How to make skatevideos where I filmed myself more interesting?

[SlapMcKracken]

I mean I don’t have anybody who can film me most of the time, so I put my cellphone somewhere to film an obstacle and just skate.

I wish I would have somebody filming me, but I don’t, so how can I edit those videos to make them more interesting? Any creative ideas?

Is it possible to film it from further away and then after edit it and zoom in on it a bit - and keeping focus on me to at least get a little bit of movement in it?

I have no experience in editing videos if you didn’t realize.

[Lukabrazi]

someone who is good at this is Brad Cromer, he posts a lot of clips that seem to be his phone propped up somewhere or on a tripod. maybe reach out to him. It seems like he just finds spots that are interesting looking, and finds a suitable angle that isn't too zoomed out, I'd say try and frame yourself without having to zoom in and you will be much better off. also skate cool and unique looking spots.

[zozu]

Opened the thread to say the same thing, Cromer has the best looking self filmed clips I've ever seen.
His framing and lighting is always on point, so Id say a good adjustable tripod and playing with your camera settings would be the place to start.

Theres a bunch in this edit worth taking inspiration from:

[funeral_tuxedo]

Spanky adds little animations and weird photoshop transitions to his IG edits

[BrockSamson]

as with most things, the answer is to just copy Chris Cole.

[able]

You can buy a drone and self film a part with it. Worked for me lol

[JumpManShorty]

You can buy a drone and self film a part with it. Worked for me lol

Bro’s got mean pop for 40 (unless I read the title wrong then no disrespect haha)

[fredgallSOTY]

add cool special effects like an explosion or an old-time movie filter

[rawbertson.]

check out Abe Bethel curb lord on instagram. he uses a go pro that has a this feature that actually auto detects you skating and will follow you as you are doing the ledge. it looks really good actaully. i am not a huge fan of go pro clips but his actually look quite good especially for the type of skating he does. @abebethel

Ryan Gallant is another great example of someone really good with the tripod. Most of those brad cromer clips were filmed by someone else - nearly every clip on Ryans page in the last few years has been filmed by himself. He even puts the tripod onto a skateboard and then pushes it ahead !!! @visit_ryangallant on instagram

[rawbertson.]

Spanky adds little animations and weird photoshop transitions to his IG edits

is it actually photoshop? I was thinking it was likely an app on the phone he uses to do it. Seems like a lot of work to import all those clips to the PC, do the edits, then put it back onto the phone to upload. also it would have to be android since ios doesnt let yo usave outside shit to the camera roll. I know instagram allows you to actaully upload from the PC now but it doesnt let you upload Reels like this. I think its just some editing software on the phone but I actually havent found any software yet that seems powerful enough to handle it. upon further inspection from his clips it seems like they are not necessarily phone clips either just by the way they are cropped it looks like they were maybe scaled down from a camera so it is even more possible he is editing these all on PC and then sending to phone to upload.

[EAT PUSSY!]

https://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2020/05/12/jenkem-guide-filming/

[whale]

Get a tripod, lock your exposure.
You can crop a video, but you’ll lose quality, so I’d say try to get it as tight as possible from the beginning.

[rawbertson.]

Get a tripod, lock your exposure.
You can crop a video, but you’ll lose quality, so I’d say try to get it as tight as possible from the beginning.

there is a guy i know who does this cropping to make it look like he is following the shot / panning but it looks like such ass. really nukes the quality. if you really need that follow then get the go pro thing or just get a filmre for that clip.

[justpassingthrough]

check out Abe Bethel curb lord on instagram. he uses a go pro that has a this feature that actually auto detects you skating and will follow you as you are doing the ledge. it looks really good actaully. i am not a huge fan of go pro clips but his actually look quite good especially for the type of skating he does. @abebethel

Ryan Gallant is another great example of someone really good with the tripod. Most of those brad cromer clips were filmed by someone else - nearly every clip on Ryans page in the last few years has been filmed by himself. He even puts the tripod onto a skateboard and then pushes it ahead !!! @visit_ryangallant on instagram

I was going to say the same thing.  They make a tripod that tracks motion so it pans with you looking like someone is following you as you approach the obstacle. 

[whale]

Expand Quote

Get a tripod, lock your exposure.
You can crop a video, but you’ll lose quality, so I’d say try to get it as tight as possible from the beginning.

[close]

there is a guy i know who does this cropping to make it look like he is following the shot / panning but it looks like such ass. really nukes the quality. if you really need that follow then get the go pro thing or just get a filmre for that clip.

I think Ryan Gallant (also a master of the selfie clip game) has rigged up some kind of dolly for filming himself.

E: here it is

[yourbreakfsat]

Alexis Sablone did this. Gist of it is multiple angles, some b-roll, and tracking.

[SneakySecrets]

You could embrace the limitations and push amateurism to the limits: water bottle blocking half the screen, out of focus, filmed from a quarter mile away, rig phone to fall down at the end of the clip, etc.

Or just pay the homeless to film for you like I do. 

[Shred Nugent]

Get a tripod, lock your exposure.
You can crop a video, but you’ll lose quality, so I’d say try to get it as tight as possible from the beginning.

This pretty much nailed it. Get a decent tripod and get creative.

[Willie]

Change angles, different spots. Never do more than 2 trick with the same camera position in an edit.

[Natas Fauxas]

I gotta agree with the posts so far. This is the nicest i have ever seen this community be to someone as far as constructive input. No dickhead comments, just straight help and great examples of the right answer. Gj yall.

[Plan9Customs]

Film your tricks from different angles(ie do the same trick multiple times and get a bunch of angles) and you can edit it so the view changes before, during, and after. If it’s on a half or 1/4 strap a tripod to your board and roll it in(half pipe) when you drop the n it’ll follow along fairly well for 2-3 tricks. Quarters start off and once you get close put the ‘filmer’ board down so it’s going to be rolling behind you at a slightly slower speed. Play with fisheyes as well. Shoot stuff POV.
One thing about a filmer board though, if you use it for street or stuff on asphalt/concrete, use really big soft wheels or you’ll get super shakey cam.
Try looking at footy from @fustoop on IG as well, he used to do a lot of self shot edits that were really good.

[Murge]

Alot of good info in this thread.

I skate alone most the time and when I’m not I feel weird asking someone to film a clip.

But there’s an app called focuslive and it has key frames so you can kinda use it like skater xl editing but they only allow 4 key frames to use more you have to have the premium edition. And they count zooming as a frame so it isn’t that helpful but if it’s worth the price to you  it may be a cool tool to use.

Also I use an app called clips a lot. It takes a bit to get it down but you can kinda follow cam yourself with it like if you are zoomed out enough on a clip you can zoom in tight on yourself and kinda follow yourself. It degrades the footage quality though but some may like the look. I use it mostly. Add some zoom ins on your face and shit and you can make a strobeck rip off ha.

[silhouette]

For the last couple years or so I've been skating and filming solo quite a bit, here's what I do (not necessarily what I would recommend but works fine for me),

- no tripod, but I have a small Mini-DV cam and just use the camera bag itself as one, figured the height is perfect for what I do and since it's mostly soft, you can literally shape it with your hands to make sure your camera is sitting on a horizontal plane regardless of how uneven the terrain is without struggling for five minutes like one would with a tripod. Or sometimes I'll use part of the surroundings themselves, say if I spot anything my camera could sit on that's already part of the immediate urban landscape and I think the angle from there would work then I'll favor that option. Something funny is by getting into the solo skating and filming habit, now I no longer read skate spots just as skate spots but their inherent possibilities in that department also started standing out (e.g.. yeah I'll notice that bank for sure, but I'll also notice that one lone pole or hole in the wall ten feet away from it);

- you want to think composition first and foremost, think in terms of horizontals, verticals, diagonals, curves and rule of thirds, structure your shot, pretend you're making an interactive photograph or painting and plan your choreography in there and not just your trick (which side or corner you'll roll up from, which one you'll exit out of); of course that only confirms how the aesthetics of the spots themselves will dictate everything;

- be ready to have to repeat whatever you're filming over a dozen times if needed because you will run into the typical problems such as landing out of frame or in a way that doesn't work with what you're going for (all long lens, no fisheye leaves zero leeway for error), or unfortunately-timed camera death. To try and avoid the out-of-frame classic as much as possible I usually leave my board on the ground wherever the trick is supposed to happen when setting up the angle, as a reference. But in general, having a very specific vision of what you really want to have going, or emphasize on, with each particular clip past the performance itself will go a long way.

[whale]

- be ready to have to repeat whatever you're filming over a dozen times if needed because you will run into the typical problems such as landing out of frame or in a way that doesn't work with what you're going for (all long lens, no fisheye leaves zero leeway for error), or unfortunately-timed camera death. To try and avoid the out-of-frame classic as much as possible I usually leave my board on the ground wherever the trick is supposed to happen when setting up the angle, as a reference. But in general, having a very specific vision of what you really want to have going, or emphasize on, with each particular clip past the performance itself will go a long way.

Very much this.
It sucks landing a trick after a battle to see that you filmed it all wrong.
That's why I recommend a tripod, it's easier to check your attempts if you hit the frame the way you want it and keep the original framing after.
Many tripods also come with little remotes to start and stop recording, not sure if I could trust one though.

Do post clips.

[silhouette]

The keeping the original framing thing is important indeed, sometimes you want the exact same shot from one clip to the next as you already know you'll want to edit both back to back. Personally I like to take that as one more dimension of the game that without a tripod means I have to do both tricks in relatively quick succession, but it's not exactly convenient depending on what you're doing and what you're skating, right.

Not sure if you were ordering me or OP to post clips but I made this a few months ago, been working on a second once since:

[whale]

It was directed to OP but your clips are always s treat!
Thanks!

[funeral_tuxedo]

Expand Quote

Spanky adds little animations and weird photoshop transitions to his IG edits

[close]

is it actually photoshop? I was thinking it was likely an app on the phone he uses to do it. Seems like a lot of work to import all those clips to the PC, do the edits, then put it back onto the phone to upload. also it would have to be android since ios doesnt let yo usave outside shit to the camera roll. I know instagram allows you to actaully upload from the PC now but it doesnt let you upload Reels like this. I think its just some editing software on the phone but I actually havent found any software yet that seems powerful enough to handle it. upon further inspection from his clips it seems like they are not necessarily phone clips either just by the way they are cropped it looks like they were maybe scaled down from a camera so it is even more possible he is editing these all on PC and then sending to phone to upload.

@rawbertson. I'm not sure what app he uses but I think Photoshop Mix has been removed from the App Store.