How to Start Filming Alone in 2026 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01It feels like filmmaking is changing
2. 0:04every single week.
3. 0:10Whether it's a new AI model, a new
4. 0:12camera, or a new editing style, it feels
5. 0:14like every week things are moving faster
6. 0:16than ever before. I'm out of breath. I
7. 0:19moved this couch thing like five times
8. 0:20before I got the shot I wanted.
9. 0:22This is literally where that shot was
10. 0:24taken. One camera, one tripod, and an
11. 0:26open window. I mean, I keep it pretty
12. 0:28simple. With all that being said,
13. 0:30there's a few techniques that I like to
14. 0:31use in my filmmaking that make my videos
15. 0:33feel natural, they feel beautiful, and
16. 0:36they move the story forward. And the
17. 0:38first one we're going to talk about is
18. 0:39the 1 2 3 knockout punch.
19. 0:43That is stupid.
20. 0:54Now, the idea for this is pretty simple.
21. 0:57We're going to focus on three forms of
22. 0:59media to share throughout our video.
23. 1:01Video? Video. Now, there's a wide
24. 1:04variety of ways to do this. You can go
25. 1:06analog, use newspaper clippings, VHS
26. 1:08cameras. For me, I like to keep it
27. 1:10simple as I focus usually on polished
28. 1:12content. I like using different forms of
29. 1:14medium to invite my audience in to kind
30. 1:17of feel like they're seeing the behind
31. 1:18the scenes or the real Andrew. So, I
32. 1:21like to use my iPhone camera to give it
33. 1:22like a vlog feel. And other times to use
34. 1:25mixed media like writing or painting to
35. 1:27kind of I don't know, get across what
36. 1:29I'm trying to do. I love when people use
37. 1:31like paper and and like they scan things
38. 1:33into their videos. I think that's
39. 1:35another great idea. But ultimately, I
40. 1:37think that this is a great technique as
41. 1:39the pattern disruption kind of brings
42. 1:42your audience in. It's kind of like when
43. 1:43someone's talking and they're really
44. 1:44really loud and then all of a sudden
45. 1:46they start to whisper and you start to
46. 1:48like kind of turn your ear cuz they're
47. 1:50like, "What are they saying?" But
48. 1:51essentially, you're using three forms of
49. 1:53media throughout your video.
50. 1:55Now, let's talk about lighting because
51. 1:57anytime you see good color grading or
52. 1:59something look really beautiful, the
53. 2:01main reason for that is the lighting.
54. 2:03But as a solo filmmaker with just two
55. 2:05hands, [music] I've had to learn how to
56. 2:06make lighting as simple as possible. Oh
57. 2:09wait, I'm missing something.
58. 2:14And the secret to lighting isn't the
59. 2:15light in front of you, but it's actually
60. 2:17the light behind you. Having practical
61. 2:19lights that can add a little bit more
62. 2:21color or depth can elevate your frame
63. 2:23from looking a little bit boring to
64. 2:25having a little bit more pop. Now, I
65. 2:27want to show you what my lighting setup
66. 2:29looks like. So, to do that, I'm going to
67. 2:30bring you behind the scenes.
68. 2:32So, as you can see, all I have is one
69. 2:35key light situated really closely to my
70. 2:37camera. Now, the settings of my light is
71. 2:39very small. It's only at 1% and my ISO
72. 2:45is only at 1600. So, I'm overexposed by
73. 2:48a little bit with a higher ISO and a
74. 2:51very low aperture.
75. 2:53And this allows me to get the color and
76. 2:55the light that I would like. Though,
77. 2:56behind me I have a warm globe light.
78. 3:01And then I have a sunset lamp. And then
79. 3:03I have this practical light in the back
80. 3:05as well as a little bit light up here
81. 3:07that you can see in the frame. As a solo
82. 3:09filmmaker, I've had to learn how to only
83. 3:11really use one light. And the secret
84. 3:13that I've learned to get the most
85. 3:14beautiful frame as possible is to have
86. 3:16your key light as low as you possibly
87. 3:18can whilst still allowing yourself to be
88. 3:20illuminated as best as you can. And the
89. 3:22simplest way to do that is having it at
90. 3:24the lowest power and bringing it as
91. 3:26closely as possible as you can. As well
92. 3:28as moving your light so that there's
93. 3:30different shadows on your body. Now,
94. 3:32this is where my face is split with
95. 3:34bright and shadow and then it can kind
96. 3:35of just create a little bit more
97. 3:37contrast.
98. 3:38>> [music]
99. 3:38>> That looks cool. Now, this is where the
100. 3:40light is behind me and it can kind of
101. 3:41create a silhouette.
102. 3:44Now, this is where the light is
103. 3:45literally directly to my right and I'm
104. 3:48kind of looking at the light and it's
105. 3:49creating a shadow here, but you can see
106. 3:52a little bit of light on this side and
107. 3:54it kind of creates this cinematic depth.
108. 3:57Kind of like if I'm thinking.
109. 4:00>> [music]
110. 4:01>> Now, it should come to no surprise that
111. 4:03I'm talking about color grading. It
112. 4:04feels like the whole world knows about
113. 4:06it [music] and yet everyone is still in
114. 4:07pursuit to trying to find the perfect
115. 4:09grade. And the secret to all of it is
116. 4:11found right on my head. The power to
117. 4:13color grading is creating color
118. 4:15contrast. Blue and red pop out a lot
119. 4:18more than if I was just wearing black.
120. 4:20Now, I went into the city the other day
121. 4:21to work on a collaborative project and I
122. 4:23feel like this summarizes my color grade
123. 4:25perfectly. Now, what we focused on was
124. 4:27trying to find a setting that would
125. 4:28contrast what the subject was wearing.
126. 4:31Now, on top of that, we also added a
127. 4:32good key light to illuminate the subject
128. 4:34so that you could have more depth when
129. 4:36color grading. Now, we tried different
130. 4:37colors like blue and red so that it
131. 4:39would just pop a little bit more and it
132. 4:41would get people's attention. So, I
133. 4:43shoot in S-Log 3 in a very flat profile
134. 4:45while allowing it to be overexposed by
135. 4:471.3 to 1.7. Now, I like to keep my ISO
136. 4:51as low as possible so that I can add
137. 4:52grain afterwards. From there, I'll take
138. 4:55my color grade into DaVinci and I'll
139. 4:57apply the one-click color grade. Now,
140. 4:59this is a color grade that I made that
141. 5:00over 10,000 people use, which is just
142. 5:03crazy. It's designed for any camera, any
143. 5:05setting, any lighting, and it genuinely
144. 5:07only takes one click. So, I'll apply the
145. 5:09one-click color grade and from there,
146. 5:11I'll change my exposure. Sometimes I'll
147. 5:13change the white balance. I'll tweak the
148. 5:15grain to my liking. And finally, I'll
149. 5:17have my final color grade. Now, if you
150. 5:19guys want to check out the one-click
151. 5:20color grade, it's linked in the
152. 5:21description below. It's trusted by over
153. 5:2310,000 creatives and it genuinely only
154. 5:25takes one click. Now, using color
155. 5:27contrast isn't the only thing to create
156. 5:30a really beautiful color grade.
157. 5:31Something else I've also noticed is
158. 5:33getting really tight shots. I don't know
159. 5:35why, but for some reason when a shot is
160. 5:37really close, it just creates this
161. 5:38really beautiful runoff with the colors.
162. 5:41I also find that grain looks a little
163. 5:42bit better. So, sometimes I'll mix wide
164. 5:45shots with really close shots to add to
165. 5:47the depth of the color grade. And to be
166. 5:48honest, those are the simple tools that
167. 5:50I use whenever I make any film. And now
168. 5:53I want to talk about making your video
169. 5:55more dynamic. Now, as a solo filmmaker,
170. 5:58something I've struggled with for a long
171. 5:59time is adding movement, adding motion,
172. 6:03just making your video feel cinematic.
173. 6:06And that's because you have no one else
174. 6:07to operate the camera. And that's where
175. 6:09utilizing AI can really be helpful. Now,
176. 6:11I've been using a tool called
177. 6:13Higgsfield, which allows motion, V
178. 6:15effects, and amazing transitions with a
179. 6:18simple idea. Now, the way that I've been
180. 6:19utilizing Higgsfield is by creating
181. 6:21beautiful transitions. Now, with the
182. 6:23help of AI, I can take my last frame
183. 6:25from one shot and my first frame from
184. 6:27the next shot and then bring those into
185. 6:29Higgsfield and then prompt a transition
186. 6:31and you get something like this.
187. 6:35Now, on top of that, you can add V
188. 6:36effects and motion that just can elevate
189. 6:39your footage just a little bit. Now, my
190. 6:41big rule with this anytime I'm using
191. 6:42generative AI is to use it only in a way
192. 6:45that moves your story forward. Not just
193. 6:47generating super random stuff to add
194. 6:49like a wow effect, but utilizing the
195. 6:52tools available to enhance your story
196. 6:54and bring your audience a little bit
197. 6:55more in. And thank you, Higgsfield, for
198. 6:57sponsoring this video.
199. 6:59Oh my goodness. Guys, I hope you enjoyed
200. 7:01that. I get so much joy and I don't
201. 7:04know, I just have so much fun making
202. 7:05videos where I can just show people
203. 7:07behind the scenes of how I make my
204. 7:09stuff. If you found that information
205. 7:10useful, I would definitely check out the
206. 7:12Creator Blueprint. YouTube is for depth,
207. 7:14long-form storytelling, real connection.
208. 7:16Instagram is for distribution, quick
209. 7:18hits that spread fast. Your website is
210. 7:20for sales, a place you own. The Creator
211. 7:23Blueprint is the full roadmap to the
212. 7:25creator economy. This isn't theory. This
213. 7:27is exactly how to build an ecosystem
214. 7:29that benefits you. I'm pulling back the
215. 7:31curtain on everything. My analytics, my
216. 7:33sales, how I design and structure videos
217. 7:36so they don't just get views, they grow
218. 7:37my business. And it's not just me. I sit
219. 7:39down with someone who sold his business
220. 7:41for a hundred million dollars, with
221. 7:43creatives who have hundreds of thousands
222. 7:45of followers. We go from start to
223. 7:47finish. How to curate videos that make
224. 7:49an impact. How to distribute so they
225. 7:51hit. How to connect not only with
226. 7:52brands, but with individuals to generate
227. 7:54revenue. I'm going to give you a
228. 7:56blueprint for making videos that
229. 7:57actually connect with people and
230. 7:59building trust through a designed
231. 8:00ecosystem that works for everyone. And
232. 8:02the best part is it doesn't matter if
233. 8:04you have a thousand followers or a
234. 8:06hundred thousand followers because
235. 8:08social media is changing. This is a
236. 8:10blueprint for anyone, anywhere. If that
237. 8:12sounds like something that will interest
238. 8:13you, definitely check it out. It's
239. 8:15linked in the description below. And as
240. 8:16always, guys, thank you so much for
241. 8:18watching. I hope you enjoyed it. If
242. 8:19you've made it this far, you are a part
243. 8:21of the 20%.
244. 8:22Uh I'd love to hear what it is that you
245. 8:24got going on.
246. 8:26Um and I love you all and I'll see you
247. 8:28in the next one.