Want to add some serious drama and intrigue to your next product shoot?
You'll see from this tutorial that it is simple to achieve a professional looking cinematic effect just using basic equipment you already have at home. Even those new to videography will find it easy to capture this dramatic commercial look and impress their clients.
This technique is an especially effective way to add mood to your visual storytelling when working with brands and products.
We experimented with several different types of products from beauty to technology and found that while it was successful on most surface types the best results came from the more reflective or shiny objects.
All you'll need to film this incredible cinematic effect is your camera, tripod, laptop and something to use as a backdrop. Here's how you can achieve this eye-catching footage at home.
Grab your laptop and find a suitable backdrop to place over the keyboard. We recommend using a dark backdrop to enhance the mood and highlight the reflection from the laptop screen, in this instance I used my drawing tablet.
Place your object on top of your backdrop and position your camera in place.
Turn the laptop screen brightness to its maximum output.
Navigate to YouTube on your laptop and search for any time lapse video. Once you've found one you like play it on fullscreen mode.
[#cta]
Tilt the screen down so it lights up your subject, let the video play and hit record on the camera.
For even more impact you can speed your footage up even further and add a subtle zoom effect in post production.
As you can see it doesn't take much to make your product video look like a cinematic masterpiece!
Get access to paid work opportunities with global brands. Register your interest by sharing some examples of your work.
Award winning food & product photographer Harsha shares how she quickly built her following by pushing her creative boundaries to the limits
Product photographer Christiane McCoy shares her creative journey in producing colourful stills and motion graphics in her home studio
Professional brand photographer Aneta Laura shares her creative journey and secret to creating scroll-stopping content for her clients