How to make travel videos for social media — some self-taught lessons for beginners
I make videos for fun. Mostly travel and surf videos. These are lessons learned from making about 15 videos (including one with 2000 views on Vimeo).
No time/patience? Here’s the short version:
- A protagonist will make your video more interesting and shareable.
- Choose a topic you know well.
- Keep edits simple and video length under 3 minutes. Avoid effects.
- Music can change mood dramatically — pick one carefully.
- Use an eye-catching photo or screen grab as your “poster”. This makes shares more clickable.
- Send your protagonist/subjects early drafts and screenshots for them to share to their followers and create buzz.
- Use YouTube or Vimeo to host, but be aware of country censorship rules.
- Mirrorless SLRs and drones are fantastic. Keep you gear light for travel.
- Have a break when you’re not having fun.
The longer version
There are many types of videos. This post is specifically about my own experiences experimenting with creating travel and surf videos and sharing them on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
I’m a software engineer. Making videos is just a hobby, and I don’t have any prior training in filmmaking or video editing.
Quick background
In early 2018, after leaving London to be a nomad, I started making videos for fun. I uploaded them to Vimeo, to Instragam, and shared with friends. This particular video below got about 2,000 views on Vimeo.
It was also picked up by a specialist video curation site called Nobodysurf, and was viewed 165 times on Instagram (I had less than 100 followers at the time).
What I learned
Here’s what I learned in that short few months about creating amateur videos and publishing them online. These tips may be useful for someone who are getting started making videos for social media, or just wants to make better home videos.
People
People love videos about people. Especially if it’s about themselves.
Of all the videos I made, the ones that had one person as its “star” got the most views and shares, primarily driven by that star himself sharing the video to his social media networks.
So if possible, have a protagonist in your video.
But to do that, you first need to build rapport with them. Get to know the person and take an interest in him and what he does. Don’t be a fake because people can smell a fake.
When starting out, I recommend filming the underdogs. Someone who makes a good subject but not yet famous or have any videos about them. They would be more receptive and even excited to be in a video.
But treat your subjects like your clients. Even though they may not have paid you with cash for the video, they did pay with their time and trust. Be professional and make them look good!
Topic
The best topic is the one you know well and you are part of yourself. I was making videos about travel and surfing, because I love travel and surfing. The advantage of doing this is that you are already a part of your audience and you know what you’d like to see.
This is particularly relevant if you’re making videos about a specific type of activity or sports. For example, surfers want to see difficult manoeuvres or nice lines being drawn on a wave face by the surfer. If you don’t surf, you won’t know which bits are interesting and which aren’t.
I have made the mistake of filming about something that I didn’t know well: longboard surfing. I did it when I lacked the experience of riding longboards myself, so I was not able to capture the nuances well. The videos were not exciting for other longboarders to watch. One really good surfer even told me that I made him look like an amateur, and wasn’t too happy!
Editing
I’m impatient, so on average I take about one day to create the video on my laptop, or two days at the most. Being quick allowed me to share it quickly while the excitement around it is high.
Even before the video is complete I would share the draft with the people in the videos for their reaction, mainly to make sure I haven’t made them look bad in the video, but also to keep them excited.
For transitions, I tend to use two types: straight cut when still in the same narrative, cross fade when changing narratives. That’s all. And I don’t use any effects.
3 minutes is long enough for a short video, unless you have a story to tell. My videos generally contain “highlights” of a particular topic or activity.
Mix camera angles. Play with speed changes in the video. Find opportunities to mix black and white and colour scenes. These keep the video interesting.
I use Final Cut Pro, but I could have made the same videos using a free tool like iMovie. You don’t need expensive software to make good videos.
Soundtrack
Music is very important for travel or action videos. It really does change the mood.
For my surf videos, I try to match the music to the surfer’s style on the wave. I’d pick some songs and play them in my headphones while watching video clips of them surfing, until I find one that “flows” with the surfer in the video.
If you’re making money from your videos, pay for the music. It’s only fair. Otherwise, be careful with using copyrighted music (Vimeo tends to be less strict about them). There are tonnes of free music to chose from online, or you can use old or obscure music to minimise copyright infringement. Always, always, always credit the musician and link directly to a purchase-able version of their music.
Distribution
You want your videos to be viewed as many times as possible, so maximise its chances for that happening with good planning.
Think about a good poster image to accompany the video. For example, a beautiful scenery or an athlete in action. You can sometimes use a screen grab from the video for this purpose, but it won’t be as sharp as taking an actual photo. I used this screen grab for the video above:
Give your video’s star(s) screen grabs that they can share as a “preview” for the video. Help them do the distribution for you.
Create a short preview clip on your social media and tag them, and then encourage them to share. Here’s the Instagram clip I posted for the video above:
Hosting
Forget hosting videos yourself. It’s expensive and you get better distribution on the larger platforms. At the time of writing, this means Vimeo, YouTube, or Instagram.
Vimeo is great for viewing experience, but be careful about censorship. For example, Vimeo is blocked in Indonesia.
YouTube is great for distribution, and the viewing experience is getting better. I just hate all the ads that pop up on it!
Instagram is fine if your videos are not meant to be enjoyed in high definition. It’s great for sharing so there’s a good chance of it going viral if people like your videos.
Equipment
For travel gear, size (and weight) matters. I tend to travel really light, so the thought of lugging camera equipment around really puts me off. Which means I miss out on great filming opportunities. Get the smallest or lightest gear you can afford.
Get mirrorless cameras if you can. These will allow you to film using the viewfinder, which is better for battery life. You’ll also appreciate the viewfinder when bright sun or light makes using the camera back screen impossible.
Get a camera with a stabiliser in it. You won’t regret it. Yes, you can stabilise clips from within editing software but the result would be poorer quality video.
A GoPro is great for first-person views, follows and wide-angle shots. SLRs are better for everything else.
Drones have really changed the game for filmmaking and I recommend you get one if you can afford it. Drone shots are a great compliment to the hand-held shots in the same video.
I’m not a camera technical expert, so Google is your friend if you want to shop and compare tech specs.
When it feels like work, have a break
Making videos is a hobby for me, but there were several times when it just felt like work.
There were times when I had to wake up really early in the morning to go film. Or got annoyed about not finding the right soundtrack. Or times when I just didn’t feel like editing but people were asking to see the video. These would really stress me out — it felt like a job and I wasn’t even being paid for it!
The best thing to do in these situations is to stop, forget about the video for a while, and get back to it again when you’re calmer.
You should be having lots of fun doing this, even if it is a job.
Final words
Bear in mind that I’m only a hobbyist when it comes to creating videos. I do it for fun and I enjoy it. All the lessons above are from my own experiences.
If you’re just starting out making videos for social media, then I think the lessons I learned above will help you too.
If you are going to create videos professionally, I would highly encourage you to take a course instead, to avoid making basic mistakes. YouTube is a great resource for picking up tips and courses from exports.
