Video production is no easy process. It requires a lot of planning to ensure that things go smoothly. If it doesn’t go smoothly, it could end up killing your budget – and resulting in a less than high quality video at the end of it all.

Because of this, it’s important to always keep your budget in mind. There are a lot of factors that can affect your budget – and there are a lot of factors that can affect how long it takes to shoot your video.

Remember, your use of time has a big effect on the cost of the video as well. Keeping this in mind, the following are five filming tips that can help you to keep your budget in check, make sure your production runs on time and – last but not least – ensure that your video ends up being great!

1. Choosing Your Locations Carefully

Choosing the right locations for your video production is extremely important. In fact, you shouldn’t go by yourself. You should take a producer, the director of photography and the location sound engineer with you. Why? Because they will see things that you might overlook.

A producer will consider all kinds of important logistics. These may include, if you’re allowed to film there, whether you’ll need a permit, if the distance of the location will make the shoot longer or more expensive.

The location sound engineer will check to see if the background noises of the location will be problematic. The director of photography will determine if the location is suitable for getting the shots that you need.

Making sure there’s enough space in the interior and if there’s a power source that provides ample power for your lights are two important aspects that also need to be considered. Each individual has their own job in making sure that the location is appropriate.

2. Using Moving Shots

Keeping your camera on the tripod at all times may create a video that doesn’t entertain your audience. Moving the camera is a good way to create a more dynamic visual look that helps to engage your audience much more.

However, trying to move the camera by hand will result in a shaky, amateurish look. To create a moving shot that’s not shaky, get a hold of a furniture dolly from a local Home Depot or similar store. You can place the tripod onto the furniture dolly and then move the dolly around for a more steady shot.

3. Creating a Rain Machine

In some cases, the use of rain helps to create a moody atmosphere for your videos. In other cases, it may be a necessary way to demonstrate your product or service.

For example, if you’re selling umbrellas, then you probably need to demonstrate how your umbrellas work in the rain at some point. The problem is, waiting for it to rain isn’t exactly an efficient use of your time.

A more controlled and efficient way to use rain is by using a rain machine. Because rain machines aren’t exactly easy to get a hold of (and often quite expensive to rent), you can simply build your own instead.

Building a rain machine isn’t as difficult as it seems – you can easily find tutorials online. To give you an idea of how they work, you would just need to find a way to keep a garden hose in place using wood planks.

You would then puncture the hose with a bunch of small holes and raise it into the air. When water is run through the hose, the water will then burst out of the holes, creating numerous streams that look like rain when they fall into frame on camera.

4. Using Natural Light

When you’re shooting out in the field, you may not have access to your light kit. You also might not have some kind of power source to plug your lights into.

Fortunately, you can take advantage of the sun’s light outside. When staging your actors, make sure that they face the light so that they don’t become silhouettes on screen.

5. Creating the Illusion of Movement

Like we mentioned before, movement helps create a dynamic look. However, in addition to moving the camera, you should move the elements within your shot as well. The following are just a few examples of creating movement within your shots and how you can do it:

Creating wind

Creating wind to move the rain or fog for your shot helps provide an extra layer of visual interest to your composition. Wind can also be used to blow leaves across the air and ground or to just blow your actor’s hair as they perform their actions.

Creating wind isn’t too difficult! You can use a large fan and point it in the direction you want the wind to blow. Keep in mind – make sure the fan isn’t visible in the shot!

Creating vehicle movement

Filming in a vehicle is extremely tough because it requires all kinds of permits as well as the use of a stunt driver. This entire process can also be quite costly and time consuming.

An easy way to fake the movement of the car is to simulate movement by parking the car in place and simply use lighting and rain to simulate movement. For example, shoot at dark and pan lights through the windows to simulate passing cars.

These filming tips are an efficient way to create a visually dynamic, professional looking video without blowing your budget. However, working with a professional video production company can be helpful throughout this entire process.

A good video production company will be able to implement all of these tips. They will also have more advanced equipment at their disposal to help give your video an even more professional look.

At the very least, you should consider hiring a video production company once you capture your shots. Their post-production services will help with professionally editing your footage.