Shadowing Practice: How To: Make Your FIRST Travel Video (3 Easy Steps!) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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- All right, what's up guys?
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This is Thomas, and in this video, I'm gonna show you how to make your first ever travel video in three easy steps.
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Obviously, I'm not traveling right now.
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I'm in the beautiful London, so I'm gonna take you away to some epic locations.
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Let's cut to that. and then get started.
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Step number one is you're going to select your shots around the story.
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The biggest beginner mistake is you shoot everything aimlessly, pointlessly.
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You go around, you see cool thing, you shoot.
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You see cool thing, you shoot.
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You get shaky footage, you get bad angles, you get too many shots.
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You come back with five terabytes of footage
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that you're never going to edit
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and it just sits there whilst you slowly weep the pain away
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that you're never going to see the video that you wanted to make in the first place.
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That's not what we want.
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So instead, you're going to select your shots around the story.
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Think what is the story?
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What is the video you want to make?
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What is the story you want to tell?
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So let's say you're going to Bali.
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Instead of just shooting a load of random shots of Bali, you're thinking, "What is the story?" "Okay, where am I going?" Right now I'm in a hostel and I'm going to go to an epic beach.
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Okay, that's the story how I'm getting there, and then when I arrive, that's probably like the climax, right?
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And then the ending might be a beautiful sunset with the beach, with the mission accomplished.
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That's your basic story.
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So get shots around that story.
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Tastes like charcoal that's been blundered.
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That's actually a good point.
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Tastes of charcoal.
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We're both gonna die, mate.
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Let's try to slide some over here.
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That's a good idea.
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So that's what you'd have in your mind.
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You've got your rough beginning, your rough middle, and your rough end.
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From there, you're going to shoot each part of the story, and also importantly, the transitions between each part of the story, which leads me on to step number two.
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All right, step number two is that you're going to shoot for flow.
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What I mean by this is that you are continuously thinking about where you are now, and how you're going to arrive where you're going to arrive.
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I mean, both literally like obviously you need to be thinking about this if you want to travel, But.. the same way with your video.
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So a typical thing I see from the beginners inside my online courses is that they will create montages, which means it'll be like, Here's a shot of us in the hostel.
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Here's a shot of us on the beach.
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And then here's a shot of us with a drink.
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and I cut them together And then it's, I wonder why I don't have a story.
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And I wonder why I don't have a cool travel video that engages people.
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So you've really got to think about the flow here.
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How do you get from place to place?
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How are you going to take your viewers with you?
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How are you going to create suspense and excitement about where you're going, about where your viewers are going to come with you?
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So, If you're doing this visually without any vlogging or talking to camera, then what you can do is just make sure you get those transition shots.
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You can even think about some cool transition effects, such as whip pans or maybe covering the camera and revealing somewhere else.
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You can only do these things with a little bit of forethought.
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When I was in Bali a couple of years ago, we had to do this exact thing.
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We had to go from a hostel.
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really early to get to a beach to actually catch it for sunrise.
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and I could have very easily
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got a shot of me waking up in the hostel and then a shot of us on the beach, but then I wouldn't have had a video.
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Instead, the whole story and the whole climactic moment was the effort to get to the beach, which actually turned out to be a nightmare.
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Me and George were driving around these motorcycles in the dark, not knowing where we were going.
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having no idea how to get there, asking locals, people who are up at 4 :00 a .m in the dark with their chickens on their farm, asking them where we needed to go in a completely different language.
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And when we actually got there, Oh man, it was such a...
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climactic, incredible moment because we felt like we'd achieved so much and been through all these adventures to get there.
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So really thinking about the flow of the video is what's going to capture your viewers' attention
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and make sure they stick with you whether that's doing visual transitions, showing those journeys, or whether that's telling the story in a more vlog style.
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All right, finally, step number three is to let your tracks, your songs, dictate the structure of your video.
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This is a mistake I always see.
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People just slap on a track and then that's it.
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They don't edit to the track.
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So this step kind of comes in layers.
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The typical advice you hear, which is great advice, is to cut to the beat of the music.
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It's a surefire way to make your more amateur looking video seem more professional.
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However, a step further than this is to let your track dictate the structure of your video.
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So a song, a piece of music, has a beginning, has a middle, has an end.
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It has climactic moments, it has more downbeat, chill moments.
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So ideally, you're going to want to search for a track, that will reflect the rough story that you have in your video.
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This is assuming that your video is shorter, by the way.
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This is assuming that you're working on maybe a three or four minute video.
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It's a whole nother topic if you're making a 20 minute, 30 minute vlog.
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That's for another video, but If we're talking about, okay, we want to make a nice short punchy three or four minute video, then how are we going to pick a track?
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Well, if your video has
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chill morning where you're chilling out getting a coffee
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and then in the middle you know something crazy happens
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or you go on this adventure and it's more kind of epic and and at the end it's chill again, you want to find a track that represents that.
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You want to find a track that has a chill beginning, builds up to a climactic moment and then has a chill end.
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When you have that track, you're then going to edit your video to each section.
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You have to be quite ruthless here.
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So let's say your morning shots, you have like five minutes of footage or like 10 minutes and the chill section of that track is like 45 seconds.
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you're going to have to cram those 10 minutes into 45 seconds and make some ruthless decisions
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taken out a lot of material to get the bare bones, the best stuff that just tells the story that just looks great, to get into those 45 seconds.
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This, by the way, is how professionals make videos.
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Do not think that when I go out and make a travel video, every single shot is great and I just have unlimited options of shots.
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No, it's usually I'll get You know, 20 minutes of footage for one scene, and then I'll use 30 seconds of it, or one minute of it.
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So it's rather than everything I shoot is amazing, it's picking the amazing bits from the footage and only putting them in the video.
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So once you do that to the chill section, and then you use your transition footage to transition as the music transitions, to the more exciting, more adventurous section,
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and then the music might get more emotive, more emotional.
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As you close off the video, maybe give some nice philosophical thoughts.
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on your experience, or maybe let the visuals do the talking of the sunset or the sunrise, whatever it is.
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Your video is going to end along with the track, and that is really how you make an emotive video to a song that just works perfectly together.
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It's getting pretty chilly here in the park now.
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If you would like to get a list of gear that I use for all of my videos, a list of gear, if you're a beginner, what gear to use, if you are intermediate, which gear to use, if you're a professional,
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which gear to use, then just download the gear list, which is in the description of this video.
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By getting that gear list, you'll also get a bunch of tips and tricks that are going to be sent to you in the newsletter, as well as exclusive opportunities to join my online programs.
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All right, guys, until next time, see you in the next video.
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Keep filming.
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Bye -bye.
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Context & Background
In the video titled "How To: Make Your FIRST Travel Video (3 Easy Steps!)", the speaker, Thomas, shares essential tips for creating engaging travel videos. His emphasis is on storytelling, flow, and the importance of thoughtful shot selection. As he navigates the beauty of London while delivering his advice, he aims to inspire budding videographers to enhance their skills. This dialogue serves as a great resource for learners not only interested in videography but also those looking to improve their English communication skills through real-life examples and dynamic content.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “What is the story?” – A pivotal question that helps in narrative and planning.
- “Shoot for flow” – A reminder to maintain continuity in video transitions and storytelling.
- “How are you going to take your viewers with you?” – Emphasizes engagement and connecting with the audience.
- “Your basic story” – Refers to the foundational structure of any video narrative.
- “Get shots around that story” – Encourages strategic filming aligned with the narrative.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To excel in shadowing with this video, a practice method called shadowspeak can be highly beneficial. Here’s how to tackle the challenges presented by Thomas in his tutorial:
- Watch the Video: Begin by watching the video attentively. Focus not just on the visual content but on the way Thomas structures his thoughts and communicates his tips.
- Pause and Repeat: As you listen, pause after each significant point Thomas makes. Repeat his phrases out loud, emulating his intonation and rhythm. This will help improve your English pronunciation.
- Focus on Intonation: Take note of Thomas’s delivery. Notice where he emphasizes certain words, particularly his key phrases. Utilize shadow speech techniques to mirror his tone and energy levels.
- Practice Transitions: As Thomas discusses flow and transitions, practice using these terms in your own sentences. For instance, describe a past vacation following a similar structure, which can enhance storytelling skills in English.
- Engage and Reflect: After shadowing, summarize the tips discussed in your own words. This reflection will deepen your understanding and help solidify new vocabulary.
By following these steps and regularly utilizing shadow speak alongside engaging content such as travel videos, you can significantly improve your English speaking skills and overall communication abilities. Remember, the key is consistency and practice! So grab your notebook and start learning English with YouTube today.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | montages, which means · people who are · hear, which is |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been blundered · be sent |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.