8 DIY Camera Hacks with Cardboard

Posted November 09, 2017

Share To

Whether you are working on a budget, or just love DIY solutions, there are some cardboard tricks can use to do some cool things with your camera. Producing video can be a costly endeavor, but it doesn't have to. Aside from using your smartphone to produce video on the cheap, there are plenty of DIY hacks you can use to get professional results on an amateur budget.

YouTube channel COOPH takes you through 8 DIY Cardboard tricks you can use with your camera. While the video is focused on photography, all of these hacks can be used when working in video as well.

The list includes light stenciling, creating a smartphone tripod, bokeh shapes wish shape the light in your shot, smartphone pinholes, making a macro lens for your DSLR, a homemade light reflector, barndoor lighting, and a DIY smartphone projector using a lens from your DSLR. Not bad for just some cardboard, tape, and a few other supplies you probably have around the house.

While you may not use all of these hacks, or have a need to, it shows a larger point about video production: you don't have to break the bank to get the kind of shots you want. In order to get some of the effects and looks featured in the video you could go out and buy more gear, but you could also just find a creative solution. No matter what you are trying to do there is always a creative solution that could replicate what you could buy.

Take an example from French New Wave directors in the 60s. In a lot of cases they did not have the budget to make movies like the ones in Hollywood that they admired, but rather they found ways to get as close as possible without the necessary supplies. For example, when director Jean Luc Godard wanted a tracking shot in his film but couldn't afford a dolly and track, he sat in a wheelchair with the camera and had someone roll him to get the tracking shot.

That is all to say basically that where there is a will, there is a way. Find a creative solution and make the video that you envision in your mind.

Start a Free Trial