Okay so I finally got around to trying out Joanna Last’s tips for making pro-looking videos without losing your mind. Man, I was struggling hard before this – my footage always looked amateur hour.
Starting Point: The Hot Mess
First off, I just grabbed my phone like I always do. No fancy camera. Setup was my usual disaster zone: cluttered background, harsh overhead light throwing nasty shadows everywhere. Hit record, mumbled about my topic for a few minutes, feeling totally awkward. Watched it back. Pure cringe. Bad sound, bad lighting, rambling nonsense. Felt like giving up.
Applying Joanna’s Tricks Step-by-Step
Remembered Joanna saying “prep is everything.” So this time I did things different:
- Cleared a Corner: Seriously, just shoved everything off my desk except one plant. Used a plain wall. Simple.
- Stole Natural Light: Joanna’s big on “free light wins.” Moved everything near the window but angled sideways. Not directly in front – huge difference! No squinting, soft shadows.
- Wrote Actual Bullet Points: Not a script. Just three main things I wanted to say. Kept it short. Wrote ’em big on paper stuck below my phone lens so I could glance down without looking weird on camera.
- Spoke to the Lens, Not Me: Taped a little googly eye next to the phone lens like Joanna suggests. Sounds silly, but dang, it worked! Actually felt like I was talking to someone.
The Recording Session (Way Less Painful)
Hit record. Took a breath before talking. Tried to keep it conversational, like chatting with a friend who cares about this stuff. If I flubbed a line? Stopped for two seconds, took another breath, started that point again. Didn’t restart the whole thing. Knowing I could fix it later was a huge mental shift.
Easy Editing? Maybe!
Dumped the footage onto my laptop. Okay, editing usually takes me forever. But Joanna’s trick? “Cut on the breath.” Seriously. Where I paused after a flub? Easy to cut. Where I took a breath between points? Perfect cut spot. Used the free software I already had. Zoomed in on the timeline, snipped out all the “uhms,” the silences, the screw-ups where I’d paused. Smooshed the good bits together. Threw my bullet points up on screen sometimes as simple text graphics.
The Big Difference
Watched the final minute-and-a-half clip. Mind blown. The sound was cleaner (just phone mic!), the lighting was actually flattering, I looked like I kinda knew what I was talking about. No fancy gear. No huge time sink. Just using those simple, practical steps. It wasn’t Hollywood, but it looked competent. Like something people might actually watch without clicking away after 10 seconds.
Joanna’s stuff works because it focuses on the small, doable things that make a big visual impact. Less stressing, more doing. That’s the key.
