GUIDEBOOK
REELS, SHORTS,
AND TIKTOKS:
HOW TO TELL ENGAGING
STORIES WITH YOUR
SMARTPHONE
PLANNING AND
STRUCTURE
POTENTIAL FEELING PICTURE
Use 3 act structure for complex stories:
1. Setup (getting acquainted with the place and characters)
2. Confrontation (something happens, change the course of the
story.
3. Resolution (how the story resolves, release the tension of
confrontation)
CAMERA SETTINGS
THESE ARE THE BEST WORKING CAMERA SETTINGS FOR ALL
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:
Video format is 1080p and
30fps — this is very applicable
for Instagram because it has
the most inicky algorithm that
may completely ruin the
quality. On an iPhone go to
settings > camera > record
video:
Turn on the GRID. It will help you
compose your shots a lot. On an
iPhone go to settings > camera
>toggle on the grid
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• HDR. We turn o our HDR setting. Videos don’t bene it from it
when uploaded directly on social media. And it makes the
iles larger. However, if you’d
like to have more editing
capabilities (colors, dynamic
range) feel free to leave it on.
Otherwise go to settings >
camera > HDR — o
• Use the exposure fader to change
the lighting of your shot. Tap on
the the screen when your camera
is on and a yellow box will appear
it means the camera sets an
exposure and a focus from this
box. To the right of the box you’ll
ind an exposure fader. Drag it to
change the lighting conditions in
your video. Hold your inger on
the screen for 2 seconds to ix the
exposure and focus of the shot.
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LIGHTING
OUR FAVORITE TIMES FOR FILMING VIDEOS ARE GOLDEN
HOUR AND BLUE HOUR
The Golden Hour is the time during the sunrise or the sunset. The
the light isn’t harsh and the colors are golden and pleasant to
look at.
Afternoon light Golden Hour
The Blue Hour is the time before
the sunset or the sunrise when
the sky isn’t fully dark and gives
an even blue light. Yellow lights
of the arti icial light sources
contrast with the nautical blue
color of the sky.
In bright afternoon light, look for
the contrast between the
shadows and highlighted spots to
make your composition more
interesting.
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COMPOSITION
USE 3 TYPES OF SHOTS:
Wide Shot Medium Shot
Close Shot
THE RULE OF THIRDS
Put your subjects on the line or intersection of your camera grid
to make a composition more compelling
ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE WITH VANISHING POINT
A type of composition where the subjects
get smaller the closer they are to the
horizon and a vanishing point is the point
on the horizon where all leading lines of
your composition go to
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
USE THESE CAMERA MOVEMENTS USED BY MASTERS OF
CINEMATOGRAPHY TO TELL A BETTER STORY:
1. Static 2. Pan
3. Push 4. Pull
5. Tilt 6. Arc
7. Tracking 7. Trucking
Experiment with combing camera shots in di erent environments
for di erent subjects.
Use the “cat walk” for a smoother video. Don’t rush. For the
smoothest results use a stabilizer (gimbal)
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EDITING
EDITING IS YOU IS YOUR BEST STORYTELLING TOOL AFTER
THE FOOTAGE.
You set the speed, the space and decide on how the story ends.
So be careful and use some principles that we adhere to when
we edit our videos:
4. Chose the best shot for the beginning. We want to hook our
viewer’s attention from the irst 3 seconds
5. Use quick pace for the video. In social media attention is gold.
When the cuts are too long with no particular reason
(someone is talking or a lot of action is going on) people’s
attention drifts away
6. Use similar motion for a sequence of cuts. Similar camera
movements or movement of your subject in the frame
7. When you use music, cut to the rhythm of it. There are very
few things in the world of video that are worse than illogically
edited video with music.
8. Begin with a wide shot introducing the place of the events, go
to medium introducing your characters, go to close up to
show their emotions.
9. Experiment with the spaces going from wide to medium and
back
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POSTING:
CAPTIONING AND
HASHTAGS
CAPTIONS AND HASHTAGS HELP SEARCH ENGINES OF
SOCIAL MEDIA APPS PUSH YOU CONTENT TO PEOPLE WHO
MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN IT
Keeping that in mind, caption your videos and add
hashtags about about what happens in your video. If there
are two many posts under this hashtag (more than 100K) try
to narrow it down. For example from #bagles (1.3M posts) to
#nycbagles (25.2K posts).
You can still use big hashtags. If your video is really
interesting and holds the attention longer than others,
social media platforms will push it to more people and you
can end up in the top of that hashtag.
Get creative with caption. Use some provocative ideas or
jokes. Don’t ask banal questions to engage people. Most of
the time it’s really obvious and annoying. Instead, ask
genuine questions about complex issues or ask for advice.
