Hybrid shooting – essential skills guide (part 2)
If you are already skilled in photography, the jump to cinematography is not as large as it seems. The core principles of framing, lighting, perspective and lens choice are fundamentally the same. After all, a film is just a series of photos in motion.
Then add some story-boarding, directing skills, swap strobes for constant light, acquire some audio tech skills, and understand basic camera movements, and you’re 80% of the way there. Add video editing to your toolkit, and you’re ready to compete.
You can read Hybrid Shooting – essential skills guide (part1) here.
Framing shots and camera movements
While photographers typically hunt for a single ‘hero shot’, video requires a different mindset known as coverage – a sequence of varied angles designed to be edited together to tell a story.
For example, you may aim for a wide ‘establishing shot’ to define the building or environment, followed by a ‘medium shot’ (waist up) for body language. Then, a tight ‘close-up’ from the shoulders up, can be essential for emphasising emotional moments.
To help tell the story, don’t forget to capture ‘B-roll’ – which is supplemental footage essential for covering cuts in post-production and keeping the viewer engaged with a variety of interesting angles.
As for cropping in camera – modern workflows often demand deliverables for both horizontal platforms (YouTube) and vertical feeds (Instagram/TikTok).
vertical and horizontal footage by using the full sensor.
At a minimum, you should shoot in 4K – this ensures that even when you crop a vertical slice from the centre, you retain at least a 1080p resolution. To help you envisage cropping for both formats, many of the latest mirrorless cameras allow you to shoot in 'open gate'.
This feature records the sensor’s full surface area (often 3:2) instead of automatically cropping the top and bottom for a widescreen look. By capturing this taller image, you gain the flexibility to crop a high-quality horizontal and vertical version from the exact same clip, essentially letting you shoot for every platform at once.
While you can certainly shoot vertically by rotating your camera, it is often ergonomically challenging for long periods. Additionally, this orientation makes it a little more difficult to mount the camera in a cage or properly balance it on a gimbal.
Beyond static shots and framing, ‘camera movements’ guide the viewer’s eye between strong compositions. While feature films use rails or cranes – which can cost a lot and require fairly long set up times – you can replicate cinematic looks with a gimbal or drone.
If you are to buy a gimbal, you'll have to consider the 'payload'. If your camera is too heavy for the payload, then the motors will struggle to do a good job. But don't just go and buy the largest gimbal either – as holding a large heavy gimbal + camera + lens will make for an unpleasant, backbreaking shoot.
Here are a few classic movements and shots:
Pan & Tilt: A Pan pivots the camera horizontally (left or right) on a fixed point, as if creating a panorama. A Tilt pivots vertically (up or down).
Dolly (Push In / Pull Out): Physically moving the entire camera toward or away from a subject. With a mirrorless camera, this is often done smoothly with a gimbal or slider.
Tracking / Follow Shot: Moving the camera alongside, or with a subject as they travel through a scene. This is similar to a dolly but focuses on following the action. Use a gimbal for best results.
Static (Locked) Shot: The camera does not move. The framing is fixed, allowing the subject to move within it. Also great for over the shoulder interview shots.
Zoom: Using the lens’s focal length to move in or out – often an establishing shot – to a medium shot. Unlike a dolly, this can change the background compression. If you don’t have a motorised ‘power-zoom’ you can shoot in 8K and then digitally ‘zoom-in’ in post.
Post Production
With photography, post-production is much easier. You’re just cropping, removing blemishes, or balancing lighting in a single image in Lightroom or Photoshop.
As mentioned before, a film is just a series of images, so you can technically enhance your footage frame-by-frame in Photoshop. But this requires advanced skills and a massive amount of work. It’s far better to get everything right in-camera and use dedicated video editing software.
That being said, a host of Photoshop-like functions are coming to video software (such as Premier) as revealed at Adobe Max Sneaks 2025. Soon, we’ll see AI tools go mainstream that can delete or clone objects from moving shots, and even fix spoken dialogue via a text box – where you can change a person’s lips and audio to match the corrected words.
(Above video) Photoshop like functionality is coming to Adobe Premier – as revealed at Adobe MAX Sneaks in October 2025.
For software, on the low end, you can start with Apple iMovie or ClipChamp for windows, but realistically, you’ll want to move to a more comprehensive, professional program.
The main options are Final Cut Pro (FCP), a one-off purchase; Adobe Premiere, which is subscription-based; or DaVinci Resolve, which has an excellent free version and a pro upgrade. I prefer FCP, as it’s the fastest for rendering and playback on a Mac, and the learning curve isn’t as steep as Premiere’s. But really, they are all very similar, and many beginners love the free Resolve software that is actually from the Australian brand Blackmagic Design.
If you are a total newbie, I highly recommend buying a keyboard shortcut cover. This will dramatically speed up your workflow, as many of the numerous tools and shortcuts you need regularly are hidden in drop-down menus or behind buttons with nonsensical icons.
professional competency can be a steep climb – easily an 8/10 in terms of difficulty.
Regardless of the software you use, the guts of the program is the Timeline which is the interface where you drop all your footage (clips), sound, graphics and text overlays. No doubt many people have already encountered a basic timeline interface using Instagram.
One essential tip is to get used to constantly zooming in and out of the timeline. It’s the only way to get into the intricate cuts and transitions between clips. Also, it’s best to lay down all your clips first (for a 'rough cut') and then later add the soundtrack (unless you are specifically cutting a music video).
Be patient – it may take you three or four full edits to really get the hang of it. There are a tonne of 'how to' videos on YouTube to solve any quirks and roadblocks when building your videos.
For music, there are a number paid services such as Artlist, Epidemic Sound or Soundstripe. I recommend subscribing to them over finding 'free music' as searching for 'free music / royalty free' music takes more time and generally the musical standard is a lot lower. Make sure you research the licence you need for your particular project.
Finally, the format to export to is H.264. This is a universal format (like JPG) that can be read by virtually all computers and phones.
Final thoughts
No doubt, many photographers already know the basics of shooting and sequencing clips from making Instagram ‘Reels’. While the theory is similar, stepping up to pro-video adds specialised gear (like tripods, gimbals, mics and lights) and a deeper process, from storyboarding and casting – to a more complex post-production workflow.
Don’t be put off by this. The best way to learn is simply to practice, and a great way to start is by making a short film.
This can be a simple one-day project: storyboard in an hour (planning shots and cutaways on location); cast friends or use a site like StarNow for talent; shoot for a few hours; and then edit for a few hours. In just a day’s work, you’ll learn an incredible amount and likely have a lot of fun in the process.
You can read Part 1 of Hybrid shooting – essential skills guide (part 1) here.