Everything You Need To Become A Travel Filmmaker In 2021
Travel filmmaking is one of the most exciting and challenging specialisations any filmmaker can make. It’s equal parts demanding and rewarding. It’s certainly not a profession for the faint of heart!
To make a career in travel filmmaking you will need to not only be comfortable with travelling and the stress that can come with travel arrangements not going to plan, but also be comfortable in documenting everything that is happening around you at all times. Every experience you have while on the move is just a small part of the bigger picture and you will need to document the right parts in order to tell the story.
You have to truly love both travelling and filmmaking. Flying out to a new city once a year and making a one minute montage of clips isn’t going to cut it. You have to have a deep desire to get out and experience the world and need to have the right technical skills and creativity to make all of it come together.
Feel a little scared about that? Good! You should be!
That means you’re ready to hear what it takes to become a successful travel filmmaker!
The Mindset
Unless you have somehow landed a job at a travel filmmaking production company then chances are you’re going to have a lot of work to do to get noticed. It’s going to take a lot of time and money, so you better start saving for trips now.
Your passion for filmmaking and travel has to turn into more than just an interest. It has to become an obsession. Watch travel documentaries, read up on the best places to visit on a budget and begin planning everything to the finest detail.
Watching and consuming as much content as you can give you ideas on places to visit and explore and also what kinds of moments you should be trying to capture on video and how to edit.
Find other travel filmmakers who you love the work of and really study what it is about their work that draws you to it. Learn everything you can from what they create.
Before you ever go on your first trip you have to make sure you know your equipment inside out. Every spare moment and free weekend you have should be spent actually making things to hone and practice your skills. You should be able to do this in your sleep because while you’re travelling if a moment happens and you don’t have your camera in your hand it’s gone forever.
Practice other skills too. You never know what will come in handy! Back in the day, a travel film would have been produced by an entire production team. There would be production coordinators, camera and sound crew, a director, you get the idea. Nowadays equipment is so much smaller than it used to be and gone are the days of large crews for travel films (well mostly anyway). These days most travel film production companies and the people that hire them are looking for people who are skilled in more than just one area. It’s not enough to just be really good at capturing genuine moments. You need to know how to capture audio, edit everything together, colour it appropriately, and how to keep everything on schedule when travel plans inevitably go off track. If you want to be a professional then you have to have a very diverse skillset.
The Equipment
It is absolutely incredible how good the quality of modern-day phones are when it comes to capturing video and photo but if you want to make it as a professional then that, unfortunately, isn’t going to cut it in the long run.
You will want to take the leap and invest in some good quality equipment to make your films look their absolute best!
When travelling you generally want to travel as light as possible, and doubly so if you’re bringing camera equipment with you! Shaving kilos from the weight of your camera kit will make it easier to get around and make you blend in with other tourists and locals. The more you fit in with your surroundings the more likely you are to capture great shots.
So what would I recommend for an aspiring travel filmmaker? Read on to find out.
Tripods
First of all, I would start with a good, lightweight tripod or monopod. These are essential for stabilising your footage, particularly if your camera and lenses don’t have image stabilization of any kind. And even if they do I still think one of these is essential!
best travel tripod for video
best tripod + monopod combo for travel
professional level monopod for video
Cameras
Small, lightweight and incredibly powerful. That’s what you’re looking for in a travel-friendly camera. I would choose the Sony a6500 for its size and capabilities but I would also recommend the Sony a73 for those who want the look of a full frame camera.
best aps-c camera for travel filmmaking
best full frame camera for travel filmmaking
Lenses
Your collection of lenses will probably be what weighs the most in your kit. Choosing zoom lenses over primes will help you save weight and more importantly prevent you from swapping lenses and missing a crucial shot!
Best General Purpose Lenses
best all-purpose lens for aps-c
best all-purpose lens for full frame
best low light lenses
best low light lens for aps-c
best low light lens for full frame
Depending on what you want to capture you might also want to take a look at some ultra-wide lenses for astrophotography or super zoom lenses to capture footage of wildlife or vistas that might be very far away.
Audio
Having good sound for your films is actually a lot more important than having good visuals. Most people will stop watching a video if the sound is awful, but will stick around longer if your footage is shaky or not exposed correctly as long as the audio is clear and sounds great. Take it from me, it’s better to travel with one less lens as long as you can bring some great audio gear.
First to consider is the audio into your camera. Getting good audio here means you don’t have to sync it up while editing and is great for capturing moments as they happen.
Best Travel Shotgun Camera Mics
best shotgun mic for travel filmmkaing
budget shotgun mic for travel filmmaking
However, there may be times you want to set the camera up and walk into the distance while still getting clear audio of what you’re saying. In that case, you’ll need a wireless system to go into an external recorder or your camera. You can either use this by itself or plug in another microphone to the transmitter and use that to hide the system.
best wireless microphone for travel
If you don’t trust running new audio into your camera and want to sync it while editing then you will need a field recorder of some kind. These will allow you to capture audio even if your camera isn’t on and add an extra layer of security in knowing you caught great audio!
Best external field recorder for travel
best field recorder for travel filmmakers
budget external recorder for travel filmmakers
Other Essential Gear
You will also need to have a lightweight laptop and hard drives to handle your editing and data storage as well as plenty of SD cards to make sure you don’t run out of space! Laptops are a very personal choice and you likely have one that is perfect to use already however here are my top picks for all the other small, but no less essential, equipment you will need.
fast SD card for reliable capture
faster SD card for super fast write speeds
Small and fast ssd for storing files
quality variable ND filter for filmmakers
Travel camera bag
Having a camera bag you can rely on will be key to making your travelling easier. There are three main things I look for in a travel camera bag.
Comfort - You’ll be wearing it all day so it needs to be comfy as hell. You don’t want to be an hour into a full day hike and already feel the weight of your bag on your shoulders.
Security - There’s a lot of expensive kit in there. It needs to be safe! This means I want the camera access to be only from the back of the bag. I want to be able to not have to put the bag down to get equipment out, and most importantly I don’t want it to scream “Hey! I have loads of valuable stuff in here!”
Space - It’s very easy to stuff your bag with only your equipment. You want to capture as much as possible and you want every tool at your disposal after all! But you also need to remember that if you’re on a day trip in a city or a mountain you will probably want space for extra layers if it’s cold or raining, plus room for snacks, water and anything else you might need. Don’t make the same mistake I did by only having camera gear and then feeling miserable and hungry half way through the day!
So with all those criteria in mind here are my top picks for travel worthy camera bags!
NOMATIC x McKinnon Camera Pack
This bag was made alongside YouTube sensation Peter McKinnon.
He’s travelled extensively over the course of his YouTube career and knows exactly what every photographer and filmmaker needs while travelling. In my opinion, this is honestly as close as a bag gets to perfection for a travelling filmmaker!
perfect bag for travel filmmakers
Lowepro ProTactic 450AW II
This bag takes a very close second! There is so much room in this bag for a lightweight kit plus snacks and clothes for a day excursion. My only complaint is that there isn’t a dedicated section of the bag for this. But I love it all the same.
professional camera backpack
Peak Design Everyday Backpack
If you only plan on doing short trips and travelling incredibly light then this bag will be the perfect fit for you. Its size forces you to choose only your most important equipment and is perfect if you are creating a film in a city or built-up area.
most versatile travel backpack
Creativity and Making Money
Having the best and most expensive gear won’t make you successful overnight, nor does it guarantee that you are going to immediately be making the best travel films. The only deciding factor for your success is going to be you and your drive to make travel filmmaking your lifestyle and career.
There is no set path to ‘making it big’ in this industry and there is no way to know how people will react to your brand of creativity. However, what you can do to begin earning money as soon as possible is to begin uploading and selling clips from your travels to stock video agencies. Genuine and interesting moments are normally in very high demand and should sell quickly. Don’t think you can just make a living off stock footage though, you will probably need to take on freelance filming and editing gigs to maintain your lifestyle and pay for your next flight.
Once you have created films you are proud of, reach out to companies within the travel industry and see how you might be able to help boost their brand message on social media. It is highly competitive out there so you have to make sure your work stands out from everyone else out there!
And on the subject of standing out from the rest, make sure that you aren’t just copying another travel filmmakers style. YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are filled with travel films and videos that are packed with transitions from shot to shot that have no link or connection to each other. Try to avoid creating films that rely on these heavy-handed techniques just because they might look cool. Discover your own voice and tell the story of the places you visit. Whether it's through your own eyes or through the eyes of the people who live there.
Talking to locals and hearing their stories and experiences will give you a fuller understanding of the places you travel to and will only elevate your work as you tap into what connects us all together. Uncovering these stories and following them until your films reach a satisfying conclusion will be so much more fulfilling than a 2-minute edit of cool shots and transitions.
There is a lot to take in and learn all at once, but if you truly love travelling and filmmaking then dedicating yourself to it is the only thing you can do.
Filling up your camera bag will take time as there’s no fast-track way to success. Start small and slowly work your way to a position where you are funding your own trips and creating your own films. Eventually, you will reach the point where brands will want to work with you and that’s when you begin making the money to sustain your passion and your lifestyle!
If it’s something you truly want then you have to put the work in! Good luck out there!