Wandsworth Young Chamber Meets iPhone Video

​iPhone Film Making Masterclass for SMEs brings businesses and students together to learn low-cost ways of promoting yourselves using a smartphone.

On 24th May expert videomaker Peter Roach of Visual Monkeys came to enlighten Wandsworth Young Chamber members about video film-making using your smartphone. Surprisingly, he showed video that proved it was possible to get professional standard results using the tools available within the phone or free downloadable apps.

Steve Pinto, CEO of Wandsworth Chamber, introduced the event at the University of Roehampton, struggling on despite bouts of coughing from hay fever – he told the packed audience that success comes through “Dispelling fear factors and barriers.” This was the third event to bring Young Chamber members together with businesspeople to help them network and understand the world of business.

Peter has had a long and distinguished career as a newsgatherer for BBC, Sky News, Channel 5 and corporate videos. He uses DSLRs and high-quality video cameras, but praises the smartphone for its simplicity. He says, “You can use one where you don’t want to attract attention, or let the subject know you are filming them.”

He advised people to use their smartphone in Airplane mode – so the filming is not interrupted by texts or phone calls. Most of the expensive accessories you can get for a smartphone are not worth investing in, although he did show a small tripod he “got in Poundland for a quid.” which seems fantastic value. If there were two takeaways from this evening it would be get the sound right – bad sound is much more unappealing to the audience that wonky visuals; and take gaffer tape with you. It is easy to “Gaff” a smartphone to any available surface – or even a bicycle – to get interesting shots.

Peter showed how to create a short story film using imaginative shooting of a bicycle accident, which flows together and is interesting visually. For editing, it is best to use a laptop or PC rather than your smartphone, because the screen is bigger. There are various editing apps which are free or at most £15, which can help you produce a good quality end result.

It was enlightening how much technology is available at low cost or free for the smartphone. Peter even demonstrated a teleprompter app, so you could tape two smartphones together on your eyeline – one to scroll the script as you read it, one to record, so you would have your own virtual TV studio.

Peter answered questions from the audience as he went along, making the session quite interactive. The event ended with some absolutely delicious canapes, and a networking session between attendees.

www.visualmonkeys.com

Written by Julian Jackson - Wandsworth Chamber’s blogger, whose interests encompass technology, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the environment, as well as photography and film. His portfolio is here:
https://julianj.journoportfolio.com www.brightgreenpr.co.uk www.bitcoin-consultancy.co.uk  

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