Mobile Storytelling
Smartphones are small but feature packed production tools with which we can film and edit videos, capture and edit audio, create animated infographics, take pictures and edit them, write text and go live. They are the Swiss Pocket Knives of digital storytellers.
Since 2014, I’ve been producing digital content with smartphones. In 2021, the English online magazine journalism.co.uk nominated me as one of the 51 best smartphone content creators worldwide. In the same year, I received an honourable mention for my short film "Questions of Faith: The Monk" at the LumaTouch Moving Pictures Award.
What I can do for you:
• Book me to cover news for you, report from events or produce videos for your webseite or social media.
• Take part in my workshops and learn how to make the most of your smartphone and how to integrate mobile devices into your workflow – be it iPhones or Android devices. Click on this video trailer:
The following courses will help you to boost your video and photography skills with iPhones and Android devices:
How to film and edit videos with your smartphone
Hollywood directors like Steven Soderbergh are not the only ones who have discovered smartphones as videography tools. TV stations and publishing houses also train their journalists in using mobile phones for filming: to report as smartphone reporters on the go. This course is all about professional video shooting and editing with smartphones: how to produce excellent footage with a clear sound.
This course can include the following topics:
• How to film and edit professionally with a smartphone
• What hardware you need - pros and cons of Android smartphones and iPhones
• Tips on external microphones, tripods, lenses and other equipment (including an equipment list)
• Which apps you need - tips on the best video and audio apps for Android and iOS
• Exercises: for example producing a short social media film, practicing video editing, reporting on Twitter and Instagram, live streaming
• "Best Practice" examples
• Mobile Reporting: how to cover news with your smartphone, how to film and edit, go live, produce a social media teaser. All a journalist needs to know report from the road.
>> Interested? Then give me a call or send me an e-mail. And we’ll talk about how we can tailor these courses for you. I host these workshops face-to-face or online.
Social media videos – how to film great stories for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
TikTok is the fastest growing video platform. On YouTube, users upload 500 hours of video material every minute. And on Facebook alone, people watch 100 million hours of videos every day. Users love videos on social networks: explainer videos show how to repair your MacBook yourself or how the presidential elections work in America. Other social videos – such as Instagram Stories and Reels or TikToks – entertain, arouse emotions, encourage people to share and like and interact with content. Some videos only last a few seconds, others several minutes. As usual, it depends on what you want to achieve and which target group you want to address.
This course gives you an overview of the different types of social videos – and how you can easily produce them with your smartphone. Moreover, we discuss strategies and tips for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube and do lots of exercises.
>> Interested? Then give me a call or send me an e-mail. And we’ll talk about how we can tailor these courses for you. I host these workshops face-to-face or online.
How to take stunning photos with your smartphone
Smartphone cameras have become better and better in the past few years. Even professional photographers increasingly use them as secondary cameras. This course is about professional smartphone photography and image processing: how you get the most out of our smartphone camera. For great photos on your website and more likes on social networks.
This course can include the following topics:
• Mastering the smartphone camera: manual settings (aperture, focus, white balance, ISO),
• Chances (computational photography) and limits, “point and shoot” photos.
• How to shoot the perfect photo: golden ratio, horizontal or vertical, perspectives, the meaning of colors, lines and structures (with many examples)
• The best camera apps for Android phones and iPhones
• Useful additional equipment: from rigs to lenses and various tripods
• Photo editing on mobile devices: an overview of the best apps and filters
>> Interested? Then give me a call or send me an e-mail. And we’ll talk about how we can tailor these courses for you. I host these workshops face-to-face or online.