Smartphone Photo and Video
Professional-looking content with a phone: how phone cameras work, settings and formats, framing for vertical and horizontal, light at home and outdoors, stabilization and movement, shooting sequences, clean audio, repeatable setups, mobile photo and video editing, and an honest, accessible workflow.
CRE-130 Year 1 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 5 min
Offered by HSM University · Content Creation
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain how phone cameras, sensors and computational processing work, and choose the right camera and phone for a task
- Configure camera apps, photo and video formats, frame rates, codecs, exposure, focus and white balance
- Frame and compose content for vertical, portrait, square and horizontal formats, respecting platform safe zones
- Light subjects indoors with windows, reflectors and LED lights, managing softness, direction and color temperature
- Work with outdoor light through the day, including harsh sun, shade, golden hour, blue hour, night and weather
- Stabilize phone footage and perform smooth, motivated camera movements with handheld technique, tripods and gimbals
- Shoot video sequences with suitable frame rates and shutter speeds, avoiding flicker and capturing B-roll and coverage
- Record clean audio with built-in and external microphones, controlling distance, levels, echo and wind
- Build repeatable setups for talking heads, products, food, flat lays and vlogging
- Edit photos on a phone with a consistent sequence, local adjustments, honest retouching and platform exports
- Edit video on a phone with pacing, captions, music, color, audio cleanup, reframing and proper music licensing
- Plan a content workflow with backups, privacy, accessibility, consent and honest disclosure, and complete a capstone project
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 5 min total · final exam
- 1 Your phone as a camera system 26 min · quiz
- 2 Camera apps, settings and formats 26 min · quiz
- 3 Framing and composition for vertical and horizontal 24 min · quiz
- 4 Light at home and indoors 25 min · quiz
- 5 Light outdoors and on location 25 min · quiz
- 6 Stabilization, support and camera movement 26 min · quiz
- 7 Shooting video: exposure, motion and sequences 27 min · quiz
- 8 Microphones and clean audio 25 min · quiz
- 9 Setups for talking heads, products and food 26 min · quiz
- 10 Editing photos on a phone 25 min · quiz
- 11 Editing video on a phone 25 min · quiz
- 12 Workflow, ethics and capstone 25 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Professional-looking content with a phone: how phone cameras work, settings and formats, framing for vertical and horizontal, light at home and outdoors, stabilization and movement, shooting sequences, clean audio, repeatable setups, mobile photo and video editing, and an honest, accessible workflow.
Part of the Film & Photography stream, typically taken in year 1.