You’re ready to go on your family vacation and create some great memories and probably get a lot of video and photo content. Vacations always end, but through video you can preserve memories forever.
Armed with selfie-stick in hand you may be poised to capture some of the best moments of your trip, whether it was seeing that amazing sunset or enjoying the expression of wonderment on your children’s faces.
Check out these tips and tricks on how to create that perfect video your family will cherish and share with pride and that your friends will be impressed by.
1. Shoot with the viewer in mind
A great video journey begins much before you get home and are sifting through your footage. It begins when you have your camera in hand on your trip.
It may be tempting to just record whatever appeals to you or strikes your fancy. Instead try and be more strategic. Think about who the main audience will be for your travel video. Will it be your children themselves when they are more grown up? Then think about putting in some clips of yourself explaining to their future-selves why the trip was important to you and how quality moments with them matter. Is the video’s ultimate audience Grandma and Grandpa? Then remember that they want to see both what you did and how their grandkids enjoyed the trip.
Bottom line, trying to keep your audience in mind from the get-go will help hone what you record and guide you in getting the right footage, most engaging footage.
2. Make it about the people
Getting those shots of that amazing sunset or that famous monument is definitely important. But when it is all said and done, the people you spent the trip with matter the most. After all your audience could easily Google images or online videos of where you visited and get a glimpse of the places you visited that way.
Consider giving the camera or other recording device to your kids for a while. Seeing what they see will be interesting to the viewer and yourself when you look back at the trip. Try interviewing your partner and children like a journalist to see what their viewpoints of their experiences are and what they are feeling at any particular moment.
Also remember to get some of the more ‘average’ moments of the trip, such leaving the hotel room or having lunch. These seemingly mundane moments will be more precious in retrospect.
3. Pay attention to audio
When it comes to family travel videos it’s easy to focus on how your video looks and not how it sounds. But when it comes time to edit and put together your video you will find that how your family (and you) sound is important too. Background noise, the sound of the crowds buzzing by and other types of noise pollution can dilute what your children or partner is saying as you are recording them or even your own narration.
To solve this hindrance, try an external microphone. Many smart phones and cameras come with the ability to hook up to inexpensive external microphones which provide better recording sound quality than the built-in mics of smart phones. Also consider that you may want to record your narration after your vacation when your footage is already shot. This is a great way to explain how the different scenes in your video connect or explain what the viewer is seeing. A simple-to-use video editing software like Corel’s VideoStudio or Pinnacle Studio will let you do this easily.
Also remember you can add music to your video after editing. Having the right music will set the mood of the video and make your video more engaging.
4. Pick the right video editing software
You do not have to be a professional to edit videos. If the thought of learning or using a video editing software scares you – it shouldn’t. There is video editing software on the market that cater to your specific needs and skill levels – such as that of editing an awesome family travel video.
Look for video editing programs that tout their ease of use, such as VideoStudio, in which you can make a movie in minutes with templates and easily customize these to make it your own. There a lots of useful features in VideoStudio to make your video pop. You can add text overlays to add titles throughout your video, freeze frame if you want to stop the action to that single frame of your child’s amazed smile, or play with speed with variable speed and easily speed up or slow down certain parts of your travel video for dramatic effect. Want to play with colors or filters? VideoStudio makes it easy to drag and drop effects to your video.
Or if you are an experienced video editor and want more control, power and precision (while still at an affordable price point) then consider Pinnacle Studio. It’s loaded with 2,000+ effects, transitions, templates and tools, including Audio Ducking which automatically balances your dialog with your added background music.
Remember there is nothing more frustrating than compiling all that great video of your precious travel memories only to be discouraged by hard-to-use or overly-complex video editing software. Instead choose the software that is right for you that will get your awesome family travel video ready to share and cherish in a snap.
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