The Era Of Mobile First Video For Brands Is Only Starting

Having studied Media Studies and Business in University, I’d regularly be spotted running around campus with a 20kg camera and someone else carrying a microphone and tripod in two separate bags. This would be our set up to capture on-campus vox pops, documentaries and other projects so they would be of “broadcast quality” to review with our tutors the following week.

Although the content would be shot in broadcast quality, the end product and editing would invariably be dreadful. However, in these years from 2011 to 2015, one thing would be drilled into us – any video worth sharing had to be shot and edited in 1080x1920px high definition landscape format. This would be perfect for widescreen viewing on a TV and if not then for YouTube videos. The rest of social media at that time was reserved for mostly text status updates and the occasional dog picture. Since then however, the world of video production has changed…

Mobile Phones

For me, mobile phones peaked when the most time you’d spend on them was to beat your high score on “Snake”. Then phone manufacturers started to introduce strange features like torches, mp3 players and even cameras onto our phones in the early 2000s. In these first few camera phones, the appeal of having a camera itself was the draw. Users weren’t really concerned with the fact that any pictures or videos they took would look like they’d been shot with a potato.

It would be years before the first iPhone would be released in 2007 and this began to drive the market for newer “Smartphones”. Soon phone processing power increased hugely and with this came WIFI, 3G, more affordable data plans, enhanced camera functionality and storage to store higher quality visual files.  

Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & other social media apps began to grow in popularity in the early 2010s and the ability to “share” your images directly with friends online became popular. Phone manufactures now realised that the quality of the cameras on their phones would be a key decision in whether or not social media users would buy them. Soon 12 MP (Megapixel) cameras gave way to 24MP models and the latest iPhone 14 Pro now boasts a 48MP camera.

This model also allows you to shoot 4K video in up to 64 frames per second allowing for high quality slow mo videos too. In truth, any relatively new phone from the last few years that supports 4k video should be able to achieve similar results when using a tripod (for stability) and good lighting on your subject (natural light or a ring light will achieve this).

However, despite recent advancements in phone cameras, YouTube was still the go to platform for posting videos and so quality campaigns or video series’ were always shot with the traditional horizontal 1080x 1920 format in mind first. Anything shot on a phone would generally be images or short videos for behind the scenes stories and teasers.

TikTok

I believe that TikTok has changed the way in which we consume, shoot and ultimately plan our video content for our audiences. With the explosion of TikTok downloads, vertical video on mobile has now taken over as the main way in which videos are viewed online. Therefore, it only makes sense to create a lot of content that best suits this experience. With “Instagram Reels” and “YouTube Shorts” delivering the same kind of experience and their algorithms rewarding accounts that post more videos like this, the ability to be able to shoot, edit and post directly from our phones is now invaluable.

In my own role with Fields and Fraser Hart in the jewellery sector, I’ve seen my social media role increasingly focus on shooting short mobile videos of products, events etc and have seen these outperform our previously more professional shoot content. Below is an example of a video I’ve shot and posted directly from mobile that performed almost three times as well as similar “professional” shoot content on social media. You can view more of my mobile videos here.

The videos are shot in 4k at 24 frames per second usually with a ring light and when directly uploaded to Instagram or TikTok the quality is very impressive. It’s still not as clear or crisp as what you would film from a production grade camera or even an Sony or Canon type mirrorless camera but wider audiences won’t really notice this.

This style of video is now even referred to as “Lofi” or lower quality that users on social media actually prefer to over polished, airbrushed campaign content as they feel less “salesy”. With many of the top creators on TikTok creating content with their DIY mobile set ups it makes sense that brands and broadcasters should take a similar approach to their own videos. You can already see the impact this has had on even the most traditional of broadcasters like the BBC which have began to share news stories in the format like below on their social channels.

The Future of Video

So am I fully converted to the use of mobile phones for producing video and images? Would I choose it over my Sony A6300 mirrorless camera when I’m shooting videos? Well it depends on the circumstances. I believe that high quality videos shot in the traditional way will always be needed as bigger brands will always invest in full production shoots and capture a mix of content types including lofi behind the scenes type content.

With more and more people watching lofi videos on their phones each day, quick lofi videos are the most effective way to produce content for social media at least. This is good news if you’re a small business, creator or broadcaster as all you now need is a phone and a tripod to tell your story or build a brand. And that’s something I wouldn’t have been able to say back in University.