3 Smart and Simple Hacks to Create Cinematic B-roll and Behind-the-Scenes Videos
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One of the best ways to maximize your content is to capture your everyday business-as-usual events or activities.
So today I'm going to share with you my 3 top favorite ways to do this and show you how you can make a ton of different content out of one event.
3 Smart & Simple Video Content Hacks:
Below, you can preview all 3 video content hacks (B ROLL, GIF Animations, and Timelapse Videos) before I break each one down step-by-step for you.
We made all this content using behind-the-scenes style footage captured during a recent workshop event that we held with our Podcast EditLab alumni students.
But before I show you how we created it all, I’d like to introduce myself in case this is the first time we’re meeting.
Hey, I’m Studio Steve and you've arrived at the Pod Sound School, where we are obsessed with podcasting and helping you level up your content creation skills so you can make more money.
And these 3 hacks are definitely going to help you level up your video content creation skills! What do you say we get right to it?
#1 Camera Slider for CINEMATIC B-ROLL
So let's start with #1 on the list: camera slider behind-the-scenes shots.
These shots are so much fun! And while it does take a camera slider track, let me show you how cool it is to use.
It's actually pretty affordable, $349 on Amazon.
If you want to add a little movement to your shots, this is also something that you can DIY, even if you are shooting alone.
So I thought it'd be really cool — before I break this down — to show you how we just used this hack for a recent workshop we did for our alumni inside of our Podcast EditLab Program.
Part of maintaining their certification and staying at the cutting edge and being the best editors in the industry means quarterly workshop with really fun guest editors.
And last night we had a killer editor, Agustin, give a presentation in Adobe Premiere to our EditLab alumni. He got into all sorts of advanced video editing.
But we followed our own advice and before we hopped into the workshop, before we hopped into the presentation, we asked ourselves…
“How can we get the most out of our efforts here and repurpose this into content for social media, for our website, and B-roll for our future YouTube videos?”
So here is the Great Video Maker Camera Slider:
MOUNT THE CAMERA SLIDER TRACK ON UP TO 3 STANDS
NOTE: It doesn't come with the 3 stands pictured above. These are just standard light stands that you would use for lights. Since the stands are adjustable, you can actually screw the stands into this track and raise the track up to a good height.
THE BASE PLATE & BALL HEAD: FOR ATTACHING YOUR CAMERA
The track comes with this base plate that slides along the top of the track.
You can either mount your camera directly to the base plate (I do NOT recommend this) or you can use either:
the tripod ball head (included in the package)
or your smartphone holder (sold separately)
A RED KNOB AT EACH ENDPOINT: FOR ADJUSTING THE PARALLAX BAR
Notice here on each side of the track we have a red knob that we can turn, and when we turn this knob, it actually moves the parallax bar located in the middle of the track.
The parallax bar will rotate the wheel located in the center of the base plate, and as a result, rotate your camera in one direction or the other as the base plate slides across the track.
I can illustrate that below. See, as I slide the red knob backward and forward, the camera rotates right and left.
So, as we are getting our shot on one side of the track, we can move which way the camera is going to point.
PANORAMIC CAMERA SHOT
As seen in the video above, you can have the camera rotate really wide from one side of the room to the other side to get a very panoramic shot.
FOCUSED CAMERA SHOT
Or you can keep the camera focused on or point at an item, area, or person in the middle of the room. And then as the camera slides, it will maintain focus on that one item or spot.
So as you can see, you have a lot of control here.
Now let’s get the base plate to slide from side to side along the track and let me show you how I typically set this bad guy up.
Shooting Cinematic B-roll of Veronica Co-Hosting Our Virtual Workshop (Step-By-Step)
What I’d like to capture here is Veronica sitting in her chair at the table. She's going to be talking with and engaging with our alumni in the workshop so I'd like to film her and also the faces of the virtual classroom participants on her computer screen.
At the same time, it'd be really cool to have the camera slide and move in fun ways.
And then we can either slow that down or speed it up and create some cool time-lapse footage.
STEP 1: CENTER YOUR CAMERA
Move the base plate (with your camera mounted) to the middle of the track to calibrate your basic shot
Use the left and right arrow buttons on the wired digital control panel to move the plate
NOTE: There is an option to get a wireless controller, but then you’ll have to worry about it running out of battery power
Go ahead and move your camera to the middle
You can increase the speed to 100% so that it moves more quickly — use the up arrow to do that
Once it's in the middle, press the center button to stop it
STEP 2: ADJUST YOUR CAMERA’S SHOT
In the middle, adjust the camera angle to where you want it
To do that, adjust the ball head (attached to the middle of the sliding base plate) like you adjust your camera on a stationary tripod
STEP 3: MOVE YOUR CAMERA TO POINT A (THE START POINT)
Tell the Great Video Maker Camera Slider where you want the start point of the track movement to begin
To do that, move your camera all the way to the beginning (the right side of the track) and press the center button to stop it
STEP 4: USE THE CONTROLLER TO SET THE BASE PLATE’S POSITION FOR POINT A (THE START POINT)
Hold down the center button to go to the previous menu.
To return to the settings menu (the first menu), hold down the center button again
In the Settings menu, you can choose Video Shot, Time Lapse, or Setting
Select Setting
Select Set Start
It will show you the numerical value or code (the “Step” value) for that specific position on the track
STEP 5: LOCK IN THE SET START VALUE
Press the center button to set the START value — the “Step” value and the “Set Start” value should now match, and all the text should now be white (as seen below)
Next, hold the center button down to return to the Setting menu
STEP 6: USE THE CONTROLLER TO SET UP POINT B (THE ENDPOINT)
In the Setting menu
Select Set End
Next, press the arrow button to move the camera to the left end of the track
Press the center button once to stop it
Once it’s positioned, press the center button to set the endpoint
It will show you the numerical value or code (the “Step” value) for that specific position on the track
Press the center button to set the END value — the “Step” value and the “Set End” value should now match, and all the text should now be white (as seen below)
Next, hold the center button down to return to the Setting menu
CONGRATULATIONS, THE START AND END POINTS ARE SET!
Now that the start and end are set, hold down the center button again to return to the Settings menu (Video Shot, Time Lapse, Setting)
STEP 7: SET THE CAMERA SHOT ANGLE AT THE START AND ENDPOINTS
Now it’s time to calibrate the camera at each end.
This is where you can really take advantage of the spinning movement that this Great Video Maker Camera Slider offers.
SET THE CAMERA ANGLE FOR POINT B (THE ENDPOINT):
Here on the left side, point B, decide how far you want the camera to rotate when it reaches the left side of the track
Use the red knob to move the parallax bar and rotate your camera to the desired angle
On this side, I want the camera to move to see our PSS logo
Once your camera is positioned, tighten the red knob
Now as my camera slides towards the left side of the track, it's also going to rotate and point more to the left.
SELECT “AUTO LOOP” MODE
In the Settings menu
Select Video Shot
Select Auto Mode
Select Auto Loop
Now you can press either one of the arrow buttons to start moving the camera along the track, and it will automatically slide back and forth from endpoint to endpoint until you press stop (the center button)
SET THE CAMERA ANGLE FOR POINT A (THE START POINT):
Move your camera back to point A on the right end of the track
Press the center button to stop
Here on the right side, decide how far you want the camera to rotate when it reaches the right side of the track
Use the red knob to move the parallax bar and rotate your camera to the desired angle
I'll center it more on Veronica, where she will be sitting
Once your camera is positioned, tighten the red knob
STEP 8: NOW IT’S TIME TO CHECK THE CAMERA MOVEMENT
A VERY PANORAMIC FIELD OF VIEW:
Below you can see how the camera is recording a very panoramic field of view because it angles really far outward to the left when it gets to the left side of the track
A CENTER FOCUSED FIELD OF VIEW:
You can also set the camera up to have a central focus. As the camera slides to the left side of the track, it continues to focus on more of a central spot and instead rotates inward to the right. The inward rotation angle is very impressive.
STEP 9: ADJUST THE SPEED
And finally, the other cool feature to point out about this camera slider is the speed. I’ve been demonstrating the fastest speed which is 100%.
You can adjust the speed anywhere between 100% (fastest) and 1% (slowest).
1% is very slow, but it makes the camera slider very quiet if you need it to be very quiet for shooting.
1% is also an ideal speed for time-lapse photography.
For the shot of Veronica, I set the camera slider to about 50% so it moves relatively slowly. You be the judge of the results.
Using this footage of Veronica and the students recorded with the GVM camera slider, I will quickly create B-roll that we can use for our:
#2 Photoshoot GIF ANIMATIONS
And it's time to move on to hack #2 and a top favorite of ours. We do this all the time here at Pod Sound School. And that is photoshoot GIF animations.
I love screenshots and I think that it should be a mandate to always be armed and ready to take screenshots.
Apple computers have 2 really cool quick keys for taking screenshots:
The first one is shift + command + 3 — this will take an instant screenshot of your entire screen and of whatever screen is attached to your computer as well.
And then there's shift + command + 4 — which is also really cool. It gives you this little plus icon that allows you to create a marquee and select a certain area on your screen that you want to take a screenshot of.
Both of these quick keys are so useful when it comes to creating quick content because you can upload the screenshots to Canva and instantly edit them yourself or share them with your post-production team.
Our 3 favorite use cases for screenshots at the Pod Sound School:
Making behind-the-scenes GIFs of our workshops
Making animated GIFs to break the ice with our virtual podcast guests before we record an episode with them. Doing a little photo shoot with our guests is a fun way to loosen the mood and get a little silly at first.
Capturing some footage that our editors can look at and extract photos from that can wind up being used for our YouTube thumbnail designs, individual episode artwork, or even fun GIFs or animated videos of us.
How to Create An Animated GIF in Canva
So let's hop into Canva and I'll show you how easy it is to create your own GIF and how I created one of the workshop that we hosted last night.
Oh, and also on the topic of the workshop of amazing alumni editors, have you thought about becoming a creative professional editing video and podcast for a living?
We have a 12-week program called Podcast EditLab. You can go to podcastingsmart.com/editlab to find out all the details.
First, let me show you how I made this GIF animation (the one in the video below) for a community post on YouTube.
STEP 1: CREATE MULTIPLE POSES OF YOUR SUBJECT
If you have multiple poses of your subject, because you've done a photo shoot, then you can create a template that you can duplicate over and over to build a GIF animation.
STEP 2: CREATE A TEMPLATE (IMAGE #1) IN CANVA
STEP 3: DUPLICATE YOUR ORIGINAL TEMPLATE IMAGE
Duplicate the page by clicking on the duplicate icon.
STEP 4: CHOOSE A NEW POSE AND ADD TO IMAGE #2
Now, when I choose a new pose and click and drag it into place, Canva will intelligently use the same background remover and glow effect that I used on my original template image.
I can resize the new pose and make it look the way I want.
And then just continue to repeat the process, duplicating the page and adding a new pose.
STEP 5: REPEAT THE STEPS UNTIL YOU HAVE AT LEAST 4 VARIATIONS
STEP 6: SET THE DURATION TO 0.5 SECONDS
Once I have a series of pictures that I'm happy with, I ensure that the timing of these pages is set the way I want it to for my GIF animation.
Click on show pages (carrot tab at the bottom middle of Canva)
Then click on duration (below the strip of pages) to show the edit timing settings
Change the duration to 0.5 seconds and switch on apply to all pages.
STEP 7: DOWNLOAD YOUR GIF ANIMATION
When you're ready, click on share and download
Choose GIF, in the file type dropdown menu
(Optional) You can usually get away with making the GIF pretty big if you only have four or five pictures
Click the download button
The process is basically the same for anything you want to create a GIF from — like a photo shoot, stop-motion style photography, or a series of frames from video footage.
CREATING A VIRTUAL GROUP GIF
In the case of our workshop here, we asked all of our alumni to make a series of poses.
Then I chose 4 of my favorite poses and duplicated the set 8 times to make a set of 32 images.
This is because I want to create a high-quality MP4 video that I can use for Instagram reels or possibly EditLab promotional material for our website.
This GIF would also work really great in emails and lots of other places.
When making a GIF, you really only need four pictures because the GIF will repeat into infinity.
So have fun and experiment with some JIFs or GIFs 😉 or whatever you want to call 'em. 🤣
#3 iPhone TIMELAPSE
And the third on our list (this one's really simple) is iPhone time-lapse shots.
My all-time favorite use of the iPhone is the time-lapse video feature. I think it's perfect for getting behind-the-scenes footage of our everyday work and life.
These time-lapse videos are so easy to create if we're busy and need extra content in a hurry in addition to what our editor is giving us.
They perform really well on social media — just little time-lapse videos of:
you doing your thing
your day-to-day work
a Zoom meeting that you're in
or a project that you're working on that's specific to your industry and relevant to your people
All you have to do is post your little time-lapse video and add captions, stickers, or any fun bells and whistles on each vertical video platform.
And if you want to get really fancy, yes, you can use your iPhone with the Great Video Maker Camera Slider Track that we illustrated in section #1 of the post
USE CAPCUT TO ADD FANCY CAPTIONS TO YOUR TIMELAPSE VERTICAL VIDEOS
On the topic of smartphone and vertical videos, a really fun app that you ought to try out is CapCut. They have a lot of incredible templates and text animations and captions.
First, make timelapse videos with your smartphone (10 minutes or less so the file size doesn’t get too big)
Share them with your Google Drive
Download them to your computer
Throw the videos into CapCut
There are templates in Capcut that are ready to go that are perfect for vertical format and social media sharing.
You can get those captions in the text safe area.
And there you have it. I know, pretty cool stuff.
Conclusion
Maximizing your content creation by capturing everyday business activities can be both fun and highly effective.
These 3 smart and simple video content hacks…
Utilizing a camera slider B-roll footage
Creating GIF animations in Canva
Recording iPhone timelapse videos
…are not only an easy way to produce engaging and professional-looking content, but also versatile, allowing you to repurpose footage for various platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and your blog.
And for a huge bonus: implementing these strategies can significantly enhance your content library, ensuring that you always have fresh, eye-catching visuals to share with your audience.
Remember, the key is to stay creative and make the most out of every event or activity.
Whether you’re a seasoned content creator or just starting, these hacks will help you elevate your video creation skills and help you build a lot of “know, like, and trust” with your audience.
So, go ahead and start experimenting with these easy techniques, and watch your content stand out!
But let's not stop with these 3 amazing hacks.
Let's get even more advanced with our editing and content creation hacks. In this video right here, I take you behind the scenes with me as I create a YouTube podcast video intro for a client. I use Envato, After Effects, and Adobe Premiere. You're not going to want to miss out on this one.
Also, remember, if you would like to become a professional video and podcast editor, check out our Podcast EditLab.
