 Filming yourself on an iPhone can be a great way to create interesting visuals for your videos. By adding camera movement, you can enhance your videos and create dynamic footage that will make your videos stand out. Now the lazy way would be to add a camera movement in the edit, or you could use something like this to take your mobile videos to the next level. What's up everyone, Bennett here with SmartfulFilmmaking.com and today I will show you how to film yourself using the Shark Slider Nano to add dynamic camera movement to your iPhone videos. Now, quick disclaimer, I actually reached out to iFootage themselves as I was interested in testing out their Shark Slider Nano and they were happy enough to send me one and sponsor this video. So big thanks to iFootage for supporting this channel. Now, I wasn't asked or told to say anything specific in this video and all my opinions are my own. So the reason why I enjoy filming myself with an iPhone is that it's lightweight and much easier to transport and set up compared to larger cameras. I actually made a full video on how to film a cinematic video of yourself using an iPhone, which I will leave a link to it in the video description below. To this day, I find it impressive what you can achieve using an iPhone and the right gear. What's great about the Shark Slider Nano is its portability and ease of use. It allows me to create some pretty amazing self-shot videos without having someone else help me with the camera movement. Now before I show you the techniques for filming yourself with a slider, let's quickly discuss how to use the Nano Slider. Now I've used many sliders in the past, but the Shark Slider Nano is by far the simplest one to use when it comes to programming your camera movements. I can use the touchscreen to set my A point where the camera movement will start and then reposition the camera to set my B point, dial in the slide speed and I'm good to go. What's great is that it's a pan-axis slider which supports both panning and linear movement, which is great for creating parallax shots. The slider is powered by using a Sony NP battery and can be charged using a USB-C port and if you're recording longer videos such as the time lapse, you can use a power bank even without the battery to extend the runtime. Now when you turn on the slider, it starts with the calibration process which takes around 30 seconds. However, the slider does that each time you turn it on. So just something to keep in mind. You also get a smartphone mount. However, you can also use it with a DSLR camera. The max payload is 3.5 kilos when placed on a flat surface, 2.5 kilos when mounted on a tripod and two kilograms when setting it up vertically. Now because I'm using an iPhone, which is lightweight, I have the advantage of creating faster movements with smooth results. Now the heavier the camera setup, the slower you will have to set the slide speed to avoid gerrym movements in your shot. When placing it on a flat surface, you get about 20 centimeters of travel and when you mount it on a tripod, you get 40 centimeters of travel. A very important function is the loop function which allows the camera to go back and forth continuously. This way I can do as many takes as I want and don't have to worry about resetting the slider every time. As a portable slider, I like how they include a slide lock mechanism to keep everything in place. The Shark Slider Nano also has a dedicated app called the iFootage Mocha app. It's free to download and offer similar functionality like Filmic Pro, giving you full control over your camera. The native camera app is great and I use it quite often as I'm familiar with it. However, the biggest advantage of using a professional video app, such as the Mocha app, is that I can control the focus and exposure separately. On top of that, I can be more creative and create smooth rack focus, like seen in movies. But we're gonna look at that later. Now regarding the gear setup, we talked about the Shark Slider Nano. Furthermore, I will be using the iPhone 14 Pro. What I also have with me is a tripod which allows me to position the slider and also create vertical shots. I also have a magic arm, which again gives me more flexibility to position my phone and can be used for close-up shots. I also have an Apple Watch with me, which I can use as a monitor when filming with the native camera app. This will really help speed up the filming process as I can see what the camera is seeing in real time. Now as for the camera settings, I will be filming everything in 4K 60 frames per second in case I want to slow down the footage or create a speed ramp. So let me now show you the different camera movements you can create using the slider. This way you can create and implement those techniques for yourself and make your videos look more dynamic. Now I find this beautiful spot, we're here at Greifensee. I'm super excited to create a sort of short travel video of myself here exploring this lake. So the first shot we're gonna create is a slide shot. The camera will be moving from left to right and I've already set up my tripod as well as the slider. It did its calibration, so everything is ready to go. The only thing we need to do is set our A and B point. So the first thing I'm gonna do is set to the end position which is my B point. This is where I want it to stop and then I'm gonna set, unlock, focus and exposure so that no changes occur and then I'm gonna set this as my B point and then I'm gonna move this all the way to the left and this looks really nice because we have some foreground with these tree branches and I'm gonna set this as my A point. And the next thing I'm gonna do is set the time and I will set it to around 10 seconds and then I'm gonna select loop. This way the slider will move back and forth and then start and so the next shot I'm gonna create is a low slice shot. Hey buddy, you looking for something? So I've actually taken it off the tripod and I've placed it here on the ground. So while this one is here, as my actor we're actually gonna create a nice, nice slide shot. So I'm gonna use the wide angle lens and this is going to be my B point actually and then I'm gonna move it all the way to the left. This is gonna be my A point and the duration will be four seconds. I'm gonna actually loop it and go. This shot looks really nice. So the next shot we will be creating is a vertical shot. As you can see, the camera will be moving up as the camera will be moving up I will be walking into the frame and this is gonna look really great because I do have some foreground and by pressing these two buttons over here it will allow me to adjust my slider setting. So I'm gonna hold over here, press the two buttons and as you can see it unlocks everything. And what I also wanna create is an automatic focus pool. We can also create a controlled focus pool inside the Moco app, which can be also very helpful but it's not always necessary. I just make sure to test out the shot but I think this will work. So I'm gonna set this as my A point and I'm gonna move the slider upwards. We're gonna set this as our B point. So let's test that out. I'm gonna set it to loop. I'm gonna start it and just check if this shot would look great. Okay, it slowly moves up and then let's see. We'll slowly then transition to the background. I think this is gonna look really nice. I'm gonna hit the record button. That was actually our first take and quite surprised that it worked this well. So we're gonna take this and let's move on to the next one. So the next shot I'll be creating is a parallax shot. To do that, if you don't have an Apple watch to monitor yourself, you can also use the selfie camera on the iPhone 14 Pro. I'm gonna make this shot a little bit more interesting using cinematic mode. This way the background will be blurred out and I have this nice separation. And what's great about using cinematic mode is that I can actually track my face. This way I will always stay in focus as I create my movement. I'm actually gonna set my A and B point now. So this is going to be my A point and I'm also gonna take advantage of the full length that the slider travels for the parallax to really take effect. The great part about using the selfie camera is that I can position myself. So I'll be standing here and I'm gonna mark it with this stone and this, I don't know what this is. This way I know where to stand. So this is gonna be the starting position and I'm gonna set this as the A position and then I'm gonna move it all the way to the right and then I'm gonna move the camera a little bit to the left. I'm just gonna check the shot if this would look great. I'm still centered and the time will be 10 seconds. Hit the record button, select start. Gonna position myself. Okay, let's try that out. The next shot I will create is a nice close-up shot of this dead branch over here and I'm using the magic arm so I can get closer to the branch. And I'm now gonna set my slider key frame. This is gonna be my A position and then I'm gonna move it all the way over here and I'm also gonna slightly turn it to create more dynamic. I'm gonna save it as my B position and I've set it to 20 seconds. Let's go for 15 and then I'm gonna confirm it, stand by and I'm gonna so hit the record button and then start recording. And creating this shot handheld is much more difficult than using a slider. So especially for close-up shots or even macro shots, this is really great. I could actually walk in the background. Yeah, why not? That would look great. Let's now create a slide shot with a rack focus. This involves gradually blurring the background while bringing the foreground into sharp focus or vice versa. This technique can be used to draw attention to an important part of your story. And for this method, I will be using the Mocha app as I can manually control the focus and set key frames that will sync with the movement of the slider. And what's great about using the Mocha app is that I can control everything through this app without even having to use the touchscreen. I'm recording in on the wide angle lens in 4K 60 frames per second and over here to the left, I have my manual focus control. So I actually want it to start blurry. So I'm going to drag this wheel all the way up. So I'm going to set this to A and then the B position will be over here. This will be the part where the path will be in focus. I'm going to set this as my B position. I'm also going to loop it and I'm going to set the time, I think 10 seconds is good. I'm going to start and I'm going to position myself. So for this shot, I'm going to create a push-in shot. I want the camera to slowly move forward. I can't pull it back all the way because you will see this knob over here. So I'm going to start the camera movement here. I'm going to use my Apple Watch to monitor myself. So I'm going to be standing right over here, actually. I'm going to mark it using this dead leaf over here. And now I need to set and lock my focus. So I'm actually going to grab something. And I think this one I'll be standing, I think over here. So I think this will, I hope this will work. That's the issue a little bit. If you want to set focus on yourself, it isn't always easy. So I'm going to set and lock focus. This is going to be the B position and this will be the A position. I'm going to confirm it and set it to loop. And then I'm going to hit the record button and start filming myself. Hopefully I'm in focus. So now that we have all of our shots, let's look at the final results. So as you can see, creating your movement using a motorized slider can really make your shots look more natural and dynamic than just adding camera movement in the edit. Now filming with a slider does require some setup time. However, if you're filming content by yourself and don't have anyone to help film you, then having a motorized slider and taking the time to set up your shots goes a long way. I wouldn't bring this entire setup with me on every shoot, but it's definitely worth keeping in your kit when you need the extra dynamic in your shot. Now the best part about the Shark Slider Nano is it's usability and the ability to program your camera movements easily. The option to pan and slide simultaneously without adding additional modules makes the slider versatile. Furthermore, you can use the Shark Slider Nano not only to film yourself, but also for product shoots, interviews and real estate videos, which really adds production value to your videos. All right, guys, I hope this has helped you understand how to use a motorized slider and all the different shots you can create with it. If you want to learn more about how to create professional looking videos on your phone, make sure to check out smartphonefilmmaking.com. The link will be in the video description below. Thank you so much for watching, guys, and I will see you in the next video.