Look Like You Know What You're Doing With These Camera Hacks

Having been a freelancer for the majority of my professional life, there is rarely one part of my operation where I am not bootstrapped for cash. Yet, it’s been the most beneficial because it shows the power of creativity no matter how cruel the rig. In the end, the shot does the talking.

Thinking back over the years of hacking things together, one story in particular comes to mind. In 2013, I purchased a GoPro Hero 3 and was obsessed with time-lapse, except I wanted to push the time-lapse further. I saw a photographer on the internet who put his camera on a slider during a time-lapse, and the outcome was brilliant. Colors, context, and framing sent shivers down my inexperienced spine.

I had to figure out how to make a slider. Purchasing one was out of the question, and my engineering skills were also crude. Believe it or not, sliders were close to a thousand dollars back then. Instead, I remember finding a forum with someone suggesting using an Ikea egg timer. Not quite a slider, but it will give it a cool effect, plus it dings when it’s done.

After reading it, I ran to Ikea, found this egg timer, drilled, and placed a tripod mount in the bottom of it. Voila! A smooth, kind-of slider with a completion alarm. The results were impressive.

This is what Vuhlandes shares in this video to help improve your videography technique. He explains the importance of atmosphere and perspective. Vuhlandes gets all of this done with a little smoke, plexiglass, and a suitcase.

He helps drive the point home: no matter how cruel a system is, if it works, who cares?