Gone are the days when shooting a good video required serious gear. These days, all it takes to produce studio-level footage is a solid smartphone and a bit of know-how.
From finding good angles to using the best light source, here are four useful tips to help land your TikTok video on the “for you” page without spamming the #fyp hashtag. We equipped ourselves with the new Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G to try these tips out. Here’s how we fared:
Just like taking a selfie, shooting a video requires you to find the best angles, whether it’s of your face or your surroundings.
One way to flex your best angle while engaging your viewers is to hold your phone camera at eye level. This way, your audience will feel like you’re talking to them.
Steer clear from angling your camera too far up or down because you may unintentionally draw attention to your forehead and hair, or your chin and jaw. If you know your best angle, show it off. But if you don’t, practice in front of a mirror by slowly tilting your head from left to right and up and down to determine which looks best.
And for those who are looking to film tutorial and product demo videos, try switching between a variety of angles to give your footage a dramatic effect.
Pro tip: A phone with a high-quality front camera is needed to produce a share-worthy video that’s crisp enough to do justice to your best angles. That said, we tried finding ours using the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. Its 32MP front camera was able to capture clear shots with minimal noise when taking selfies.
If you’ve ever shot shaky and poor quality videos, then you know these usually end up in the deleted files folder. So unless your TikTok is meant to look shaky, you might want to stabilise your camera for the highest quality footage.
That said, investing in a phone stand or tripod is essential for pics and video recordings that won’t turn viewers off. If you have to move around, opt for a selfie stick or keep your arms firmly against your body when holding your phone. That way, your video won’t come out shaking like a washing machine.
It’ll also help if your phone has a decent stabilisation feature such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G’s triple-lens camera module which comes with optical image stabilisation. That way, when you’re vlogging away or filming your best #fitcheck, you won’t have to worry too much about how your movements will affect the quality of your TikTok video.
It doesn’t take a pro to know a rule of thumb in photography and videography is to use plenty of good lighting.
As always, natural lighting is key. If you’re filming outdoors, go in the morning or evening to avoid the harsh midday sun that can cast shadows over your face and objects. For an indoor shoot, use a ring light or film by a window to catch some glowing natural light.
In low-lit settings, using a flash can make your surroundings look like a haunted cavern and your eyes glow – but not in a good way. That’s why it helps to have a phone with a Night Mode function so you can take spontaneous pics and videos even in dark conditions. Here’s how we fared with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G’s Night Mode setting:
Use Night Mode to create clear shots in the dark
“Zoom with your feet and not your fingers”, is a saying that even videography noobs have heard. Sometimes, zoom tools on smartphones can reduce both photo and video quality, so try to get as close to your subject as possible. On TikTok especially, nothing ruins the mood more than grainy zoomed images where viewers can’t immediately tell what they’re looking at.
P.S. There are times when it’s physically not possible to move closer to an object, so you’ll want to make sure your camera can at least tank some hi-res zoomed shots. A 30x space zoom feature may work well to your advantage, as seen from this photo we snapped using the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G on HDB blocks that were about 1KM away.
For review-based videos, try the Dual Recording function on the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. You’ll be able to use both the front and rear camera simultaneously to capture live reactions, saving you a tonne of time on editing those share-worthy videos.
The road to TikTok stardom requires plenty of skills, time and creativity. You can check off at least one of those boxes using these video-taking tricks to help you produce view-worthy footage.
Technical tips aside, you’ll also need a reliable device with a slew of epic camera features like the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Coming in four trendy pastel hues – Lavender, Olive, White and Graphite – and a sleek design, this new addition to the Samsung family also has a slim body, meaning you can easily put it in your pockets for when you’re out and about.
On top of that, its quick processor, sharp screen and speedy 240Hz touch response rate mean your next Netflix bingeing session and Wordle attempts will never be interrupted. As for its long-lasting battery life, we streamed the entire season of All Of Us Are Dead last night, took over 50 selfies and GIFs today, and it’s still at 30%.
For non-TikTok users, these tips can also help level up your photos for the ‘Gram or just for personal keepsakes. As for the aspiring vloggers and TikTok influencers, here’s to hoping these four simple tips and the new Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G phone will help you capture the most epic and viral content.
This post was brought to you by Samsung.
Photography by Jie Ling and Doreen Fan.
Pictures which do not indicate “Shot on Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G” may not be taken using a Samsung phone. These pictures are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to demonstrate the features of the phone.
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