5 Cheap Video Production Hacks Every Filmmaker Should Try

Video production can be an expensive hobby or investment. There’s seemingly endless equipment needs ranging from simple things like tripods and lights to advanced equipment items like Steadicams and camera sliders. In fact, if you’re producing videos, it can seem like the equipment and various props that you need to make your shots look and feel professional chew up all of your spare money. But, these cheap video production hacks can be used for a variety of purposes to get quality shots on a tight budget.

Keep in mind that you probably won’t get truly professional-looking shots without hiring a professional video production crew. Of course, we can help with that! Give us a call at 888-462-7808, we’ll produce your professional videos for you!

1. Absolutely FREE Tripod Hack

Cheap video production hacks like this are a dime a dozen IF you use your imagination. Really, anything is possible if you just muster up some imagination and visualize what you’ve got laying around and help yourself to see it, almost through a child’s eyes, as film equipment.

For this absolutely free tripod hack all you need is some old boxes. You’ll want several of varied sizes that you can stack on top of one another. The idea is to set your boxes atop one another at the desired height.

Then, simply place your camera on top and begin filming. Want to catch varied shots? Adjust your “tripod” height by adding more boxes, or removing some, from the stack.

2. Instant Boom Mic 

Using a tripod, you can create a boom mic with equipment you’ve already got on the set.  All you have to do is affix your microphone to the end of the tripod just as you would affix your camera there.

Then, holding all three legs of the tripod in your hand, you can extend the “boom” into the desired location to capture your audio on the set without interrupting the visuals of your video.

Just make sure that you have captured the cable of your microphone in your hands along with the tripod legs so that it doesn’t flop in front of your camera’s viewable area!

3. Tripod Dolly Shot

Dolly tracks can be expensive to rent and even more expensive to purchase, but cheap video production hacks that center around the dolly shot are frequently discussed.

To simulate a dolly shot all you need is your camera and a tripod. You can literally use your tripod to reproduce professional appearing dolly shots without all the expensive equipment and with virtually no setup required!

All you have to do is affix your camera to your tripod and extend the legs as you normally would. Then simply slide your tripod in the desired direction toward or away from your scene.

To get a pan style shot, you can slide side to side. If you’re filming on a surface that doesn’t allow easy sliding of your tripod, consider placing paper plates, fabric, or other material under each leg to improve the slide ability.

4. Fog or Steam Effects 

Want to reproduce the view of a steamy bathroom or a foggy path in the woods? You can create dramatic fog or steam effects with household products that you most likely already have.

All you have to do is use a tea kettle to boil water. Then, place the tea kettle directly in front of your camera, just below the lens so that the steam flows or billows up in front of your view.

You can gently shift the location of your kettle to follow your camera so that the steam or fog is carried throughout your scene.

5. Shower Curtain Diffusers

There are an endless supply of shower curtains that you can purchase for a couple bucks at most and each of them has the potential to produce powerful diffusion shots depending on what you’re looking to achieve.

Consider colored shower curtains that are opaque and still provide the ability to see through them for some cool color production. Cheap video production hacks like this also work well in producing visual effects.

Use a textured shower curtain or one with small designs that can be placed either in front of your light source to produce a shadow effect on your backdrop or try placing the shower curtain in front of your lens and moving it around to produce added visual effects. 

As you can see, the sky’s the limit when you’re creative with these cheap video production hacks! 

Turn to Team Beverly Boy

To learn more about professional video production services, give Beverly Boy Productions a call at 888-462-7808! We can’t wait to hear from you!