Creating videos at home part 6: Recording with your phone

We recommend using your phone’s rear-facing camera to record videos. Phone cameras are generally higher quality than laptop cameras.

5 tips for recording videos with your phone

1. Don’t use your front or ”selfie” camera. Use your rear-facing camera (i.e. you see the back of your phone, not the front). It may sound stupid, but don't forget to clean the lens before you start.

2. Block incoming calls and messages (e.g. turn on airplane mode).

3. Charge your battery.

4. Have enough storage space available on your phone or cloud (very important, otherwise it will shut down halfway). We advise you to have at least 5 to10 GB storage available, for 30 to 60 min videos respectively.

5. Check and set your recording settings. It differs per phone, but most smartphones today have multiple resolutions and frame rate options. Here is how to find the settings on most phones:

   • iPhone: go to Settings, Camera, then “Record Video” to check your settings). For the later iPhones, having it on 4K at 24 fps is good enough, you don’t need to put it at 4K at 60 fps.

   • Andriod (e.g. LG): go to your camera, by tapping the Camera icon. Click on the Settings icon (the little cogwheel). Choose FHD 16:9 1920 x 1080 (if applicable). Ultra HD (UHD) or 4K is better than Full HD (FHD) is better than HD. FHD should be good enough.

To read more in the series, navigate the links below:

Part 1: Setting up your space

Part 2: Composing your video shot

Part 3: Optimizing your lighting

Part 4: Enhancing your audio

Part 5: Improving your verbal cueing