Christmas is the season to have some festive fun and try your hand at a Christmas cat movie. Nubia is already road-testing cat toys for Katzenworld, and I wonder if you know how easy it would be to film your own cat at Christmas? Let’s find out!
Don’t worry about being an ‘expert’ at making movies on your smartphone, just grab a coffee or a glass of wine and check out these cool tips for making your own Christmas cat movie.
Top Christmas Tips for a Smartphone
How you hold a smartphone for filming depends on what you want to do during the holiday season.
Do you want to make a quick and fun movie to share on social media with your family? Or, do you want to add a quick movie to your own blog or Instagram?
Top Tip Keep your Smartphone steady. Don’t swoop or move suddenly, people will think they are on a roller coaster!
Holding your device sideways in ‘landscape’ mode gives you clips that are instantly usable and easy to edit. Portrait mode shows up smaller on your smartphone screen, which not everyone likes.
If you are like me, you may find that seeing a video sideways on is easier, even if a ‘phone lets me look at it in upright mode. It’s easier to frame your shots so you film your cat, not the carpet or sofa.
TOP IG TIP: Confirm that your smartphone automatically generates square movies for Instagram when held portrait style. A lot depends on your brand of ‘phone so check before you shoot. Do you have to instruct your phone to use square mode? I do on my iPhone 6, but each device is different.
How do I tell a Christmas Cat Story?
First and most important tip – do a bit of practising before Christmas arrives. Get a few ideas together. Maybe you want to film Christmas cat toys, feline fun, or family.
The best thing to do is spend a bit of time getting used to navigating your photo/video shooting app so you can film fun things without worrying if you are doing it right. Find your apps, play with them a little. If you know what your apps look like and if you play around a bit, they will seem a lot less scary.
Have a basic idea of what you want to film
Keep your movie ‘story’ simple. A handful of clips joined together to tell a story and Voila! You are ready to share.
I know you will come up with lots of ideas but here are some prompts.
- Opening cat Christmas gifts. Did they like the gift or the paper more?
- Christmas Day with the cats – collect half a dozen clips throughout the day and post later on.
- Turkey time for the cats(s)!
- A video saying hello to Grandma if she is not visiting the family.
- Your cat’s reaction to the first snowfall.
Help! I’m scared stiff of editing
You can keep your editing to the absolute minimum! Don’t worry.
To make a basic movie, all you need to do is import clips then trim them to make them shorter. Practice trimming a clip or two so they sit nicely side by side.
Remember, you are sharing a happy moment not filming Star Wars or Frozen!
And d stress if you don’t pick everything up quickly, you will have a lot of fun as your confidence grows! Open and explore a smartphones video editing app and take a peep. There will be a helpful video on Youtube if you get stuck.
TOP MOVIE TIP: You can download and edit on your computer for the ‘bigger’ picture if you think your phone is too small!
Marjorie @ Dash Kitten
I am including here my recommendations for top free moviemaking apps. Adobe and Videoshop have a free and a paid version and for a beginner the free version is perfect. iMovie is a slimmed-down version of the big app on the Mac.
- iMovie (iPhone/Mac)
- Adobe Premiere Rush Android/iPhone
- Videoshop Android/iPhone
Christmas Cat Movie Goofs to Avoid
We have all done these, I write from experience!
- If you want people to hear what’s happening in your video – make sure the sound is ON.
- BUT try to avoid loud background chatter or TV noise if you don’t. Smartphone microphones pick up a surprising amount of stray chatter.
- If you are outside – avoid breezy places. The wind sounds like someone is blowing right into your microphone * shudder *.
- If your sound is a total disaster, don’t panic. You can remove the sound using your app and grab some royalty-free festive music or use some of the snippets that usually come with things like iMovie.
- TIP Audio Jungle has a range of inexpensive Christmas tracks for about £3/£5 each, or check online for royalty-free music. Be conscious of copyright © and never copy something you find online.
Take a chance, learn a few tricks, and let us know what you want to video your cat doing this Christmas!
