for 6 years and switched to Resolve a year ago and have not looked back.) If you want a YouTube resource for Resolve, try Jason Yadlovski.

Your filming is pretty good. Nice color, good and sharp. You need to tighten up the editing and work on sound.

You're embarking on quite a project and to get it fine-tuned is going to take some time. It will be worth it in the end.
 

ontos

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Mid Atlantic
First Name
Patrick
Last Name
Shepherd
Whoa. That's quite an 'ask' and simple answers won't help you. Warning: Any time you ask for opinions, it can help to have a thick skin! We participate in a local multimedia group and when someone asks for a critique on a video they've just shown, we ask them where they want the dial set on feedback. To illustrate, a "1" means polite clapping and "Oh, that was lovely, dearie". A "10" means a detailed no-hold-barred mauling. The only rule is it must be constructive criticism. This is about a "7".

First, your gear is fine. You DO realize that first camera is a 'gateway drug', don't you? (Ask my wife about the gear closet!) Stick with that setup for now.

Second, big kudos for a narrative voice-over. Many beginners just lay a music track over the video and use on-screen titling to convey information. But more about sound below...

Watched your O1E1. First thought, you spent almost 5 minutes rambling on about off-roading/overlanding etc. while driving down an interstate. Then that long walk out to where the tent is. And then more, a lot more, driving down the interstate. You lost me at that point and I started skipping ahead. Think about this: The people who run TED Talks limit ALL their presenters to a maximum of 18 minutes (and most are much shorter than that) to talk about everything from tying your shoelace to the origins of the universe. Ask yourself, 'What is the story I'm trying to tell?' and then tell that story. I strongly recommend you start with much shorter videos. Anyone can make a 30-minute video. A good filmmaker can usually do the same video in less than 10. When you show your video to a test audience, do NOT watch the video with them. Watch THEM instead. What are they doing? Focusing on the video or looking at their watches? Or checking their email?

Video on the hard recovery point pretty typical of hardware install vids. Sound uneven. Stabilize the video or use a tripod more. Tighten the narrative.

Video on what to add to your rig -- points for the stand-up narrative. Stop looking around! Look at the camera! Good information! But tighten the narrative. On down the road, you could look at some improvement to your indoor space lighting.

So here is some food for thought...

"When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films'." Quentin Tarantino

That's pretty much how we got started trying to make better videos, we looked for filmmakers whose style we really liked and tried to emulate their results, yet with our own personal style. (Favorites: Ron Fricke (Baraka, Samsara), Tom Lowe (TimeScapes), Phillip Bloom (numerous short films on Vimeo.com), and many more. We are still learning and probably always will be!

Then start finding some instructional videos on - yep - YouTube that provide good basic information in a style that you can actually learn from and apply to your own filmmaking. (DSLR Video Shooter, DSLRguide, etc.) There's a ton of them. Avoid the ones with blasting music and go for content. Other good sources can be found once you start looking around. For example, the PremiumBeat.com blog has numerous articles on many aspects of filmmaking.

"Sound is half of your movie." attributed to George Lucas

(Warning, Soapbox rant follows.) DO NOT NEGLECT SOUND. (Your in-car sound needs help.) Good sound can rescue a mediocre film, lousy sound can absolutely kill a great film. Learn how to do right along with everything else. (End Soapbox rant.) There are a ton of sources for free and royalty-free (learn the difference) music so that you won't have your video taken down by YouTube for a copyright violation. Start with Free Music Archive, Creative Commons, YouTube Studio, etc. for completely free music. The cost is only that it can take some time to find the "right" music to fit your video. If you want to save tsome time it means you'll spend some money. So, there's Premium Beat, Art List, and Epidemic Sound for a few.

Choose a decent non-linear editor that will let you grow into it's more advanced features instead of starting with a simple freebie that will come up short on features as your skills develop. No whining about learning curves accepted!! Personal recommendation is DaVinci Resolve. It is free and very powerful -- it has been used to do the editing on major Hollywood blockbusters. NO, it ain't easy... or is it? You can get started at the basic level in a few days of watching one of the many, many video tutorials available. A lot of them are produced by Blackmagic Design, the company that produces Resolve. (OK, fans of Adobe Premiere Pro/Premiere Elements, Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot, Shotcut, iMovie, etc. , my opinion, OK?! PS: I used PremierePro for 6 years and switched to Resolve a year ago and have not looked back.) If you want a YouTube resource for Resolve, try Jason Yadlovski.

Your filming is pretty good. Nice color, good and sharp. You need to tighten up the editing and work on sound.

You're embarking on quite a project and to get it fine-tuned is going to take some time. It will be worth it in the end.
I do A/V production as a big part of my job and I could not have put it any better! This is great advice. I had not heard of DaVinci, but after a quick look it looks really good. Thanks for the tip and great write-up.
 

Mustang03

Rank V

Enthusiast III

1,777
Green Valley, AZ
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Lavender
Member #

29310

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KE5ATG
Service Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
I do A/V production as a big part of my job and I could not have put it any better! This is great advice. I had not heard of DaVinci, but after a quick look it looks really good. Thanks for the tip and great write-up.
Off-topic, your user name caught my eye. When you use "ontos" is it in the Old Testament sense, or the Marine Corps' antitank weapon sense?! (Marine asking.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: TSO_NJ

ontos

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Mid Atlantic
First Name
Patrick
Last Name
Shepherd
Off-topic, your user name caught my eye. When you use "ontos" is it in the Old Testament sense, or the Marine Corps' antitank weapon sense?! (Marine asking.)
I guess in the pre-New Testament sense; "ontos" is the ancient Greek prefix for "being" or "the quality of existing", or "that which is." That's awesome that it is also an anti-tank vehicle. I didn't know that. My college roommate, also a Marine, operated LAVs in Iraq while we were in school together. Next time I see him, I'll have to ask him what he knows about the ontos vehicle. Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TSO_NJ

Mustang03

Rank V

Enthusiast III

1,777
Green Valley, AZ
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Lavender
Member #

29310

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KE5ATG
Service Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
I'll add a 'second' to the YouTube Channel suggested by NJCoastal for Matt's Off-road Recovery! We never miss an episode!
 

Odyssey USA

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,010
KY
First Name
Daniel
Last Name
Kil
Service Branch
US Air Force
Whoa. That's quite an 'ask' and simple answers won't help you. Warning: Any time you ask for opinions, it can help to have a thick skin! We participate in a local multimedia group and when someone asks for a critique on a video they've just shown, we ask them where they want the dial set on feedback. To illustrate, a "1" means polite clapping and "Oh, that was lovely, dearie". A "10" means a detailed no-hold-barred mauling. The only rule is it must be constructive criticism. This is about a "7".

First, your gear is fine. You DO realize that first camera is a 'gateway drug', don't you? (Ask my wife about the gear closet!) Stick with that setup for now.

Second, big kudos for a narrative voice-over. Many beginners just lay a music track over the video and use on-screen titling to convey information. But more about sound below...

Watched your O1E1. First thought, you spent almost 5 minutes rambling on about off-roading/overlanding etc. while driving down an interstate. Then that long walk out to where the tent is. And then more, a lot more, driving down the interstate. You lost me at that point and I started skipping ahead. Think about this: The people who run TED Talks limit ALL their presenters to a maximum of 18 minutes (and most are much shorter than that) to talk about everything from tying your shoelace to the origins of the universe. Ask yourself, 'What is the story I'm trying to tell?' and then tell that story. I strongly recommend you start with much shorter videos. Anyone can make a 30-minute video. A good filmmaker can usually do the same video in less than 10. When you show your video to a test audience, do NOT watch the video with them. Watch THEM instead. What are they doing? Focusing on the video or looking at their watches? Or checking their email?

Video on the hard recovery point pretty typical of hardware install vids. Sound uneven. Stabilize the video or use a tripod more. Tighten the narrative.

Video on what to add to your rig -- points for the stand-up narrative. Stop looking around! Look at the camera! Good information! But tighten the narrative. On down the road, you could look at some improvement to your indoor space lighting.

So here is some food for thought...

"When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films'." Quentin Tarantino

That's pretty much how we got started trying to make better videos, we looked for filmmakers whose style we really liked and tried to emulate their results, yet with our own personal style. (Favorites: Ron Fricke (Baraka, Samsara), Tom Lowe (TimeScapes), Phillip Bloom (numerous short films on Vimeo.com), and many more. We are still learning and probably always will be!

Then start finding some instructional videos on - yep - YouTube that provide good basic information in a style that you can actually learn from and apply to your own filmmaking. (DSLR Video Shooter, DSLRguide, etc.) There's a ton of them. Avoid the ones with blasting music and go for content. Other good sources can be found once you start looking around. For example, the PremiumBeat.com blog has numerous articles on many aspects of filmmaking.

"Sound is half of your movie." attributed to George Lucas

(Warning, Soapbox rant follows.) DO NOT NEGLECT SOUND. (Your in-car sound needs help.) Good sound can rescue a mediocre film, lousy sound can absolutely kill a great film. Learn how to do right along with everything else. (End Soapbox rant.) There are a ton of sources for free and royalty-free (learn the difference) music so that you won't have your video taken down by YouTube for a copyright violation. Start with Free Music Archive, Creative Commons, YouTube Studio, etc. for completely free music. The cost is only that it can take some time to find the "right" music to fit your video. If you want to save tsome time it means you'll spend some money. So, there's Premium Beat, Art List, and Epidemic Sound for a few.

Choose a decent non-linear editor that will let you grow into it's more advanced features instead of starting with a simple freebie that will come up short on features as your skills develop. No whining about learning curves accepted!! Personal recommendation is DaVinci Resolve. It is free and very powerful -- it has been used to do the editing on major Hollywood blockbusters. NO, it ain't easy... or is it? You can get started at the basic level in a few days of watching one of the many, many video tutorials available. A lot of them are produced by Blackmagic Design, the company that produces Resolve. (OK, fans of Adobe Premiere Pro/Premiere Elements, Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot, Shotcut, iMovie, etc. , my opinion, OK?! PS: I used PremierePro for 6 years and switched to Resolve a year ago and have not looked back.) If you want a YouTube resource for Resolve, try Jason Yadlovski.

Your filming is pretty good. Nice color, good and sharp. You need to tighten up the editing and work on sound.

You're embarking on quite a project and to get it fine-tuned is going to take some time. It will be worth it in the end.
Wow! I sincerely appreciate the first feedback I’ve gotten despite asking for it for weeks now. lol I literally got my notes out and started typing away.

Thanks for the reassurance the gear is fine for now. I’d like to think I should do my best with it and maximize what can be done with it before graduating to more costly and nicer equipment. I see it as a challenge and will enjoy that aspect for now.

I definitely rushed into it. Planning the trip and getting my Jeep regear finished up and item checklists etc definitely left me little time to think enough about actually using the equipment. Getting back from the trip in August, then starting my journey of capturing video now has me grimacing at what I’ve gathered. In essence, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear lol. Cringe. I really would like a ride along with a competent creator to progress. The pavement view out the windshield got me thinking how to attempt to salvage something. That got me thinking about narrating and adding bits of info. Trying to make Iowa interesting with a few hours research left me wanting lol.

I’ve actually spoken to my wife about the length of videos. A 10 minute video with a good story with progression would be better than a slog through 20 mins. Getting content and time off is difficult for us and if I get rid of what I have, there’s nothing to practice with so I thought I’d trim things up, talk more in the vehicle, narrate, keep it moving. It’s still not where I want it. My goal is to improve something with each video.

I now have an OM5 gimbal. My first practice withit on Halloween I noticed after that the arm ended up in the lower left corner. SMH. I’m going to see if I can replicate it so I know what is going on so I don’t do it again. I hope it’s just a camera position thing while in the clamp.

Improve looking at the camera. Got it.

I have a Rode Micro for the Osmo Action but I don’t believe it was hooked up because I was going back and forth between the dash mount. I definitely noticed sound issues. I mistakenly masked them while editing by constantly adjusting the volume AND gain. Mistake! Lol I have uploaded the video two more times since, losing views. I’d rather have the video be better though so I made the incremental changes. The first time,It was gain. The second, I’d forgotten I adjusted the volume of the entire track. (LumaFusion for my new iPad Pro. I mostly watch RobHK for tutoring as he’s exclusively using it.) In that same vein, trying to make something remotely watchable, I felt like I edited the heck out of that. lol

THANK YOU for the free royalty free music referrals! I’ve gotten this feeling like music is held close to the vest when you ask where someone sources their music. Some openly give it under their details drop down. Shrug*

Your sharing of wisdom is greatly appreciated. I will work on this and perhaps the next time, I’ll post up another link to a video and hope for a better grade. Again, my goal is modest I feel. I want to make at least one improvement with every (shorter) video I create. Now, how to split my 50 minute, two trail video into two separate uploads without having to start editing completely over. lol
 
Last edited:

Odyssey USA

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,010
KY
First Name
Daniel
Last Name
Kil
Service Branch
US Air Force
Hello Daniel, Your videos have good content, you have a good voice, good appearance, good settings, and good recording quality, just to list the top five. I can list a few other positive points also, but I rather keep this post concise.

Do you have any words of wisdom @DirtRoadTherapy ?

Showing your rig, gear, and trips in action would take it up to the next level. Two YT Channels as an example:

View attachment 215178

Link:
View attachment 215179

Link:
Looking forward to reading your future posts and watching upcoming videos with your unique perspective.

Update: I’m toying around with short trip videos with the focus on the terrain so others can see the areas traveled in my AO.

Thanks and Matt’s ORR is a great example of short videos that tell an interesting story. I see it more as a television worthy show. Great content and likable people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TSO_NJ

Odyssey USA

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,010
KY
First Name
Daniel
Last Name
Kil
Service Branch
US Air Force
So this weekend there’s a Jeep event where they plan to travel the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway. I won’t be able to hold up progress but I hope to be able to capture some obstacle traversing. How would you try to make the most of that situation?

I’m thinking of trying to get my daughter up to speed on the basic operation of the cell phone gimbal to give me more options. I need to look into removable go pro mounts.
 

Mustang03

Rank V

Enthusiast III

1,777
Green Valley, AZ
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Lavender
Member #

29310

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KE5ATG
Service Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
We use two types of mount for our GoPros (Hero 3+ and Hero 4), a suction mount and a flexible arm with a clamp. The suction mounts vary widely in price - this is the one we purchased and it works very well: Amazon.com : Panavise ActionGrip 13101 Shorty Suction Cup Camera Mount (Matte Black) : Electronics The only caveat on the suction mount is that we're chicken - we back up the mount with a tether so if it does dislodge the tether catches it and we don't run it over. Hasn't happened yet and we've got miles of dirt roads on it. For the jaws clamp, there's lots of them out there for under $20. We also have a Hohem iSteady Pro 3 gimbal for the GP 4 - works great and the price was right. If you're going to have the GoPro exposed while driving, a clear filter over the lens is a good idea.
 

Odyssey USA

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,010
KY
First Name
Daniel
Last Name
Kil
Service Branch
US Air Force
We use two types of mount for our GoPros (Hero 3+ and Hero 4), a suction mount and a flexible arm with a clamp. The suction mounts vary widely in price - this is the one we purchased and it works very well: Amazon.com : Panavise ActionGrip 13101 Shorty Suction Cup Camera Mount (Matte Black) : Electronics The only caveat on the suction mount is that we're chicken - we back up the mount with a tether so if it does dislodge the tether catches it and we don't run it over. Hasn't happened yet and we've got miles of dirt roads on it. For the jaws clamp, there's lots of them out there for under $20. We also have a Hohem iSteady Pro 3 gimbal for the GP 4 - works great and the price was right. If you're going to have the GoPro exposed while driving, a clear filter over the lens is a good idea.
Thanks for the ideas. I have a tripod in my Amazon cart so far. Honestly, I’d of gotten these accessories sooner if I’d of thought the price was this reasonable. I just imagined spending hundreds. I’m looking forward to getting to change perspective and a feel for when I need a new one. That Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is only $50! Nice.

Do you typically write out an outline or even a script for an outing like that or do you just get a routine that works to get the different perspectives that move the story along with B roll?
 
Last edited:

Mustang03

Rank V

Enthusiast III

1,777
Green Valley, AZ
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Lavender
Member #

29310

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KE5ATG
Service Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
Do you typically write out an outline or even a script for an outing like that or do you just get a routine that works to get the different perspectives that move the story along with B roll?
Varies depending on the type of film. For some of our non-profit organization videos it can be quite detailed. We typically start with a script written by the non-profit, then work with them to tighten it up, and then build a list of the shots we need to illustrate the story we/they are trying to tell. Once we have the shot list, pack the gear and go do it.

For our own travel style films, we may have an idea what we're looking to do, or we can work off a generalized storyboard. I personally am a LOUSY artist, so my "storyboards" are all written descriptions rather than illustrations. If we've never been somewhere, then even with detailed examinations of Google Earth, we might have only an expectation that doesn't match the reality of what we find on the ground. So... lots of b-roll and we use voice over to build the story and music to help set the mood.

Not saying we're experts and/or pros, this is just how we do it. Your mileage may vary!