These days, video content is a must-have for any successful marketing strategy. And events are a great place to capture it. But the thought of playing director can be overwhelming for anyone not used to life behind the lens.
The good news? It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Or even all that polished. These days, authenticity reigns!
With the right techniques, you can capture great stuff using just your mobile phone. And those videos can bring your brand to life on your website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and beyond.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through easy-to-follow guidelines for getting professional-looking footage at your next event—whether it’s a conference, product demo, or industry panel. From lighting and audio to aspect ratios and framing, you’ll learn how to film once and make dozens of usable clips from your file.
Ready to make the most of your event recordings? Here’s how:
Seek Out the Best Possible Lighting
What it means: Good lighting makes your video clear and easy to watch.
How to do it: The light source should be in front of your subject and not create distracting shadows. When you can control where you’re filming, position your speaker by a window and use natural light. If you’re stuck in the dark indoors, consider using a small, clip-on light for your phone to brighten things up.
Capture Clear Audio
What it means: Audio quality can make or break your video. People need to hear what’s being said without lots of background noise.
How to do it: Your phone’s microphone works well enough if you’re close to the speaker, but if you can, avoid loud areas. If you want better sound, consider using a small bluetooth microphone or even one that plugs into your phone.
Plan Your Camera Orientation
What it means: "Horizontal" (landscape) is when the video is wider than it is tall—like most YouTube videos. "Vertical" is the opposite, like Instagram Stories.
How to do it: Record your video with the phone sideways (horizontal). This gives you the flexibility to edit it later for different social media platforms. You can always crop it to vertical or square during editing. (We’ll go into that in a bit, hold tight.)
Stabilize Your Shot
What it means: Keeping the camera steady is important because shaky footage can be distracting—even difficult—to watch.
How to do it: Hold your phone with both hands and rest your arms firmly against your body to avoid shaking. If you’re sitting, prop your elbows on your knees for an even stabler shot. If you have a tripod for your phone, that’s best—this will keep your shot extra stable, especially for longer recordings.
Be Intentional About Framing & Composition
What it means: Framing is how you position your subject in the video. Good framing makes your video look professional and helps viewers focus on what’s important.
How to do it: If you can, turn on the grid feature in your phone’s camera settings to help guide you. Position your subject off-center for a more visually pleasing shot. Make sure there’s not too much empty space above their head, and (if you’re able) choose a simple background that doesn’t distract from the person or action.
Capture Action & B-Roll
What it means: “B-Roll” refers to extra footage you can use to make your final video more interesting—like close-ups of event materials or shots of the audience.
How to do it: In addition to recording key moments like event presentations, take some extra footage of the event setting, crowd reactions, or small details like signage. These clips can make your video more dynamic when you edit.
Adjust the Camera Settings
What it means: Your phone’s camera has different settings for video quality. Higher resolution makes your videos look clearer, and the frame rate affects how smooth the video looks.
How to do it: Set your phone’s camera to the highest resolution possible (like 1080p or 4K). Stick with the default frame rate, which is usually 30 frames per second, to ensure a smooth recording without needing extra adjustments.
Record at Length
What it means: Instead of trying to capture short clips during the event, record everything and trim it down later when you edit. Not only is this easier to manage, but it ensures you won’t miss anything between takes.
How to do it: Record longer segments, and later, use an editing app to pull out the best moments for short social media clips.
Basic Video Editing Advice
What it means: Editing is where you turn your raw footage into a polished video by cutting out mistakes, adding text or music, and arranging clips to tell a story.
How to do it: After you’ve captured your video, use a simple editing app like InShot or iMovie to trim footage. Use 10-30 second clips for highlights on Instagram and Facebook stories. Then, use longer segments for your website, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Most editing apps will also let you add captions, create text overlays to highlight key points, include background music, or rearrange clips to flow better. Take your time, and always watch your video through before posting to ensure everything looks and sounds right.
See? Capturing high-quality video at your industry events doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
With these tips and your mobile phone, you can create compelling content that amplifies your brand on a variety of platforms. Just remember: Good lighting, clear audio, stable shots. Almost anything else you can deal with “in post.”
Need any help with the events themselves? Or getting this footage out once you’ve got it recorded? Let us know. We’re always happy to get involved.
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