No budget? No problem

It may come across as ever so slightly counter-intuitive to be telling you this as a professional videographers and editors, but gone are the days of high overheads and budget blowouts for your video production needs.

Armed with nothing more than your mobile phone, and some cheap accessories, you can produce great quality, engaging video content for your viewer base and customers, and we're here to tell you how.

Step 1: Check your inventory

Chances are, you’re already equipped with a great camera, and it’s probably in your pocket as we speak. The humble mobile phone has gone through a remarkable process, with its camera keeping pace. So if you’ve got a late model phone, you’ll have a good quality camera.

You may need to pad out some of your inventory by snapping up a cheap tripod to make sure your shots are nice and smooth (After all, nothing disengages your audience quicker than shaky footage. Unless of course you’re directing the next Blair Witch Project, in which case go for your life).

Another quick bit of gear you might like to think of getting is a microphone, a cheap lapel microphone that plugs into the phone’s 3.5 mm audio jack will definitely suffice.

Also, if you’re into photography and have a DSLR, there’s a good chance it’ll shoot crispy, quality full HD footage.

Step 2: Check your plan

Before you scream about lights, camera and action, you’ll want to sit down and ask yourself, what do I hope to achieve with this video? If it’s something ambiguous as “I want it to go viral”, you’re in for a rude awaking. What you’re going to want to do is set some concrete indicators of success. If you want to increase sales, figure out how the video could go about doing that. Is it specific? Will it draw attention to a sale you’re having? Making sure the video is timely, and specifically relevant, is crucial.

Step 3: Check your environment

Well, after you’ve set out the plan, got the camera/phone ready and you’re about to press the go button, make sure you’re filming in an environment that’s going to work well. Is the light flattering? Is there ambient noise? Do you expect people to be moving in and around the frame? Making sure you have control of the environment will always be helpful.

Step 4: Bonus round!

Shoot cutaway. Trust us when we say it’ll head off any headaches down the line.

When we say cutaway, we mean footage of relevant content that doesn’t necessarily feature the talent talking to camera. It’ll give you a lot to play with when editing…which brings us to the final point

Step 5: Check your editing

Having access to a consumer friendly editing program can get a little…expensive. There are plenty of cheap offerings out there, but for my bottom dollar, Adobe’s Premiere Pro is the way to go. It’s intuitive, easy to use and is kitted out with all the bells and whistles you could hope for in a modern editing suite.