Making use of video | Mind, the mental health charity

Film whatever you like. Tell your story.

Videos can really help to bring your story and your fundraising to life. And there are loads of different ways to make and share videos these days. You can use videos to ask for donations or sponsorship directly or just to show people a bit more of what you’re doing.

Before we get into any guidance and tips on using video in your fundraising, the main thing we want to tell you is, don’t worry about any of this, just do it! Press the button and make a video!

Film whatever you like. Tell your story. Make it heartfelt, or make it funny, or make it both! It doesn't need to perfect.

Jay wears a Mind t-shirt and is taking a selfie with his smartphone

What kind of video?

Talking head/straight to camera – if you have a great story to tell, why not film a really simple video of you telling it on camera. Tell people what you’re doing and what it means to you. Check out our storytelling guides for some tips.
Reportage – short clips and micro-video apps – there are so many ways to do this. Depending on what you’re doing, film little clips of your preparation or training, or during your fundraising activity itself. There are lots of apps to help you get creative with this – Vine, Snapchat, Hyperlapse (more on this later).
Go pro! – Lots of people have Go Pros these days. If you’re taking part in an active challenge, why not try to borrow one for some footage right at the heart of the action.
Live video – depending on what you’re doing to fundraise you could try live broadcast, using apps like Periscope and Facebook video! What better a way to get people involved?

Some of our favourite video apps:

Instagram – Instagram videos can be from 3 to 60 seconds long. You can record a video with multiple clips and/or import video from your phone library.
Hyperlapse – Hyperlapse allows you to speed up your videos. It's good for showing movement and atmosphere, and for helping to keep your video short and snappy.
Boomerang – Boomerangs are short videos that go forwards then backwards and play on a loop. It’s good for showing movement and it's quirky and fun.
Facebook Live – This allows you to broadcast yourself live to your friends on Facebook. And it’s interactive – people can ask you questions and you can respond!
Periscope – A bit like Facebook Live, except it’s linked to Twitter.

And remember to share! Share your footage on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media you use. When you’re using the apps above you can usually cross-post these to social media too. Publish your videos in as many places as possible to get them out there!

A few techy tips

Equipment – most smartphones have very high quality cameras these days – if you don’t have one, try to borrow one. That’s basically all you need! If you really want to, there are lots of cheap microphones available online, but you don't need to – remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Worried about camera shake? Again, don’t be worried – a little camera shake helps keep it real! If you really want to you could buy or borrow a tripod, or just prop your phone or camera up against something.
Hold the camera the right way for the app your using. Traditionally this would be landscape but some apps use portrait orientation. Again, don't worry if you forget this one – your footage will still be useable.
Think about lighting – if you're filming yourself, try to make sure your face is well lit. Natural light is usually best so if you're indoors, try to position yourself opposite a window.
Think about the length. The usual advice is to try to keep it under 2 or 3 mins but there are no rules here. Just remember people have a limited attention span, but if you have a really great story, you might be able to hold it for a little bit longer! The examples we’ve included below are longer than 2 to 3, but they still work because they’re brilliant.

Looking for inspiration?

Here are a few videos that we love...

Eric's London Marathon video

(Warning: contains swearing) We loved this video by Eric Lampaert, who ran the London Marathon for Mind in 2015. He’s done some whizzy editing here, and gone down the funny route.

Editing together video clips like this isn’t as hard as you’d think. Search online for a range of editing apps, many of which are free.