3 things I learned DIY-ing my first marketing video

I tried my hands at video content creation for the first time recently and I wanted to share some thoughts and get some feedback on the results/business. I like to think I have an eye for aesthetics and know how to communicate ideas well but creating marketing videos feels like a whole different beast. I definitely feel more respect for film-makers after going through this!

Before I get into it, I shot this mostly on my iPhone 13. I used CapCut to do the video editing for the gentle learning curve. I used a little bit of Veo 3 for generating some of the final scenes just because I didn't have another spot to shoot at. Without further ado here's what I learned:

You don't need fancy camera or lighting equipment.. But it sure does help
With a little bit of creativity, you could rig yourself up a camera stand, and a light diffuser without needing to spend hundreds of dollars. Although, having it sure doesn't hurt. For this video, there were times I had to prop my phone up on a stool and lean it against a small cardboard box to get it still and recording at the right angle. I probably wasted several minutes having to reshoot because my phone fell and I had to reposition it.

Plan all your scenes out before you start recording
To be honest, I improvised quite a bit with how this video was going to come together. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, so I captured the scenes I thought I needed. But when it came time to put things together, it didn't quite line up the way I wanted or the timing of things was off. I had to reshoot some things or find ways to extend the length of some scenes by freezing the frame. I think if I spent some extra time drawing up what scene happens when and for how long, I could have gotten this video done cleaner and faster.

Record the same scene a thousand times
Okay, a thousand is an exaggeration but you get what I mean. I can't tell you how much time it would have saved me if I had just taken the extra time to record the same scene but with variations like camera angle, lighting, etc. There's been a few times where I had to set everything back up so I could re-record it exactly the way I wanted. It might feel silly and excessive but future you will thank you for it.

That's all for now. I have some more I can share but I didn't want to make this post too long. I'm happy to share a link on the final result if there's enough people interested to take a look.

Anyways, has anyone else had tried their hand to DIY their own marketing materials? How well did that work out for you?