How To Make a TRAVEL VIDEO - 10 Tips you need to know

testing testing how we doing how are we

looking I think the audio levels are

good we're ready to roll

today's video will give you the top 10

filmmaking tips to make your travel

videos the best that they can be right

off the bat so whether you're just

starting or you've been making videos

for years this video is for you my name

is Christian and for the past three

years now I've been making travel videos

and by some crazy chance it has become

my full-time job now the first tip is

something you're not gonna hear anywhere

else and that's where I pride myself on

giving people insider information and

that is to actually turn your camera on

there's a little power switch right here

did anyone find that funny it seemed

funny in my head you left ok that's all

that matters

alright number one for real this time is

understand your equipment and when I say

understand your equipment I mean know

how the focal lengths how the camera

that you're working with will impact the

image that you're getting but let's go

through a couple examples if you're

shooting with a GoPro it's a fantastic

travel camera one thing that you should

know is that it's waterproof so all of a

sudden you have that upper hand of being

able to achieve and tell a unique story

that most cameras will not ever be able

to do another thing that you should know

with a wide-angle lens you're not gonna

be able to tell what's going on in the

distance so even though something may

only be 20 feet away from you it's gonna

show up like a speck in the video shot

with a GoPro on the other hand if you

invest it in let's say like a t5i rebel

camera something that has the ability to

change lenses well you need to

understand how those different lenses

will allow you to achieve different

shots boom just like that we now have

two lenses this lens right here allows

me to get wide-angle shots kind of like

the GoPro but not quite as wide and this

lens right here allows me to get extreme

close-ups not only does that mean that I

can shoot things further away but it

also means that the subject will now

appear closer to their background so if

I have somebody standing in front of the

mountains the mountains now become

humongous whereas if I shoot with a

GoPro or a wide-angle lens like this one

well what it's going to do is the exact

opposite it'll make the mountains in the

distance seem really small and the

subject will seem big and up front so

understand how your different lenses how

your equipment will affect the shot and

shoot accordingly and if you're shooting

with a cell phone that has two lenses

that same logic applies and one other

implication is stability if I was to pan

with my GoPro I would have a much more

stable shot than if I just panned with

my camera with this lens on the shake

will be much more noticeable with a very

distance telescoping lens travel tip

number two is to understand the

difference between slow motion fast

motion and when to use them so a lot of

people when they first pickup their

cameras they're all excited because for

the first time just like this they're

able to feel at like five times slower

than real life if you've got one of

those new GoPros you can shoot ten times

slower than real life and it's such a

cool effect but it's not to be overused

slow motion should only be used to

emphasize a story if it doesn't add to

the story

don't use slow motion the same can be

said with doubling up the speed or

quadrupling the speed sometimes I see

people using drone shots and they just

go times 10 on the speed and then all of

a sudden they're rushing through the air

and it feels really weird because you

can see the shake being caused by the

drone moving around being pushed by wind

you can see the waves are moving 10

times faster and it doesn't look natural

it really takes away from the moment so

if you're gonna speed something up with

fast motion at least make sure it's part

of the intended effect personally when I

do fast motion I typically like to cut

up my clip so that it's more of a

gradual up and then a gradual down so in

other words if I had the clip right here

I would make maybe five cuts here I

would have normal speed right here I

would have times two and in the middle I

would have something like times four

what that does for you is it gives you a

bit of like a pyramid effect where it's

more gradual it's not this jarring speed

up stop effect it feels natural more of

a flow to it and I need to say that if

you're shooting with a camera that

doesn't do fast motion or slow motion

don't take that as like a disadvantage

sometimes the best stories are just told

by shooting 30 frames a second in other

words like normal speeds I understand

your equipment and how to make the most

of it travel tip number three change up

your angles when you're shooting with

your cameras doesn't matter if you've

got a GoPro or if you've got a 70 to 200

equipped on a 1 V X mark - whatever

you're shooting with make sure that

you're telling a different story than

just the stand and shoot there was an

example I watched in another YouTube

video is like you see most people

posting a photo of their dogs is

typically just by standing up because

people are lazy they don't want to get

down on the dog's level but if you want

to take the better photo you need to get

down on your knees you need to be

willing to climb up a tree to get the up

Shaw you need to be willing to do

whatever it takes almost whatever it

takes don't kill yourself but go the

extra mile in order to get that unique

story that is what separates a good

travel video from a masterpiece of a

travel video the masterpiece will always

have those unique shots that has the

audience asking themselves oh my gosh

how did they shoot that that's why when

I fly my drone I actually like to risk

it to get the biscuit once in a while

sometimes I'll fly between an archway

sometimes I'll fly right under a tree

because I love to give my audience that

scare factor of like oh my gosh you

really changed up the angle in a way

that I never would have done get used to

your equipment and once you feel like

you've mastered the equipment then you

can start pushing the boundaries trying

new things and one more thing that can

be said about changing the angle

changing the angle doesn't simply have

to be altitude based it's not just about

getting on the ground or getting up high

it can also be about how close your

subject is so if you're shooting with a

lens like this it causes a beautiful

background blur purely based on how

close you are to the thing that you're

shooting you can achieve different

results of the SHA this took me a good

year two years to really perfect but I

believe it's something that can come

with time as long as you're aware of it

and willing to learn it can make a huge

difference in your travel videos tip

number four and this is probably one of

the biggest ones and that is to pick

your music

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

music music music it makes all the

difference

what kind of music choice you have you

will have the control to evoke emotions

in the audience based on the song you

choose so if you're trying to tell the

story of a beautiful tropical beach

don't use the hardcore EDM song because

they're completely clashing unless

that's your intended effect if you're

trying to tell a really high pace energy

story that's where you can look at like

the high BPM electronic music that gets

the blood flow going there is no wrong

genre of music to use but it has to

complement the scene in the story you're

trying to tell now with that being said

there's one place I get all of my music

from and when I say all I mean it's my

go-to every single day I've actually

partnered with them to create my own

album I feel like Kendrick Lamar right

now it's the exact same thing except I

didn't make the music I just picked a

song but if you want to check it out I

actually have my own loss LeBlanc album

on epidemic sound right now it's got 16

tropical travel adventure songs that it

will be amazing for any of your travels

coming up and the awesome thing is not

just the fact that they have great music

but it's the fact that I can use this

music on YouTube on Facebook on any

social platform and not have to worry

about legal consequences it's so crucial

that I know that every single song I use

in my video will not be struck down by a

copyright or by another artist and the

awesome thing is they actually have a

free one-month trial so no commitments

see if you like it and they've been kind

enough to reward team get lost the

people here on this channel by using the

coupon code loss LeBlanc you'll actually

save 15% on your first six months so

check it out number five this is a huge

tip especially for beginners who often

overlook this and that is the importance

of stabilizing your footage now there's

two ways you can stabilize it you can

stabilize it in a software I'm not gonna

talk about that you can figure that out

by whatever video editor you're using it

can sometimes help it can sometimes do

bad things to your footage so use that

with caution but the thing that I will

focus on is creating the most stable

video inside of the camera so that you

don't have to do that extra step

at least rely on it in post-production

whether you got a cell phone whether you

got a GoPro

they now have gimbals automatic

electronic stabilizers that allow you to

achieve incredibly buttery smooth

footage you can buy stabilizers for

believe as affordable is like $300 and

it will be a game-changer in your

footage now if you're shooting with a

heavier camera they also have those

gimbals I personally use a big

heavy-duty one but there's some pretty

easy strategies that you can do without

even having extra equipment so let's

talk a bit about that this right here is

my backup camera and I'll show you one

of the easiest ways you can stabilize

use your camera strap put it against the

back of your neck and simply keep your

camera as extended as possible so that

tension is being applied on the camera

strap and by doing this what you're

actually accomplishing is you're

creating more stability on the camera

when you pivot when you turn your camera

is not going to be freely moving in your

hands it's gonna stay nice and stable by

having more points of contact against

your body if you're gonna do walking

shots then you know this will still help

you but at the end of the day nothing

will replace an electronic gimbal or a

Steadicam which is just a counterweight

system but it does an amazing job but

one other kind of getaway that you can

get away with creating a moving

stabilized shot if you have a flat

surface you're working with is a

skateboard or a Rowley chair that way

you're not getting that motion that

comes with every step instead you just

kind of roll around and it'll give you a

much more stabilized shot and one last

little bonus tip because I'm all about

value here on this channel

if you haven't already subscribed go

ahead and hit that sub button if you're

shooting with a drone you can actually

walk around with your phantom with your

Mavic you've got yourself a Steadicam

number-6 the storyline what you want to

do with your travels with your videos

that you're filming and editing is you

want to have in mind what is the story

I'm trying to tell I like to have things

in chronological order where they kind

of show the travel that's been going on

over the past month or over the past

week don't just insert random travel

Clips all together over music you know

that's going to get you a C or a B gray

but you will not be best of class by

putting a videos together that way what

will help you though is let's say you're

traveling with your friends and this

video kind of follows the day in the

life through a cinematic eye maybe it

shows your start of the day hitting the

alarm clock to wake up maybe it shows

you putting on your pants with like a

POV shot but you know try to keep it

below a certain point and then maybe it

shows you getting into the bus heading

to the kayak station where you then get

in your kayak all of a sudden you've

diff

angles you've got an angle that shows

your paddle going into the water you've

got a wide angle that shows you leaving

the shore you've got another even wider

angle that's been shot with a drone

these are the things that you can

accomplish when you expand your

equipment arsenal of course that doesn't

happen at first but you could do it with

any camera you can always change up the

shot you can always tell different

stories with different perspectives but

I really think it's important that

there's a bit of a continuty a flow that

shows what's going on in this video and

that will definitely be a key if you

want to take your video from it to

uh-huh número

how do you say 7 in Spanish no lesense

number 7 here we go a goal in French

alright so number 7 is movement so if

I'm going to shoot a cinematic sequence

I see this all the time with beginner

sorry I'm just throwing all the

beginners under the bus like this is

this is getting a little graphic there's

just too many people under that bus

right now what you want to do is you

want to think of movement as one

continuous motion so if you're shooting

a nice pan then the pan should look

something like this but then not of a

sudden jerk back I mean there's a few

exceptions but for the most part you

want to do it with one continuous motion

either uniform meaning it's just like

this or an exponential acceleration

maybe it can be like this but what you

don't want is random and sporadic

movements is what I'm trying to get out

here don't go like this then like this

again this is going back to shake it'll

be horrible to watch but another key

example that I see beginners doing is

when they're flying their drones they

tend to use a clip of their drone where

you actually see the drone readjusting

so if you watch any of my travel videos

almost without fail the only shots I use

my drone are the shots that are

continuous if I'm moving forward with my

drone and tilting the camera up if my

camera stops tilting up that is the end

of the shot even though my drone may

still be moving forward that is a stop

in continuous motion the worst is when I

see somebody use a drone clip they speed

it up in the null scent it just turns

left as somebody who's made a lot of

videos that is one of the most horrible

things I can see what's much better is

if you want to do a turn have it a nice

gradual turn now building on the

importance of getting the right shots is

actually making that shot match with the

music so once we've headed over to

epidemic sound we've picked out our

amazing songs from the loss LeBlanc

album what we're going to do is we're

going to of course want to tell that

beautiful story with that song when I'm

putting together the story I take my

videos I take my song of choice and I

make everything based around the song

[Music]

your video needs to build around the

song because the song cannot be altered

cannot be changed at least not easily

but you have the ability to move your

clips around find the song that has the

right mood the right tempo the right

amount of beats per minute

when there's a well-defined beat in the

song it's very easy to cut to it so

every time you get that very audible

sound where it's like either a

percussion or it's a drop that is a

great indicator that this might be a

good time to cut to the next click and

what I like to do is based on the beats

per minute the speed of the song that is

what kind of indicates how many Clips

should I be using so for example if the

song is very mellow I'll probably let

each clip draw on for anywhere from

three to seven seconds each whereas if

it's a high paced song then you're going

to be going through a lot more Clips

individual cuts every time you hear that

that's an indicator that is probably

time to move to the next clip now

sometimes you can have two or three or

even four of these beats within every

cut but try to keep it uniform it's

completely up to you but it's about

training your ear to hear that little

here's a couple of examples of mellow

[Music]

versus high-octane

[Music]

so it can be argued that there's no

right or wrong way to do this but if you

don't cut your clip on the beat you're

doing it the wrong way find the right

song train the ear make the cuts to the

beats and you will bring your video to

the next level tip number nine is

particularly important and I'll stress

it with a very well-known example and

that is the GoPro highlight videos every

year when GoPro releases their brand new

cameras you see this beautiful highlight

reel that shows the most incredible

shots extraordinary colors vibrancy

contrasts all this beautiful stuff

in these shots and you're like oh my

gosh my shots are going to be incredible

you get your GoPro or any other camera

for that matter and you start shooting

with it you're probably gonna find

you're a little disappointed your iPhone

photos didn't look like they looked on

the Apple website the reason the footage

you shoot doesn't look like their

footage is because there is so much work

put into the color grading color grading

is one of the most important ways to

tell your story you can literally take a

gray sky and make it seem like a

beautiful fiery red sunset if you know

what you're doing now color grading is

an art it's something that takes months

and years to get good at so you want to

make a WoW video versus a video then

learn to color grade because contrast

saturation the curves there's so much

you can do with your colors to tell that

story for me color grading is like

getting a set of play-doh you've got all

these beautiful colors and it's up to

you to mold them into the story that you

want to tell I think it's exciting it's

a lot more work though alright now I'm

gonna give you a bonus one because I

just thought of it so technically this

is a twelve tip video but you know again

that's the loss of long value you get

here on the channel so if you haven't

already stop when you're making travel

videos I want to show you some hand

motions that can be really fun for

transitions if you're doing a pan shot

on the beach what you can do is you can

actually end it off with a really quick

movement like that because you're

actually moving so quick at the end of

the shot the human eye can't keep up

with what's going on in the shot and

this is actually an opportunity when

you're cutting to cut the scene right

here when the camera moved really

quickly and transition to another shot

that's maybe panning in the same

direction the same can be said if you're

shooting upward if you're doing a slow

pan upward and then you're like whoosh

like that the viewer sees you panning up

to

the sky and then all of a sudden you

move really quickly they lose track of

the shot now take a drone shot it's like

all of a sudden you've transported the

viewer into the sky when you're going

underwater that moment right where it

goes underwater the viewer kind of can't

see what's going on because the breaking

of the waves gets in the shot cut that

shot with a beautiful underwater

swimming shot with like a dolphin and

all of a sudden it seems like this

magical thing so use those kind of

creative thoughts - like how can I make

a unique transition within this moment

that was not even a full tip that was a

nine point one now the tenth tip the

final tip is don't overdo effects

crossfades the wacky little drizzle

effect that brings on the next frame and

it's like it depends who your audience

is or what your goal is if you're just

trying to make a fun home video that's

nice go ahead use those but if you're

trying to make a like

professional-looking YouTube video that

you want to be proud of and be able to

share that with other people then these

are effects that will definitely make

your stuff feel a little bit beginner I

know some people that use effects and it

can be done very tastefully but

personally I don't use any effects in my

videos fine I'll do all my own effects

basically manually what that means is

I'm either doing stuff with my camera

like this or I'm cropping in on my video

using post-production but I'm not just

using a plug-in and dropping in the

effects be wary when using effects that

it might not have the intended effect

that you're looking for that has been 10

travel tips for your next travel video I

hope you enjoyed this video guys if you

want to see some of my travel videos how

I use my cameras my lenses very the

shots

well I'll link one of my videos that I

think does a really good job showing

that if you're looking for some tropical

vibes escape the cold weather check it

out and if you want to learn more about

my business how I actually run all of

this how I'm able to travel the world

stay in hotels for free and get paid

doing it then check out my patreon

community I actually post weekly behind

the scenes videos just recently posted a

couple videos like how to beat the

algorithm on YouTube how to make money

as a freelancer how to game Instagram

Facebook they all the behind the scenes

to how I'm running this I will not plug

it anymore but I do have an album on

epidemic sound the best way to get music

for anyone who plans to do YouTube

Facebook Instagram etc so if you

want to check it out it's also in the

link down below guys without further ado

let's get lost again in the next one