Product videos and photography play crucial roles across many fields. Everyone from your local budding pottery shop, to the top dogs at Apple and Google rely on spreading the word about their products. What better way than to give the people what they want: delicious and exciting shots that make you want to throw your money away. Here’s a few tips on how you can shoot great product videos from home.
1. Cover Your Angles
Depending on the type of product videos you plan on filming, there are a few different camera angles to consider. If it’s a product review you’re after, then having a camera angle for you to address your viewers is wise. While it’s not necessary, and plenty of YouTubers make fantastic videos without ever showing their face, adding a personal touch is always a plus.
For most other shots, whether you’ve been commissioned by a client to create product videos for a marketing campaign, or you need coverage for your product review, you’ll need b-roll. While you can use handheld shots for sleek b-roll, using a tripod is essential for hero shots. Tripods that allow for a top-down view are also helpful for demonstrating and displaying the products you interact with.
2. Find the Light
Make sure your room is well-lit in order to showcase the product’s best features. It sounds simple enough, but you’d be surprised how much of a difference paying close attention to your lighting can make.
Even if you currently have a lighting setup that you think is sufficient, consulting a guide like this one, may give you an idea for any improvements.
3. Lens Selection
Having multiple lenses is important depending on your subject matter. For the sake of ease, we’ll focus on Canon; if you’re one Team Sony or Camp Nikon, fret not, they all have comparable glass.
When it comes to product videos and photography alike, the judges are almost all in agreement that Canon’s L series 100mm macro lens is the king. If you’re looking for a lens that can capture all of the intricate details that you (and your clients) hope viewers notice, while also having that oh-so-sweet shallow depth of field (aka blurry background), look no further than this lens. YouTuber Peter McKinnon sums it up best.
4. Unboxing vs. In-Depth Review
This next one is more focused on the type of product video. Depending on your audience, you can focus solely on surface level elements of the product or dive deep into specifics in an in-depth review
Believe it or not, there is a dedicated niche of viewers who absolutely LOVE unboxing videos. Whether it’s to satiate their appetite until they can get their hands on it, or to simply live vicariously through reviewers who share their love for the product, you can build a dedicated fanbase with these videos alone. Ever heard of the channel Unbox Therapy?
The other side of the coin is the more detailed, in-depth review. These videos go over every major (and minor) detail that a curious mind would want to know. These are the videos you consult when you’re trying to decide between one product and another.
That’s not to say that there isn’t overlap between these types of product videos and their respective audiences. You can surely make solid content serving both niches, much like one of the best reviewers in the game, Marques Brownlee.
5. Show and Tell
Last but not least, if possible, give your audience real-world examples of the product. If you’re reviewing a new camera, try to use it to shoot the b-roll for the very video they’ll be watching. What better way to get an all-encompassing review than to see the very product in action.
