Travel videos are a great way to show your travel experiences instead of talking about them. In today’s world, people seem to appreciate videos more than verbal explanations anyway, especially when it comes to travel stories. However, making videos can be hard, particularly if you don’t have experience
Then again, everybody has to start somewhere, and the only way to gain experience is to practice. You can use the following tips to help you improve your skills and make a professional travel video.
Style, Equipment, And Editing
Before we get to the actual tips, there are a few things to consider to actually make a travel video, namely the style of your video, the equipment you’re going to use, and the editing software you’ll need.
Style
You can make a travel video in a variety of different styles.
There is the walk and talk vlogging style, the street run-gun-shoot style, and even the fast-cut, inspirational, and cinematic style.
Another popular style is putting together images of visited places in video format that works as a snapshot of your trip. This works best for social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where long videos aren’t really welcome.
Choose your style based on what your plans are for the video. For example, if you are trying to inspire people to visit the place, the vlogging format where you provide information and beautiful shots of the place may be the best option for you. On the other hand, the cinematic style may work best if you want to tell a story.
You can use a video maker tool to edit it according to your finalized style.
Equipment
Of course, the equipment you use is another essential part of video making.
It may be easier to go with smartphone cameras or digital handheld camcorders if you’re an amateur. The image quality of these cameras is constantly improving, and there are many ways to enhance the quality further while editing. However, if you are well-versed in handling a DSLR, it would provide the best shooting experience.
Additionally, investing in extra lenses, a tripod, and an external microphone wouldn’t go amiss while trying to shoot travel videos. A mic, for example, would be particularly useful in windy areas.
All of the travel accessories and equipment should ideally fit in a backpack, but if you have a lot of heavy and delicate equipment, an additional carry-on bag would be better.
Editing
There are many ways to make videos and edit them as there are many free tools available online to do the job for you.Pick from free, basic ones to subscription-based ones (though the latter might be difficult for beginners to use).
Do your research and pick the one that works best for you so that you can wrap up the video smoothly and don’t have to invest too much into it.
Creative Tips To Make Great Travel Videos
Watch Travel Videos
If you want to become a writer, you have to be a reader. Similarly, if you want to make a great travel video, you have to watch a lot of travel videos. Doing so can inspire you, and you can also pick up techniques and styles that you can combine to help you create your style.
Pay attention to the frames used and the order in which shots are set up, how the lighting affects the footage and even the background music. Then go out and experiment, and you will be able to come up with something unique to you.
On the other hand, travel vlogging is a very popular and hard-to-join industry, but don’t let your fear of not being good enough stop you. Just keep trying; eventually, something will click.
Preset Your Camera Settings
You don’t want to be messing around with your camera settings during a shoot. It wastes time, and you may also lose good light.
It is always best to experiment with your settings, choose what works best for you, and set them as defaults before shooting your footage. Your shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, etc., can be preset.
If your footage is motion-heavy (as most travel footage tends to be), it’s good to increase your fps (frames per second) to 60 instead of the standard 25 so that the motion is less blurry. Doing so may increase the memory space of the footage, but it will be worth it.
Besides, there is almost unlimited availability of digital storage space now.
Be Smart And Consistent About Your Shooting
Getting a lot of footage is always a good idea, but remember to enjoy the place you are visiting as well. This means shooting smarter by setting a certain period of time for shooting and using the rest to explore for yourself.
The best times to get footage are early morning or sunset because the lighting will be the best during such times.
Another aspect of being smart about your shooting is to be consistent with what you are trying to show. Don’t try to show everything that happens on your trip; instead, pick one aspect or gimmick and try to stick to it in all your travel videos.
You could be the person that dances in exotic places or talks about the best desserts available at a place. This is a great way to gain a following as well.
Plan Ahead And Try To Tell A Story
Knowing what you want to shoot for your travel video will make actually shooting it much easier. So, make a plan in advance as to whether you’re going to shoot snippets of different places or you’re trying to make it a cinematic experience for your audience. Don’t randomly film stuff and expect inspiration to strike when you’re editing.
You can even try to tell a story through your travel video, but you will need to connect dots to find a beginning, middle, and end. Go through all the footage you collect and see if there are common elements throughout that you can use to tell this story.
Alternatively, you can also research the place before you go and find an aspect that interests you and collect footage accordingly to tell that story.
Talk More About The Country And Less About Yourself
Today, a lot of travel videos talk more about how great the traveler’s life is compared to other more sedentary people. However, that’s not what travel videos are about. They are supposed to educate or tell a story about the people, the place, the food, etc.
So, while shooting footage, focus more on the locals and their lives and stories instead of the parties you attend. Show the architecture, the history, and the culture of the place and weave them together with the locals to tell your audience a story about the place.
Conclusion
In addition to the above, be sure to diversify your shots, create motion, choose great background music, and connect all the shots you get in a meaningful way to make the best video. Lastly, follow all these tips, use a good video maker, and you will realize that creating a great travel video is not as hard as it seems!
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