Everyone these days carries a camera or phone to capture the action, and we spend hours watching youtube videos, googling topics that interest us. Video is a great way of sharing what you got up to at the weekend, so why not start making your own awesome videos to post up on Facebook. Here are some of my top tips to make your kayaking film stand out from the crowd.



1

Get creative

Making a film when you’ve only got one angle is very one dimensional. People want to see more than just the bow of your boat. Selfies, sea urchins, campsites … the list is endless. Try to get as many different shots as possible. Everything that catches your interest is obviously worth looking at, maybe film the same thing from a couple of different angles, to add a bit more depth to the video. Don’t just mount that GoPro on your head – try the boat, your paddle, at the front, at the back, underneath. Just get creative, it’s great fun to find cool new filming angles.



2

Catch the action

Sometimes you have your GoPro on just at the right time, catching that magical moment. More often than not it can be hard to focus on filming when your needing to concentrate. Give your camera to the strongest paddler, or the pro that doesn’t mine letting go of their paddle whist the waves are going over their head. Position yourself somewhere sheltered and film from the outskirts or paddle on ahead and get yourself in a good position to film. It takes a little planning sometimes to get that perfect shot.



3

What’s going on?

Sometimes you have great footage, but to the untrained eye, it may be tricky to understand whats happening throughout the action. Don’t be scared of doing a voice over. Tell us whats going on and how you’re feeling about it. Keep it short, but if you invest some emotion into your story telling, then people will invest the time to watch your film.



4

The three second rule

Our internet attention spans are ridiculously short! Have you ever noticed music videos are always flicking fast and furiously from one shot to another? This is to keep us interested. It takes us about three seconds to appreciate the image, before moving on to wanting more. Videos for social media need to be short, 2-5 mins is the perfect amount of time to tell your story without loosing your audience.



5

Awesome tunes

Choosing music is key. It needs to fit the mood, set the scene and complement the content, sometimes even the lyrics can enhance maybe even explain what you’re trying to show. You don’t have to just use one song, thirty seconds can sometimes be enough and then select a new one to fit the next section of your video. Try to time your images to fit with music beats or changes. This adds flow to your video and gives the change in shot more impact.