How I Film My Videos · Equipment and Tips for Filming Your Desk From Above · SemiSkimmedMin

Hey what's up you guys, today's video has been requested quite a bit so I'm gonna show you the equipment I use to film my videos and a couple of ways that I set up my camera for shots like this. So first of all, the equipment I use is this Pentax camera, I got it a few years ago just for taking pictures, so while the video quality is pretty good, it does have a few issues, I just don't think it's designed for videoing but it does the job for now. Next I have this tripod which I got for I think no more than £10 on Amazon and it works just fine for my needs, I'll leave links below to everything I mention. Most of the time this is all I use but I do also have this really bright light which is also from Amazon and it comes in handy especially in these winter months when the nights are rolling in at like 3 in the afternoon. Another option that I have actually used a few times which would be really good if you're wanting to start filming but don't want to invest in all this gear, would be a phone camera and a selfie stick and I'll show you how you can use those in a sec. Alright so looking at setup, I cleared up my desk just so that you could see things a bit more clearly. And classically I would set up my tripod on my desk like this, so with the back leg slightly longer than the front two and my sketchbook positioned between those front two legs. And then I would use something heavy to weigh it down like this safe full of 1ps and 2ps. But I've actually recently been getting better shots by moving away from my workspace and actually doing my drawings on my coffee table. So pushing it out like this allows me to sort of move around to get the best light. And I also have more room to lean my tripod over and to stop it from falling I'll sort of wedge something on top of that back tripod leg like this stool. And you can also use this sort of angle for working on the floor. And if you don't want it to look like you're working on the floor I would say just lay out some paper or a nice sort of backdrop and obviously work on a solid floor rather than a fluffy rug. Now if you want to try this setup, obviously just be careful with it. Make sure it's secure, make sure whatever you use to hold down that back leg is heavy enough to counter the weight of your camera because the last thing you want is for it all to topple over and mess up your camera or mess up your work. So in terms of changing my camera angles throughout videos, I kind of just make it up as I go along and experiment to see what angles are gonna work. I mean, changing camera angles really only came about because this camera shuts itself off every 11 minutes, it's something to do with the internal memory and it's also why I'm saving up for a new camera. But yeah, sometimes I just sort of press record again and pick up where I left off. And sometimes I just use it as a cue to shift things around a bit. So wherever I set up my camera, I just make sure it's on the opposite side to the hand that I draw with so that my hand isn't obscuring the paper. Now back to that selfie stick, you can really experiment and mess about with a selfie stick because your phone is a lot lighter than a camera, it's a lot easier to balance in different positions. So I've found the best way to do it is to stick your selfie stick in like a bucket or a bin or a plant pot or something or even a bottle and then wedge something in like a blanket to make sure it doesn't move around and that way you have sort of better control when you're trying to position it and it doesn't rattle around so much. And another great thing about selfie sticks is that you can also take off this phone attachment and screw it on to most tripods. So anyway guys, that's about it. I forgot to mention, I record my voiceovers just on my phone as a voice memo. I hope this video's been useful, I hope it inspires you to get filming, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and of course any questions or suggestions are welcome. And I'll see you in the next one. Bye!