No doubt if you post to Instagram this question will have popped up very often.

According to Later, who analysed over 81 million posts, the answer might lie in your page size and goals.

They found some interesting results:

• Under 1K followers: 14 times per week brings the highest reach and engagement rates;

• Between 1K-250K followers: 14 or 20 times per week brings the highest reach rate per post, however if you’re looking for maximum engagement once per week is best;

• 250K+ followers: posting only once per week delivers the highest reach rate and engagement rates per post.

Reach rate shows how far your post has travelled, while engagement rate indicates how many of your followers have liked/commented/shared your post.

Instagram’s idea, it seems, is for you to build an audience as quickly as possible with lots of content. 

Then, once you have found an audience, you can be more selective with your posts.

For accounts under 1K’s, 14 posts a week is a lot of content, and let’s be honest, most people would find that level of content creation simply exhausting. 

Our humble advice is to use this as a somewhat loose goal rather than a crippling, anxiety-inducing strategy. 

It might be useful to stockpile content a few weeks in advance so that you have posts to fall back on when life gets in the way.

If you amass enough content you may find yourself reaching that 1K mark relatively quickly. We cover this topic more in detail here.

Most businesses, however, find themselves within the 1K-250K bracket.

If your product takes a long time to create (artist, musician…) then you might benefit more from posting once a week as this will generate more engagement.

However, if you’re keen on staying in the public eye, you may continue at a high pace, potentially sacrificing a few likes and shares from your follower base.

Always bear in mind that this kind of strategy is akin to bigger businesses or those lucky enough to have a social media team. 

It’s also important to remember that, with every post, you are building your portfolio and writing your story!

Overall, quality will always trump quantity, the more consistently you deliver high-quality posts, the better your Instagram will look.

Once you set yourself a time frame, the issue of what to post can loom large.

The question should really be “what do I want to show people?” and this can have some very creative answers.

Follow similar creators, post behind the scenes content, do tutorials. 

Keeping your feed focused is also a great option, i.e. posting only high-quality images of your product so you have a uniform looking grid can be what some followers really love.

Answering this question early can help you tailor your approach and find the followers who are going to stay with you for the long run, a very valuable asset indeed.

If you are still wondering how frequently you should post, definitely give us a shout, we are always happy to help.

Happy posting!

Clothing is one of the most important elements of a successful scene, therefore it is key to know what to wear on filming day.

A poorly selected outfit won’t make for a comfortable experience, it may cause for the sound to be unusable, or perhaps, the worst offender, you’ll get a visit from the unsightly “Moire pattern” (Mwa-rei).

Looking comfortable on camera is embodied by feeling comfortable on camera, the difference is in the fit.

Notice that a suit limits your movements, particularly under your arms. It’d be unwise to throw on a blazer for an energetic shoot, unless it’s properly tailored or you’re already used to the range of movement you have in it.

For this reason, notice the difference in how you feel and act when wearing newer clothes in your wardrobe compared to older, ‘broken in’ garments. It usually takes a while to get used to the feeling of a new fit!

Consider whether your choice of outfit could make you a bit self-conscious.

Whereas there is a solid comfort in that old t-shirt, we can draw a compromise between the function of the video, how you want to be portrayed and the necessity for comfort.

Context is always important. Therefore, find the sweet spot between the purpose of the video, how you would like to appear in it and what fits you feel comfortable wearing.

Unfortunately, you can’t fix rigid movement in post.

A bad influence perhaps, this advice is sound justification for some new threads.

Another consideration when choosing what to wear on filming day is, believe it or not, sound.

Anything that makes noise will be picked up by a microphone.
A unidirectional microphone (one direction of capture), like a lapel mic, can fix this problem somewhat.

However, you would be riding on luck for the perfect fix. If you desire polished audio, say, for a corporate advert, getting it right from the foundation is your best shot.

Items like noisy jewellery, lanyards, and perhaps surprisingly, hair (!) can irritate lapel microphones. So make sure that there are no obstructions.

If you do find yourself with botched audio, there is hope in something called…

Noise gates

Noise gates can be found in almost any Digital Audio Workstation like Logic or Ableton. They can be set up to lower the volume of audio when a level threshold is hit, this means that it will cut out all the parts of the audio that aren’t loud enough, leaving only the voice.

Like any tool, it will take some tweaking to get it to sound natural, try setting it to lower the volume only slightly, so that the viewer doesn’t notice the lack of background noise like birds and traffic.

Some noise gates also have a frequency feature, so that you can gauge out certain frequencies (like the frequency of hair on a microphone for example), without affecting the sound of the voice.

Finally, the grossest example with the most alluring name:

The Moire Pattern

Most digital cameras use a type of scanning that causes small, repeating patterns like the fabric of a jacket or a tie, to appear nauseatingly sharp. So when choosing what to wear on filming day, try to steer clear of busy patterns.

Ultimately, we want to avoid something called Moire Pattern. The Moire effect is an optical illusion, which can be difficult to monitor on smaller screens such as the ones on a camera monitor.

A videographer’s tips and tricks to deal with Moire patterns

From the video maker point of view, it’s best to put our best foot forward and always monitor at 100% size whenever possible. If you suspect a Moire creeping in, check with a test shot and watch on a large screen.

One thing to bear in mind is that, unfortunately, zooming in on the camera monitor alone can often create a moire effect. This is due to resampling.

The greatest defence is to move a few inches away from the subject and refocus. This should capture the texture more realistically.

If moving away from the subject is not an option, because of space constraints, you can try adjusting the angle of the camera, and refocus onto an area away from the suspected culprit.

Always double-check!

If during the edit, you still find yourself with the headache of moire, there is hope. It can be tamed with a slight gaussian blur specifically around the affected area.

It’s worth triple checking in the ‘help’ panel of your editing software whether it has specific moire eliminating tool!

On seeing the word recce a military operation comes to mind. The word comes from reconnaissance which in the video industry, refers to visiting a location in advance of filming video content. If you are shopping around for video estimates for your business you will have seen words like ‘pre-filming recce visit” in a few proposals.  If you haven’t, we think it might be a red flag and you may want to have another chat with your potential supplier.  But is it really worth the extra time and expense?

Does my video really need a pre-filming recce visit?*

Preparation is key to any video production. The more preparation ahead of a shoot, the more efficiently the day will run and the less likely that something will go wrong. Plus the better results the client will get.

A pre-filming recce is one of the crucial ways of preparing ahead of a shoot. Particularly due to budget constraints, visiting a location is the perfect way to assess any risks before filming.

We’re all so pressed for time that using precious hours in a pre-filming recce might not sound great but when compared to what it would cost if something were to go wrong, it’s more than worth it. Most projects involve a crew, talents, equipment and location. Organising all of that only to realise on the day that the location is not perfect or unsafe, would mean very expensive delays.

*It’s a great question to ask your production company

When requesting prices for a filming job, ask the production company if a recce is required for your particular project. It is not *always* the case. Pre-filming recce visits are more commonly used for example in live streaming projects and in general for larger budget commissions where there’s a need to really make the most of a specific location.

What will a pre-filming recce visit reveal?

You want the crew to see the location with their professional hat on. They will be able to spot any potential issues and come up with solutions and alternatives. There’s always the risk of a location being totally unsuitable but it’s best to find out ahead of the actual filming day. Maybe the place is not ideal considering the equipment required, or there might not be proper sound insulation. Perhaps there might be insufficient space for crew and kit, or safety issues like faulty electrics or slippery surfaces.

Top 3 issues to watch out for:

• • Sound: Crisp, clear sound is a key component of a good video. Environmental sounds such as traffic, air con units and such can be easy to overlook. Experienced filming crew will spot trouble
  • Lighting: Good lighting is crucial to a great end result. Whether natural or artificial, lighting can make or break a video. During the pre-filming recce visit, the crew needs to check existing light sources and make an assessment of what kit they will need to bring on the day.
  • Electric power: Video production is a power hungry operation. These days most kit will run on batteries for a good few hours. An experienced crew will know to come prepared for any contingency though and the best tip is to walk around the location and identify all power outlets, always double checking they are in good working order.

If the pre-production team does spot any issues, they will suggest strategies to resolve them. Sometimes briefs can be tweaked to suit. In any case, a pre-filming recce visit allows for this approach to be been taken ahead of filming day, rather than having to deal with nasty surprises later.

It’s not all negative though, a pre-filming recce visit will also be a source of inspiration. Some of the best ideas our crew has had are born on location whilst preparing before filming day. A great video maker should really be able to make the most of any particular setting in terms of space and lighting.

Costs implications:

We have set rates for pre-production, production and post-production based on the time we spent on each task. A pre-filming recce visit will always be less expensive than a filming or editing hour. One member of our team will set aside 1 or 2 hours depending on distance and project complexity.

We really do think a pre-filming recce visit is worth the cost, as it can really make a difference on filming day.

Check out a rough pricing guide we’ve put together and do get in touch if you have any questions or wish to request a quote. We’re always happy to help with any queries.