How to to make more creative videos 

Recently, we’ve been thinking about how to make more creative videos. Because we’re all time poor and no one wants to waste any precious hours producing – let alone watching – boring ones. 

So how do you make more engaging videos? Well that’s what Mike and Sue unpacked in a recent episode of Moonshine Moonshot. Actually, they dedicated a whole capsule series of the show to this very topic. Because it’s not really something you can nut out in 5 minutes or less. 

Since launching Moonshine Agency almost 12 years ago, Mike and Sue have mastered a few tried and tested techniques to apply to their films whenever they need to inject a little more creativity. Now they’re ready to share them with every aspiring filmmaker, content creator or marketing professional out there. 

In episode one, they looked at all the trending camera movements, specialty shots and camera angles you can bring into your next video project to make it a little spicer for your audience and keep them watching until the very end. 

Let’s take a closer look in this blog post.  

Try out new camera movements 

The term “camera movements” probably doesn’t light you up – yet. But that’s what we’d like to change your opinion on, because playing with your camera movements is an excellent way to make your videos more creative and captivating. 

Firstly, get acquainted with the gimbal. This is seriously handy device that enables you to capture incredibly smooth footage on the go. 

We’re also big fans of the wide angle slider shot, which is commonly seen in talk shows (when they pan to show the entire studio audience). With these types of shots, your camera will seamlessly move from left to right, backwards and forward and even up and down. They can really elevate your visual storytelling and almost every professional camera crew will understand the technique well. 

Mike and Sue show examples of both of these camera movements in episode 20 of Moonshine Moonshot – it’s embedded above for you. But you can also head over to the YouTube channel and watch now. 

Ok, what next? 

Have fun with specialty shots 

There are a lot of specialty shots you can try but our favourites include the slow mo and time lapse. 

Slow motion shots can help to manipulate your viewers emotional response to your film or video (in the best way possible!), especially if you piece them together with some moving narration and background music. It’s a trick we used in our impact film Conquering Cancer  to really capture the essence of a cancer survivor’s personal story.

We also love using drone footage to capture stunning aerial footage that most audiences wouldn’t get a chance to see in their ordinary lives. Mike, in particular, is a drone footage super fan and takes the drone on almost every shoot these days. 

Sue’s more partial to the time-lapse –  she thinks they add something unexpected to your video. They create an amazing impression of high speed movement and they’re also just really fun! Sue tells a great anecdote of a production house that put a time lapse camera in their studio for 8 months in this episode of Moonshine Moonshot. Check it out now to see what happened when they watched it back….

Use multiple camera angles 

If you want to make a truly creative and engaging video, you definitely need to work more than one camera angle in. 

Staring at a talking head minute after minute does not make for great video storytelling. It’s likely to bore your audience and see them click away. In fact, YouTube recommends that you utilise multiple camera angles to hold your audience’s attention. 

It’s also far more easy to edit out any errors or stumbles that your on-screen talent makes if you have more than one camera angle to work with. 

So what are some of our favourite camera angles? Here goes …. 

Wide shot 

Mid shot 

Close up 

Cut-away 

Over the shoulder 

Reverse over the shoulder 

Low angle 

High angle 

Mike and Sue show all these examples in the video – watch it now so you can get an idea of what each of these shots actually look like. 

Time to get more creative with your videos? 

Hope so! But as we mentioned at the top of this post – this is actually part of a capsule series. So if you really want to make videos that hook your audience from start to finish,  there’s plenty more creative tips and ticks coming your way over the next few weeks. 

Watch this space! 

You can also check out the video over here (be sure to subscribe to our channel too!) and the podcast over here if you’re like to learn while listening.