Tips For Creating a Great Travel Video

Travel video content is not only a good way to imprint something special on your memory but also a promising idea for making money. If you are going to run a travel video blog or produce video content, then we have prepared some useful tips for video production. So let’s figure out how to shoot a travel video to make it bright and exciting, and also how to edit videos and what tricks to make everyone delighted with your video content.

Tip 1 – Find an Idea

Before you start filming your travel video, think about the idea behind it. Sometimes it’s best to just start shooting and experimenting. In the process, you will understand what video format works best for you. There are several popular travel video formats that can inspire you.

Travel Video Blog

These videos are similar to personal blog entries. They are based on the personal experience of a traveler made in a natural and relaxed manner. For the audience, video blogs are attractive because they are built on trust, show things “from the inside,” and often provide useful tips for travelers. They do not have a rigid format and structure. Therefore, starting with a vlog, you can reveal yourself as a creative person and get the most out of the process.

Video Guides

Just like regular guides, video guides are created to inspire and help other travelers. Video content of this type is well optimized for search engines and gets a lot of views. Therefore, if you are thinking about making money from traveling, aim for video guides. However, you should know that this is a very time-consuming job that requires proper planning, a lot of filming and editing efforts.

Niche Videos

Niche videos focus on one aspect or topic of travel: food, yoga retreats, ancient excavations, etc. If you have a passion in life that you realize in your travels, try talking about it using your camera.

Tip 2 – Collect Information

Having a desire to produce travel video content is not enough to make a good video. You will need some information that would be interesting and useful for others. That’s why you should always prepare a travel checklist on where to go and what to see. You should always keep your camera or smartphone at hand to be able to shoot a video if there is anything interesting to happen while traveling.

Shoot whatever comes in handy. Interest and excitement come during video editing, so it is better to have video material to choose from. Unique architecture, beautiful nature, the faces of locals, recipes for making traditional drinks, a spontaneous visit to the local market with exotic fruits – everything can come in handy. Don’t forget about audio. Complementing the video with sea clamor with screaming pelicans or an Indian children’s song in Quechua is a good move.

Tip 3 – Get a Camera on

Most video bloggers face the same problem – they do not know what video shooting equipment to use. Nowadays, even the simplest and most budgetary gadgets have a video recording function. On the other hand, the more you shoot, the better and more expensive equipment you want to get. But just as sneakers for $1000 do not make a runner a champion, video recording equipment for $100,000 will not make you a successful video blogger.

Start simple, and you will know which direction to go. Travel videos can be filmed with different gadgets. But it is a smartphone that wins in this battle – it is always at hand, which means that you can quickly capture an interesting moment. Shooting with a smartphone does not require preliminary preparation, and there is no need to carry heavy photographic equipment with you. What is more, there are different video editing applications for iOS and Android that allow you to easily process videos and immediately publish ready-made content on social networks or any other platforms you are going to use.

Tip #4 – Tell a Story

The most important component of any video is the story. If you shoot a beautiful picture and add some music to it, you will most probably want to turn the video off just after a minute of watching it. The video can be spectacular and technically perfect, but if it doesn’t have a story, it’s boring to watch. On the other hand, even technically poor video content with an interesting story keeps viewers playing them over and over again.

Tip #5 – Take Care of Video Editing

Editing isn’t the most fun part of video production, but some people hone chops and enjoy it. To ensure a smooth video flow and story development, it is important that you stick to the general structure, consisting of four basic parts:

• Introduction (about 10 seconds) – the first seconds of your video are very important. If they’re not engaging enough, viewers won’t look any further. Grab attention with something unusual or tell people what the clip will be about;
• The “about” part (5 seconds) – promote yourself – come up with a name for your travel video project and insert it at the beginning of each video that you are going to produce;
• Body (3-8 minutes) – in the body part of your video, you should show and tell everything that you have filmed. Do not be afraid to cut out everything unnecessary; leave only the juice itself. You can rest assured about your audience being indebted to you for it;
• Ending and a call to action (about 10-15 seconds) – at the end of every video you produce, ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel. You can tell what will happen in the next video or ask your audience about topics that are of interest to them.

During the editing process, you should, first of all, focus on cutting off the pieces that you don’t need and combining interesting video fragments to make the story look complete. Editing can be an easy thing to do if you are using quality software.

One of the most popular video editors is Movavi. The solution allows you to work with multimedia anywhere. So you can turn your home into a creative studio in a couple of clicks. Movavi Video Editor helps you turn raw footage into complete movies. All you need to do is to launch a program, upload a video (videos) you want to process, and the app will do the magic for you –just let it know what you need. So if you do not have experience with video editing, we recommend having a good tool at hand.

Tip #6 – Experiment with Effects

Producing just another video is a boring task that will never bring you applause from the audience. It is better to experiment here and use different effects that will make your video content authentic and easy-to-remember. Here are some of the effects that you may find in handy:

• Timelapse is a fast motion effect where a video is created from several photos taken with a static or slowly moving camera over a long period of time. The effect allows you to show a day in a couple of minutes. Timelapse is suitable for shooting sunsets and sunrises, as well as stories about travel movements. So if you are going to show anything of this kind, set your camera for a timelapse;
• Slow Motion is an effect to emphasize the mood and emotional coloring of the video. Some smartphones have a built-in slow-motion option. If not, choose shooting at 60 frames per second and 1080 pixels or activate the “60 fps” option. Then, during installation, it will be possible to slow down these moments by half without compromising the video quality. Otherwise, slowing down a video shot at 25-30 frames per second will look sketchy and unprofessional;
• The Ken Burns Effect is a slow zoom. Use this effect to process beautiful scenery clips from one location instead of walking around with a camera in hand and causing viewers to feel seasick. This effect will make a video look professional – believe us;
• Screen mess is the effect of superimposing black bars in the lower and upper parts of the frame, which make the videos look like a film;
• Color grading is an effect that transforms a video, adjusts contrast/color, and neutralizes mid-tones and shades.

Of course, it will be hard to find the effects that work best for the video content that you produce. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you test out and use different video editing techniques at first and then decide on highly performing ones.

Tip #7 – Ensure the Correct Composition

In the art of cinematography, there are hundreds of techniques that allow you to create a real masterpiece. There is even the WALDO system that will make the video image magnificent. But it is important for a beginner to remember at least a few of the most important rules for finding a good composition:

• Change shooting angles. Close-ups are interesting, but they work well only if they are diluted with general and medium shots;
• Reveal the plot. It will be much more interesting if, in each frame, there is a main object or object around which the composition is built;
• Make sure that random lines do not come out of the head of the main object in the frame;
• Stick to the rule of thirds (many cameras have a function, dividing the frame into 9 zones). Of course, this is not a fix to all your problems, but following the method will allow a beginner to avoid common mistakes;
• Shooting with a frame looks beautiful (a window frame, weaving flowers, or a branch can act as a frame);
• Add volume to what is happening, for example, changing angles, taking pictures from the inside of a bag or refrigerator.

All these will help you create a unique image and composition that will definitely be associated with the video content you produce. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of doing that, agree?

Tip #8 – Prepare Your Equipment

The master of the obvious says that the quality of the video clip depends on the equipment you use. Nowadays, even full-length films are shot on the iPhone, and you do not have to spend money on a professional camera or a GoPro.

But the list of equipment for video content production doesn’t end with the camera. Stationary tripods, monopods, various mounts – these are some of the “gadgets” you should always have at hand. If you want to make a report about an interesting attraction, then you won’t make it happen without expansion microphones. Take care of the external battery and storage devices before traveling. It can be a hard drive or several capacious flash drives of at least 32 GB. Prepare your video shooting “weapon pieces” in advance.

How to Produce a Video That Impresses – Life Hacks

Novice video bloggers and inexperienced video editors keep making the same mistakes. Not to be in the army of second-rate specialists, stick to the following life hacks:

• Good light is essential to success – try to shoot video during daylight hours or in well-lit places. Remember dawn and dusk have the best lighting with soft shadows and a winning image;
• Don’t forget about sound – shoot video in quiet places, try to avoid extraneous noise. Never record your speech on the go: shaking and noise can not be avoided. If the scene allows, the audio can be recorded separately from the footage;
• Shoot horizontal video – the vertical format is acceptable, but it limits the view, is not convenient for cutting, and is often perceived negatively by the audience;
• Switch every 7 seconds – shooting several static clips for 10-20 seconds is better than a long one with constant camera movement. A tripod and selfie stick are indispensable for spectacular transitions and action shots. However, if they are not there, fix the smartphone with both hands, placing your elbows on your body;
• Give preference to close-ups – they look advantageous when shooting people, plants, monuments, and buildings. Close-ups help to achieve the effect of depth when some of the objects are near the camera, and the main subject is at a distance;
• Find the “right distance” – do not be lazy and do not hesitate to come closer to the object of your shooting; then the sound and picture will be of high quality and focus;
• Be short – viewers prefer videos no longer than 12 minutes. Take your time, choose the best angle and effective composition. There is no need to produce hundreds of terabytes of video recordings;
• Be original – look for your inspiration and do not copy successful videos of other travel bloggers.

How to Make Your Video Fly?

There are thousands of travel videos on YouTube and the global network, But far from each of them can boast multi million views and thousands of likes. If you are making the first steps in travel video production and have no idea on the direction to follow, then just stick to the above recommendations. They will have you find your own style and create videos that will delight your audience with useful, interesting, and professionally made content. That’s easy if you have a checklist to follow.