Sometimes, not everyone who matters are available to be filmed by our professional film crew. A grandparent is out of town, a sibling has a game, or a best friend lives in another state, but their words still belong in your athlete’s Family Film.

Below is a simple, step by step guide to help you record a high quality family video at home that we can seamlessly weave into the final film.

Here's an example of the final product: https://www.ragulikethesauce.com/film.

1. Get the room ready (this matters more than the phone)

Before we touch any settings, set up your space:

1. Light

   • Face a window during the day, with the window behind the camera and in front of the person speaking.

   • Avoid bright lights or windows directly behind the person speaking.

2. Sound

   • Turn off TVs, music, loud fans, and noisy appliances.

   • Close windows if there is traffic or yard work outside.

3. Background

   • Choose a simple, tidy background, such as a couch, bookshelf, or plain wall.

   • Avoid people walking behind the speaker.

4. Phone position

   • Use a tripod if you have one, or prop the phone on a stack of books so it does not wiggle.

   • Hold the phone horizontally.

   • Keep the camera level with the speaker, so that it's not looking down or up at the speaker.

2. Set up your phone camera for best quality

On most phones, you can quickly check or change these settings in the Camera app or in your Settings → Camera menu:

1. Video Size / Resolution

   • Set to 4K (sometimes called “4K UHD”).

   • This gives us a larger, sharper image to work with.

2. Frame Rate

   • Set to 30 fps (frames per second).

   • This keeps your clip consistent with the footage we record at events.

3. Back Camera (higher quality than the selfie camera)

4. Lens wiped clean with a soft cloth

If you do not see 4K as an option, just choose the highest resolution available and 30 fps.

3. Turn off Action mode and “fancy” features

Some features are great for everyday videos but can cause problems when we blend your footage with ours.

1. Open the Camera app.

2. Swipe to Video mode (not Cinematic).

3. At the top of the screen, make sure Action mode is off (if you see an “Action” button, make sure it is not highlighted).

   • Action mode stabilizes video but lowers the resolution to around 2.8K, which we do not want for this project.

4. In Settings → Camera, if you see options like the ones listed below, please turn them off or avoid using those modes. We will handle the “cinematic” part in editing.

   • HDR Video

   • Cinematic

   • Filters / Effects

4. Turn off “face follow” or auto framing (iPhone)

Newer iPhones can automatically zoom and move the frame to follow your face. That is fun for calls, but for our film, we want the framing to stay steady and locked. There are two places this can show up:

Option 1: Center Stage in the Camera app (front camera)

On iPhones that support it:

1. Open the Camera app.

2. Switch to the front / selfie camera.

3. Look for the Center Stage icon (a person inside a little frame).

4. Tap it and turn off Auto Zoom or Auto Rotate so the camera stops auto reframing around your face.

Option 2: Subject Framing in Settings

If your iPhone is aggressively tracking faces or reframing:

1. Go to Settings → Camera.

2. Under Composition, look for Subject Framing (or similar).

3. Toggle it off to stop the subtle auto tracking and reframing.

If you do not see any of these options, that is totally fine. Your phone probably does not have that feature, and you can skip this step.

5. What to say (and how to say it)

You do not need to perform. Just talk to your athlete like you always do. Answer the following questions in the language you are most comfortable in.

1. What is your name & where are you from?

2. How are you related to the athlete?

3. Who is the athlete to you? 

4. What is one of your favorite memories with the athlete?

5. How do you feel watching the athlete play soccer? How do you think soccer shaped his life?

6. What do you hope the athlete remembers about this time in his life?

7. Pretend you’re speaking directly to the athlete. What’s one thing you want them to know and never forget for the rest of their life?

8. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

6. Sending the video to us

When you are done:

• Do not compress if your phone asks, choose “Send as Original” or “Full Quality” if that option appears.

• Use Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, or a file transfer link, since texts and some messaging apps shrink the video a lot.

• Email it to hello@ragulikethesauce.com, with the subject "<Insert Athlete Name> | Our Family Film"

Final word: Do not stress ❤️

If all of this feels like a lot, please do not stress. Even if the settings are not perfect, your voice and your message matter more than anything. Follow as many of these steps as you comfortably can, hit record, speak from the heart, and we will take care of the rest in the edit.