HOW TO BUILD A MOBILE FILMING STUDIO
Actionable steps and products to grow your small business in digital spaces
When I was starting out I apprenticed with another filmmaker to learn on the job, creating recap sizzle reels for corporate events, shooting documentary style interviews of happy clients, & capturing live music sessions. I learned on the fly how to document behind the scenes of chefs creating their seasonal dishes, promoting new products, and styling mini commercials for social media.
Now, with short form and UGC commercial content taking front seat online, I’ve developed an mobile filmmaking toolkit to help people on their way up and I’m happy to be able to share with you here. Let’s get straight to it.
Tools/Gear/APPS Needed:
- Phone or filming device
- Ball Head Phone Mount w/ Tripod for vertical + horizontal filming
- Bluetooth Remote to connect to phone shutter.
- USB Beauty Ring light w/ Extension Cord angled to fill face
- Wireless Lavalier Mic and receiver for phone
- Docs — writing/scripting
- inShot — Video editor
- Captions — teleprompter
- Canva — templates for stories and Content Scheduling
Filming Workflow
1. Select Backdrop for the video
2. Place your phone in the mount on the tripod. Consider your editing workflow while determining your composition. Make sure to give enough negative space above your head to add graphics or text if you plan to.
3. Connect your remote to your phone through your phone’s bluetooth settings.
4. Set up and plug in ring light and place it near the tripod to fill your face with light.
5. Open Captions app, select new project, select teleprompter and paste your script into the text field.
6. Record through the Captions app camera and the teleprompter will appear over the video as it films, allowing you to make eye contact with the camera.
For B-roll
Set up your camera to show what you are doing.
You can change your tripod to 180º to be able to show a top-down angle.
Editing
Open the editing app, select and trim footage to the most interesting parts. Look for good video transitions to naturally cut between different clips of footage. Choose the platform to share on and edit your aspect ratio accordingly.
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This is a very basic jump start into creating content. As you build your studio and work with the equipment you have, you’ll add to it, upgrade, find new gadgets you want to try. Allow for curiosity! Use the resources available to you. Everything you make is progress towards the dream you’ve always envisioned for yourself.
Happy to provide resources to get you started!
I’m Kenzie Jean, a commercial director, writer, and educator. If you found this article helpful you might like some of my other articles on creativity and self improvement. You can find my professional portfolio at Mckenziejean.com.
