CNET

5 cinematic camera tricks for your phone

I’m stuck at home struggling to feel creative and just got Apple’s new iPhone SE. So I decided to scour the internet for the best low-budget, DIY, cinematic camera tricks to do at home. I’ll walk you through my favorites. Also, you can probably use just about any phone. Swiffer camera rotation (aka “Drunk Man…

Published

on

I’m stuck at home struggling to feel creative and just got Apple’s new iPhone SE. So I decided to scour the internet for the best low-budget, DIY, cinematic camera tricks to do at home. I’ll walk you through my favorites. Also, you can probably use just about any phone.

Swiffer camera rotation (aka “Drunk Man Falling”) : 1:29
The Edgar Wright whip pan: 2:39
Tape Measure Trucking shot: 3:22
Spinning Staredown: 4:38
Falling iPhone: 5:37
Oscillating guitar strings: 6:42
Pterodactyl hands intro shot: 6:54
Special appearance by my cat Shayne: 7:34

You can buy iPhonse SE here…
Apple:
Best Buy:
*CNET may get a commission from this offer/these offers.

Watch our other videos!
Full review of the iPhone SE:
iPhone SE vs. iPhone 11 camera comparison:
iPhone SE vs. Samsung Galaxy A51 camera comparison:

#WithMe #Videography #iPhone

Check out the folks who inspired me:
Karen X:
Film Riot:
Parker Walbeck:

40 Comments

  1. Nic Henry

    May 11, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    Try these yourself and let me know how they go!

    • antzpantz

      May 11, 2020 at 12:55 pm

      Does your cat have an Instagram?! 😻😻😻

    • Nic Henry

      May 11, 2020 at 3:14 pm

      @antzpantz Unfortunately she’s not great with technology!

    • RG Engineer

      May 11, 2020 at 4:32 pm

      Mm ueah!

    • Sean Hollister

      May 11, 2020 at 5:08 pm

      Love everything about this video. Hope you’re doing well!

    • Nic Henry

      May 12, 2020 at 7:45 pm

      @Sean Hollister Thanks Sean! Hope you’re doing well too, bud

  2. Zarihs Zoltan

    May 11, 2020 at 2:23 pm

    Man isolation is really getting in to you

  3. simon nomis

    May 11, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    Gaffer tape is amazing, a lot better then duct tape between legs. ;). If you don’t have a mop, you can you tape on other end to make a hinge for smooth motion. Also rubber band makes things smoother and last longer ( ….joke). For panning use it to turn the tripod or home made monopod on stick. Run tape through it and instant holder or controlled fall down shot.

  4. Jeremiah Guffey

    May 11, 2020 at 2:41 pm

    Very cool ideas to try at home! How’d you pull off the reverse dolly zoom with your cat at the end? Thanks for the inspiration, will be trying a few of these out.

    • Nic Henry

      May 11, 2020 at 3:13 pm

      I propped the phone against a Coors Light on top of my skateboard and pushed it toward my cat. Then in the edit, just add a digital zoom the opposite direction the camera is moving. And shoot at a higher res than your final export. Thanks for watching, Jeremiah!

  5. Andy Lin

    May 11, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    nice tricks.

  6. Arif Mahmud

    May 11, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    Please lets have a photo trick please

  7. CaptainBearPants

    May 11, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    Thus video was awesome 😎

  8. Serge Bissainthe

    May 11, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    Very clever! Thanks for sharing!

  9. Anmol Raj

    May 11, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    Him saying “iphone” instead of just “phone” triggers me.

    Other than that, nice video.

  10. dominicandaddy88

    May 11, 2020 at 3:54 pm

    This is awesome. More content like this, please.

  11. Nag

    May 11, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    Awesome , thanks

  12. TrueFuture TV

    May 11, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    I’m about to try some camera tricks now.. I hope my tape holds!!

  13. RG Engineer

    May 11, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    Yeah really asowm!

  14. shygjn

    May 11, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    4:33 is a masterpiece 🤣🤣🤣

  15. sherri moquin

    May 11, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    Cnet never disappoints

  16. Expert Contributor

    May 11, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    Umm…!¡MoW!¡ You are such a good presenter. Your voice is so soothing. There is no big drama; everything is just so calm and collected. Bravo

  17. Skip Press

    May 11, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    Perfect Texas-shirt

  18. Hackuna MyTatas

    May 11, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    cool beans

  19. Mahmoud Tala't

    May 11, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    Selling an iphone se witb style … thanks CNET

  20. Guitar Prodigy by Wilfred Clinton

    May 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    Love for iPHONE SE♥🔥🤘

  21. Shara - I love S*X : *** TAP ON MY PHOTO

    May 11, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    ☀ 💜 👲

  22. Robert Gardner

    May 11, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    He didn’t even show us how to do the second trick

    • Nic Henry

      May 11, 2020 at 9:27 pm

      It’s just editing two panning shots in the same direction together and then doing some acting to sell the action. Bonus points if you add a little motion blur and sound design 😉

  23. Mustafa Baran

    May 11, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    👠📱

  24. Creative

    May 11, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    The best and most relatable video I’ve seen from cnet in years
    Good job man 👍

  25. Shiva Sundar

    May 11, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    The tricks started of great till he rush down the end 🙄

  26. Naing Aung Lu Lu

    May 12, 2020 at 1:59 am

    I wanna know how to use effect like rotation thing in Adobe premiere or something?

  27. polianapalooza

    May 12, 2020 at 2:03 am

    Your bathroom makes a great darkroom for film development

  28. G Galilei

    May 12, 2020 at 3:28 am

    Worse than useless

  29. Adam Zahn

    May 12, 2020 at 3:49 am

    Dear CNET…..please make more videos with this guy. I still love me some Brian Tong, but this young run and gun gem kills it EV👏🏻ER👏🏻Y👏🏻TIIIIIMME!! Seriously…..more content from him ASAP!!

  30. Matt S

    May 12, 2020 at 3:51 am

    Great video!!

  31. RonMiki

    May 12, 2020 at 5:55 am

    Nice footage from the iphone! I shoot mobile cinematic in my channel and I like your tips and tricks here. They’re very useful. Thanks for sharing this. Nicely done!

  32. Gyula Budai

    May 12, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    This very old phone is useless to take good pictures, I bought a P30 PRO instead for the same price and enjoying ultra wide, 5x periscope zoom, perfect night mode, AI.

  33. Андрій Позняков

    May 12, 2020 at 6:40 pm

    Why not to find a little bit second handed iPhone 11 on Ebay instead ?) For the same price

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

Exit mobile version