Everybody loves cute pet videos, but you might find yourself wondering exactly how pet owners can capture such great footage. To get some insight into how you can increase your odds of turning your own furry friend into a video star, our Shutterstock Footage team asked four amazing pet-clip contributors how they made the clips that captured our hearts. Check out what they had to say and share your own thoughts and tips below.
Contributor: Photosani
“Golden Retriever Reading a Book” by Photosani
“The trick here was to apply our ‘human smartness’ to circumvent the clever animal. We put a a cookie under the book and let him see this operation (this gained his attention toward the book), and then moved another cookie (out of frame) horizontally, so that the dog started to follow that movement and looked as if he was effectively reading. It was really difficult. We had to redo it several times, because once he pushed away the book (impatient to get to the cookie under it), another time he moved forward to try to grab the cookie in the hand of the owner, another time the glasses fell down. In the end, the real pleasure was to see that it came out exactly how we imagined it: funny and witty.”
Contributor: Cherry-Merry
“Two Young Cats Playing Together” by Cherry-Merry
“You can’t force cats to do anything. They’re living their day-to-day life, and you can only try and catch it. I set up the equipment (background, light, tripod), and tried to make the area comfortable. I wanted to try capturing the kittens’ motions, and all the fun they were having at the time. In this clip, Varvara (the grey one) is about 8-months old, and her brother is about 4-months old. So, in a way, she was playing two roles at once: sister and mother.”
Contributor: Andre Baget
“White Maltese Dog…” by Andre Baget
“On this shoot, I was filming something my dog, Pepper, loves to do. First, to ensure Pepper’s safety, I had my wife, and video partner, lay low in the car, holding Pepper so she would be secure while I drove. The second challenge was how to position the camera. For this shoot, I mounted the camera on the side-view mirror with heavy, wooden clamps, then wrapped it securely with bungee cords so if something happened, it wouldn’t hit the ground. Then I got in the car and drove back and forth on a seldom-traveled, but scenic road that I had scouted earlier, so I could film multiple takes without having to worry about traffic or other distractions. The best advice I can give beginners is to start with something simple. If you know your subject, think of an idea that incorporates something they love to do. And, most of all — this is worth repeating — have patience. Lots and lots of patience.”
Contributor: Rickard Bengtsson
“Cat Walks Through Backyard” by Rickard Bengtsson
“This is my own cat walking in my yard. So I just went out into the garden when the cats were there, shot for about half an hour, and hoped for the best. I didn’t give them any direction at all, just let them do their thing. I kept a bit of a distance with a zoom lens, so they wouldn’t be bothered by me. The main objective was for the shots to be in focus. With cats, just get the shot you want — the angle, the focus, the framing. Then hope the animal does something interesting. If you’re going for this kind of look, shooting at a high frame-rate is preferred, since it can be slowed down (like my clip is). That automatically tends to make it look great. Going from shooting photography to video, I think you need to focus more on big movements, and hope to get a few seconds of good material, rather than just getting the cat to turn its head.
Want more irresistible pet footage? Check out out our full “Cats and Dogs” clipbox.
Top Image: Cat and Dog by Schubbel.