“What do I REALLY need for high-quality videos?” This question has been increasingly popping up lately. In this article, we will show you, using two examples, what really matters when shooting videos – you only need two small tools.

Video content is more important now than ever, as you can only welcome your course participants very limitedly during in-person events. To ensure your training remains engaging and informative, we recommend incorporating short and simple videos even in purely e-learning settings. You can easily record these with your smartphone. But what equipment do you need besides that? Here’s a hint: You don’t need a huge studio setup. Two simple small tools are enough.

The foundation is, of course, your smartphone: It should not be older than five years and have a good camera. Even inexpensive smartphones today already have sufficient cameras built in. For example, my colleague Konstantin is currently shooting his videos with the Pixel 2 by Google.

Reading tip: A recent survey has already shown that when filming videos, it's not only about the camera quality. You can find the complete article on the TechSmith study on the blog.

In addition to the smartphone, two small tools are generally important: a microphone and a light. Why exactly these two things? We'll explain that now:

Nr 1: Good sound makes the difference

A great image is useless if your course participants don't understand what you want to convey to them. Poor audio is one of the most common reasons, according to the TechSmith study, why a video is not watched to the end.

Strong background noises, buzzing, or a very quiet audio track are perceived as disturbing by many viewers. Therefore, we definitely recommend using an external microphone (preferably a lavalier microphone). You can plug this directly into your smartphone and attach it with a clip to your clothing. This keeps it as close to your mouth as possible and captures less background noise.

Take a look at the following example video from my colleague Michael and hear for yourself the difference an external microphone makes in direct comparison:

My colleague Konstantin has already tested and compared several external microphones. You can find the complete report here: 4 external microphones for shooting videos with a smartphone.

Nr 2: Perfect lighting for better image quality

Of course, good sound is not everything; your image also needs to impress. For short learning videos on a smartphone, you should keep two things in mind to optimize the image quality:

Firstly, your smartphone should be on a sturdy tripod to ensure your image is steady. For starters, a makeshift stack of books will suffice. The main thing is that your image is as steady as possible. Secondly, you should also use an external light. You can perfectly attach this at eye level, e.g., directly to the tripod. This way, your face is optimally illuminated, and the focus is even stronger on you as the speaker.

Check out the second example video and see for yourself how the image quality improves with additional lighting:

As you can see, you can greatly enhance the quality of your videos with two small tools. Try it out yourself during your next video shoot!

Are you still looking for the right video equipment and want to know what gear we use? Camera equipment doesn't always have to be expensive; you can get our favorites for a total price of under €250! Download our free list for the complete blink.it kit. There, we have put together our purchase recommendations for a microphone and a light with suitable links for you.