How to Make Travel Movies Online: The Complete Guide

Very few things in the world feel as good as traveling. Travel is not just about the enjoyment, the beautiful pictures, and the experiences – studies have shown that traveling changes a person physically and psychologically. 

Travel videos are now very much on trend on social media platforms for all the right reasons. Even if your video is just a vlog about a road trip you had recently, you’ll see a big difference in the reach of that video compared to most other videos on your profile. 

It’s true that ‘A picture says a thousand words,’ but there’s something so enticing about videos that many people repeatedly watch. Videos evoke emotions, and a well-made travel movie can help many of your viewers learn about the place and the culture and gain so much knowledge. 

Apart from that, travel movies will help you reminisce about the wonderful time you’ve spent while traveling.

So, without further adieu, let’s discuss the complete guide on how you can make travel movies online. 

Steps To Make A Travel Movie Online

Step #1: Preparation 

Packing

If you’re on a mission to come up with the most aesthetically pleasing travel movie once your trip ends, you must prepare well before the trip. 

List down all the things you need to get the best shots and make sure that the list includes even the smallest things. This is because it’s very common to forget to pack the basic things, and when you realize it, it’s too late. 

So, make a list and tick off the things as you pack them into your gear backpack. The gear backpack should include your camera, lenses, a tripod, artificial lights, and an SD card in case you’re out of storage. 

If you want to travel light and don’t want to use anything other than your smartphone, make sure to carry your laptop and a power bank along to have fewer chances of running out of storage and battery when you’re out. 

Videos made using smartphones can turn out fine if the editing is done properly. 

Planning

It’s always good to research the place you’re traveling to beforehand.

Learn about the underrated places and the most famous sites. Watch some videos related to the place you’re traveling to and take notes about what you want to include in your travel movie. 

It’s always nice to showcase the underrated places of the location in your travel movies because this makes the video stand out from the crowd. 

Step #2: Video Intro, Storytelling, and Presentation

Intro

Travel movies must have a captivating intro and wonderful storytelling to make them appealing to the audiences. The intro is something that can make or break your travel movie. So, focus on making the first 10-20 seconds of your travel movie interesting so that the audiences stay throughout the video. 

You can add some small clips from the rest of the content and play them at a fast pace to give your audience an idea about what they will see in the video as they go on. It’s recommended to add some sunset or sunrise timelapse as an intro, along with a catchy title.

Make sure to use copyright-free music on the intro to make it look more appealing and put together. 

Storytelling and Presentation

Once the intro part is done, it’s time to focus on the middle part of the video, which is storytelling. In this part, you’ll incorporate most of the clips you’ve shot during the trip. 

On every trip, there will be some shots that will end up being your absolute favorite, while the rest of the shots will not live up to your expectations. But that doesn’t imply that you can’t utilize the other shots. 

To make the most of those shots, place one of your favorite shots that compliments the previous one by using a suitable transition. Another thing that many creators struggle with is adding the right clips to their travel videos. 

Choosing just a few clips from the countless shots you’ve taken during the trip is difficult. If you’re a beginner, it’s a terrific idea to divide the video into sections. 

For example, you can give titles such as ‘Day 1’ and ‘Day 2’ to make it easier for you to understand which part you want to include in the video. 

You can also make sections based on the names of the places you went to on your trip. Use transitions and other kinds of effects to keep the flow of the video intact. 

Also, while you make a movie, it’d be great if you add some voiceovers to talk about the places you’re showing. It doesn’t necessarily need to be loaded with facts; you can also share your experiences and personal thoughts about the travel location. 

Talk about the foods you had on the trip, the culture of the people, the environment, and other aspects of making your viewers experience the location through your eyes. This will also make your new audiences check out other content of yours. 

Lastly, remember that the outro of your video is just as important as the intro because the outro will let the audience know your final thoughts about the trip. Add some value to the outro by sharing some of the most important things you learned during the trip. 

You can also share some tips that the audiences can use to save money when they travel to the place featured in your video. 

Step #3: Stay Relatable and Enjoy the Editing Process

If you’re making a vlog-style travel movie, you’ll talk a lot throughout the video. To make your audience stay interested in the trip, finding ways to be relatable to your audience is crucial.

Share some personal stories with the audience as you describe an incident. Show your personality to your audience while making your video informative at the same time. 

Talk about the bus rides you had, the strangers you met, and the restaurants you went to as if you were talking with a friend. Audiences connect on a deeper level when you talk about relatable stuff. This also gives them the urge to visit the place sooner or later. 

The editing process of travel videos is generally a bit hectic as the clips are just too many. But you can make that tiring process easier by dividing your task into small sections. Save the best parts like color grading and special effects for the last and prioritize working on the main tasks first. 

You can also use stock videos and images to enhance the travel movie. Choose a type of music that enhances the trip’s vibe and makes sure that the transitions of the video blend seamlessly with it. Save this fun process for the last to ensure the best results.

Step #4: Export the Outcome and Upload

After you’re done editing everything and are happy with the results, it’s time to export the video and upload it on your social. Exporting part is crucial because the quality of your video will depend on it. 

In most cases, if the creator wants to get high-quality video after editing, the size of it often increases too much. So, if you’re using an online video editor to edit your clips, go for the ones that come with a cloud storage option or keep the video size reasonable after the exporting process. 

Always keep a backup of the file you’ve uploaded because unpleasant situations can occur at any time. 

Tips to Increase Reach of Your Travel Videos

A lot of hard work goes into the travel videos, and all creators expect a good outcome after all that effort. To increase reach and engagement in your travel movies, here are some tips that will come in handy:

Thumbnail

A thumbnail will work wonders for your videos if you spend a good amount of time choosing the right font, using the relevant images, and ensuring that it captures the essence of the video. 

Create good thumbnails for travel movies to attract more audiences and ensure that the thumbnails are optimized for all kinds of devices. 

SEO

If you’re planning to upload your travel movie on YouTube, focus on improving your video’s search ranking. 

Like Google, YouTube is a search engine, and when you improve your video’s SEO score, it gets shown on top when someone types the same travel location on the YouTube search bar. 

To improve SEO, focus on the keywords you use as the video title. 

Trailers

If your goal is to get more views on YouTube, make sure to create short travel trailers of the travel movies you make and share them on all your social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Post the link to the YouTube video or the website you want your audience to check for the full video on the caption of the trailers. The ones who will find the trailer interesting will click on the link in the caption to watch the full video, which will increase your audience. 

Conclusion

Travel videos can be a visual treat to the audiences if they are made with patience and creativity. Following this step-by-step guide will give you all the elements you need to make a travel movie that stands out. So, on your next trip, bring your camera equipment and record all the best moments to create stunning travel videos.