Aesthetic Instagram reels are all the rage. You don’t need an expensive camera or a top-of-the-line iPhone to be able to make an aesthetic Instagram reel.
Making an aesthetic Instagram reel is more about how you look at things around you, notice every small thing, find something beautiful in corners that are often overlooked, show perspectives that are different from the usual.
The key is to keep it simple and short.
The secret is in the details and sharp, good-quality video clips. Most of the aesthetic reels that I post are shot and edited on my phone itself.
I shoot them on my OnePlus 9 Pro and edit on InShot and VN mostly. For editing Instagram reels on desktop, I’ve shared a tutorial for DaVinci Resolve.
I edit all of my camera-shot videos on it and it’s pretty great!
Today, I’ll be sharing with you 3 things that are of utmost importance to creating an aesthetic Instagram.
Table Of Contents
3 TIPS for creating aesthetic Instagram reels
1. What’s the secret behind shooting aesthetic video clips for reels
The video clips have to be absolutely stable and smooth.
Jittery clips can kill the aesthetic feel of your entire reel.
How to make sure your videos are stable?
When you’re shooting a video, hold the phone using both of your hands. If possible, rest your elbows on a table or a surface while you do that.
To level this up a notch, invest in a tripod or a stand with a ring light for your phone. If you’re pretty serious about nailing the reels.
Get a stand with a ring light if you also shoot reels with your face in it. It will be a great addition that’ll help light up your face evenly. Harsh shadows can look odd.
But if you feel like you don’t want to use a stand, open it up every time you are taking a few videos, and want things to be done quicker, get a gorilla pod for your phone instead. I use Digitek’s Gorillapod which comes with a Bluetooth remote shutter and can be used interchangeably with a camera too.
Shoot clips in a sequence, shoot every small step.
Before shooting the video clips of your reel, sit down and think about what all can be done.
You could make a reel showing a day in your city, a cafe you went to, when you get ready for a day out, preparing to study, cooking your fav meal of the day, your skincare routine, how you like to unwind after a workday, etc.
In the reel linked above, I posted a reel titled ‘Work with me’.
Notice how I have covered every small step that I actually do when I sit down to work. Personalize your videos by showing your true self and what you do.
You don’t need a room that looks like a luxe hotel or a work desk that is at its cleanest version. Authenticity is underrated. Show yourself as is.
In the final edit, each video clip barely gets screentime of 0.5-0.8 seconds at max so don’t shoot clips that are too long.
In this mini vlog, I compiled many short clips from a day out. Add a text over the video and you’re all set for creating aesthetic Instagram reels!
Focus on shooting different scenes and perspectives instead.
Final pointers:
- Focus on small details
- Shoot short video clips
- Videos need to be as stable as they can be
- Clean your camera lens before shooting the reel
- Before shooting, sit back and take a moment to think about your video
- Show each step
- Keep it authentic
- Follow a single theme and aesthetic for a particular Instagram reel
Also Read: 10 Travel Reel Ideas You Should SAVE right away
2. Choose the right audio that matches the vibe of your Instagram reel
Every little thing matters. Your video needs to be good, and so does your choice of music.
It’s always best to use the official audio on which other Instagram users have made their reels. That gives you a chance to get more views by appearing on that audio’s reels tab.
A travel video works best with an upbeat happy song, a laid-back lofi-tune for a slow aesthetic reel, Gen-Z fav audio for a reel that shows the whereabouts of a city, or a day out with friends.
To truly understand which music works best with which kind of reels, you need to do one thing.
Spend time scrolling through reels in your explore tab.
And no, I don’t mean the scrolling you do already. This time, be aware of what shows up on your explore.
Which reel has more likes, comments, and views? Which audio did they use? Is it trending at the moment? Was it shared by a small account but still has a good number of views because of the audio and its aesthetic?
When you come across aesthetic Instagram reels, save the audio or even follow the profile if they post such reels often.
Here, look at this reel I posted recently. The video is of skincare products oozing out of its tubes. It’s slow and aesthetic. So music that matches the same relaxed vibe is the perfect choice for it.
The video below is a montage of clips from a trip. The theme is upbeat and happy, so is the song.
Final pointers:
- The audio should match the vibe of the video
- Always use the original audio on which everyone is posting their Instagram reels
- Look out for audios that are trending at the moment
- If a trending audio has less than 1,000 reels made using it, you’ve hit the jackpot! Use it ASAP
- Create your own motivational audio that other people can use to create their own reels – increases your visibility on the platform
Also Read: How To Plan 3 Days in Udaipur: Sharing My Detailed Itinerary
3. Adding the ‘WOW’ factor that’ll get you more shares & saves
The ‘WOW’ factor isn’t set by any rule.
It’s your own creativity that strikes you while you’re editing your reel.
In order for an Instagram reel to level up from just another reel to an oh-I-need-to-save-this reel, it needs a push that only YOU KNOW how to do.
Let me explain this with a few of my reels and tell you what idea struck me when I was editing them.
Example 1
The audio goes like – a place like home.
I had this clip of a city, with traffic on the roads, and the fact that it’s a bird’s eye view makes it interesting. It’s not a very common perspective.
When you listen to the audio you will notice that the audio slows down, mellows down in the end.
As soon as I noticed this, I knew which video clip I can use in it.
I had manually reduced the brightness of the video clip while I was shooting it by tapping on the screen and pulling down the brightness slowly, as the video was being recorded.
I already had this video clip. I keep shooting clips wherever I go and then find audio that matches it afterward. OR, I save audio that I love and shoot videos for it later.
There are 3 things that constitute the wow factor of this reel video.
Number 1 is the video darkening along with the music mellowing down.
Number 2 is that the video has a slow zoom-out fx applied on it which it makes more interesting than a simple clip that’s still at one position. The zoom-out, additionally, matches the music slowing down.
Number 3 is the text placed on the video. Lyrics appearing on the video add an aesthetic factor. Reels with lyrics on them always perform better.
I’ve applied the same tip of lyrics and slow zoom-out fx on this Instagram reel too (Shot on Sony A7III):
Use your own customized modern fonts in videos to make them look better. Here’s how you can install new fonts in InShot.
Example 2
Make cuts on the beats of the song.
In the reel above, every new clip, every new photo appears on the rhythm of the beats.
You can easily make cuts and transitions on beats using apps like InShot and VN. In VN, you have got the feature to even mark the beats in the audio so that while editing you know where to cut without having to play the video repeatedly.
Final pointers:
- Add text in a modern aesthetic font
- Add transitions, fx that match the audio or the beats of the song
- Explore reels on Instagram to churn out new ideas of your own
- Make cuts on beats
- Create photo dump reels for an easy hack
