if I can be so real, writing about video content creation here feels like sacrilege. I know I know I KNOWWWW it’s supposed to be our escape from the antics of the short-form algorithms. I can just see the ~sErIOUs WriTerS~ seething when they see this headline. but, like… I’m a writer who likes writing about this kind of stuff. so. I’m doing that. if you’re a reader who likes reading about it, let’s fucking go.
the most common complaint I get from my community whenever I bring up the topic of “filming things” is how fucking annoying the whole process is. the drain of taking a video concept from idea to edited post has become a punchline in the social media space, a meme-able endeavour that shaves hours off your life and literally steals hours from your day.
we’ve all had the experience of having a brilliant idea, following the seemingly “simple” steps to executing it right then and there, only to lift our heads in a haze an undetermined amount of time later with the post still not done and also, it looks shittier than it did in our heads and we don’t even feel like posting it anymore.
sure, you can avoid Reels and TikTok all-together, but video content will find you regardless. it looks like substack will be leaning more towards it in the next year (don’t shoot the messenger!!!) and the only seemingly positive news in the internet ether right now is the vine resurrection.
I do believe that you can have social media success without forcing yourself to make tons of shit in mediums that don’t align with your innate creative skillsets (i.e. if you really fucking despise a certain type o content, you can grow without emphasizing it, EVEN if it’s video) but as a forward-facing brand on the internet, video plays an very important role in trust-building. as we get increasingly disturbed by the AI of it all, the more 3-dimensionally you can share your likeness the better.
if you can’t stand to think about video as an act of your own artistic expression, at minimum know that it’s an anti-catfishing tool. for most of us, the goal of our online platforms is to get in a room with our audience in real-time at some point, whether that’s on zoom, IRL events, speaking on stages, booking podcast interviews, or even collaborating with brands or investors if you don’t work super closely with clients. either way, video content helps folks decide if they wanna be in that room with you.
all this is to say: you’re gonna have to make a few videos. the list below is everything you need to do that without wasting so much precious time about it.
001 / film on the phone camera
let’s start with the most foundational tip of all: do not, under any circumstances, film your video within the app itself unless you literally only plan to post it there. but I don’t recommend you only plan to post it there, because in the current social media landscape you’re missing eyes and opportunities when you silo yourself to once space, and this entire article is about working smarter not harder.
why this works: once you’ve filmed something on your phone camera, you can repurpose it across all platforms without text or watermark, using the same video over and over again between stories, reels, tiktok, youtube shorts, threads, substack notes…
002 / decide on two primary editing styles
I KNOOOOW you’re gonna see 3842834298374 options for how your videos could look every single time you open your phone. it’s important that you ignore them and stick to the shit that works best for you. of the content you find yourself most jealous of — jealous is a powerful creative motivator in my experience — choose two that you’re willing to master. I recommend that at least one of those already feels easy for you (or at least less overwhelming to learn). bonus points if they both do!!! more complicated ≠ more engaging.
why this works: it removes decisions from your plate so you can skip the waffling of “what’s this one gonna look like” and hop straight to filming + editing in a style that’s yours. over time, these styles will get increasingly familiar and you’ll become more efficient, getting those reps in rather than re-inventing the wheel every time.
003 / stick to the editing ratio rule
scroll through your reels feed and you’ll see one thing over and over: the videos that keep you watching to the end have a rhythmic cadence designed to keep you watching. that day-in-the-life that somehow lines up perfectly to the beat of the music? the OOTD where you realize you’ve accidentally been personally responsible for at least 75 of it’s views because the cuts are so seamless? there’s actually just a formula for that and it’s going to save your fucking life, not to be dramatic. the trick is: fast-paced audio, cut every clip to 0.3s or 0.6s. if the audio is a little slower, try 1.2s. if you’re working with a vlog where music is less important but you still want a smooth viewing experience, decide on a single time frame — I like to do either 1s or 2s — and stick to it for all the clips as you cut from scene to scene.
why it works: the process of editing becomes a no-brainer when you have recipes you can follow every single time. plus, strategically, this style of editing also increases watch time because it keeps the audience bopping along to the pace of your clips. every video may not need this editing style, but it certainly serves for some.
004 / film once, edit (at least) twice
when I film a scene, I’m usually creating handfuls and handfuls of videos from it. for example, if I film a GRWM, there will be one video that shows the full process from start to finish — but every step of the process can be it’s own video, too. pulling on a sweater. the part where I’m painting on my eyebrows. etc.
even if you’ve just filmed one simple movement (like walking into a room and sitting down at your desk) I recommend at least two edits: one that’s a continuous movement with no cuts (i.e. the 10s it takes for you to settle into your seat) and with cuts (where you’ve isolated each moment that the plot advances). here’s an example of an uncut outfit vs. one where I did a few jump cuts.
this goes for length, too! every video I usually have an option that’s around ~5s and an option that’s around ~12, just in case I want to put more or less text on the screen. (more text = more time to read, so you can get away with a longer video, but less text = less time to read, so keep the video shorter so it loops more often).
why it works: not every video works for every idea, but having multiple options on hand means you don’t have to know what video or post concept you’re going to be pairing with it before you edit. AKA you can batch a TON of content and just pull from whatever works best when it’s time to post.
005 / keep your tools close and simple
the only two things I use for filming ever are a tripod and a suction case. but here’s where it gets really dramatic — I don’t always have the suction case on my phone, because fashion, and so I keep several of them in specific places based on where I do the most filming (which is always near windows, because, lighting). one I keep in a kitchen drawer, the other in a bedroom drawer, and the third IN MY FUCKING PURSE because you never know when you might walk by a smooth cold surface and get the urge to stick your phone to it. to that same end, I’m often “wearing” (?) phone cases that are like, lumpy or weirdly shaped (for whimsy!) so having a case in my bag with a flat bottom makes it easier to prop my phone up on a table or lean it against my water glass if I want to grab a quick shot in public.
why it works: this removes the barriers to filming and makes it faster for you to identify an opportunity + turn it into something without having to fuck around with angles or lighting or tools that may or may not suit the setting.
006 / face the sun
this is the simplest way to get content that is super high-quality. whether you’re walking around outside, sitting in a cafe, or in your own home, literally turn your body towards wherever the NATURAL LIGHT is coming from when you’re filming. (the lighting gets better the closer to get to the source, so if you find that even by a window you aren’t getting the light you like, try standing in front of an open door. Brigitta used that technique on this video and like, woahhh).
why it works: this is photography 101 and allows the camera to pick up on all the details because the light is literally illuminating them, and the more your camera can see the higher quality the output ends up being (this is why videos are often grainy when they’re shot in low light, and we accidentally create those conditions when we face our back to the sun instead of our front).
007 / choose your complexity
some videos are going to demand a little more of you — like multiple angles and locations, for example. try to pair that with a simpler editing style to lessen the load overall. likewise, if something was relatively easy to film, that might be a better time to play with new editing approaches if you’re starting to feel curious. obviously “complex” is subjective, but know which parts of the process take the most out of you and don’t stack all your hards together under one video concept.
why it works: honestly I don’t believe filming EVER has to be complicated, but I do get that sometimes it’s fun to experiment or create things that are a bit more involved. this way, you get to play with styles that inspire you while still making the process efficient where you can.
008 / save inspo you can emulate
you’re gonna hate all your videos if you’re saving inspo from a cozy chalet in the south of France but you live in an industrial loft in downtown Los Angeles, and it will take you MUCH longer to find your stride when it comes to your creative style if you’re constantly referencing a blueprint for a whole different building, if that metaphor hits. start creating a catalogue of go-to inspo sources that make sense with your content strategy and actually pay attention to the layouts of the spaces they’re filming in, the angles they’re using, the lighting choices…
why it works: similar to finding some styles you can stick to, having consistent inspo sources that align with your ACTUAL EXISTENCE creates a more streamlined process from idea → inspo → creation.
009 / identify opportunities instead of waiting for them
we all know that scramble of “oh fuck I should be filming this!!!” before the moment passes and you didn’t get to document it or enjoy it. at the top of every week, look through your calendar and identify where and when you’ll have the chance to film. for added efficiency, see if you can do this with things you were already gonna do anyway. for example, “film makeup routine” on a day you were going to do your makeup. or “coffee shop vlog” on a morning you always go to a coffee shop.
why it works: you’re approaching circumstances with foresight which allows you to carve out the time required to film around an experience, and you’re capitalizing on things you were going to be doing anyway, so the content creation itself only adds a few extra minutes to the day (setting up for filming) vs. the potential hours it would take to stage those same things later.
010 / task batch
film when you’re filming. edit when you’re editing. do bounce between the two. when I sit down to edit, I am in EDITING MODE. I will grab a coffee, sit on a park bench, and go through aaaaalll the videos I’ve filmed through the week and edit ‘em all in one sitting. I love getting in that zone of focus and it’s SO satisfying to walk away with a full range of fresh vids to play with. highly recommend you schedule this session every 2 weeks or so, and highly recommend you romanticize the shit out of it.
why it works: oh, you’ll see.
