Tips for capturing clean, cinematic phone screen footage without the hassle.
If you’ve ever tried filming a smartphone screen and ended up with glare, flickering, or your own face in the reflection, you're not alone. Shooting phone screens is trickier than it looks. But when done right, it can make your video or short film feel that much more polished and real.
In this post, I’m sharing my best tips for filming smartphone screens, based on my video How To Film A Smartphone Screen over on my YouTube channel HarvVideoAudioStuff. It’s something that pops up more and more in films, TV shows, and even online content, so when the time comes to nail that shot, you’ll be ready.
Why Film a Smartphone Screen?
Whether you're telling a story through text messages or showing an app in action, practical smartphone screen shots look far more authentic than dropping in a screen recording later. They also help your audience stay immersed in the scene rather than being distracted by an obvious overlay or bad green screen job.
1. Turn Down the Screen Brightness
One of the first things I do is reduce the brightness of the phone screen to around 25–30 percent. Most phones at full brightness are just way too hot for camera sensors, which leads to blown-out highlights and loss of detail.
Lowering the brightness gives you more control and helps the screen blend better into your overall exposure. You can always nudge it up a bit if it looks too dim, but starting low is usually the way to go.
2. Eliminate Reflections
A phone screen is basically a mirror. Any nearby lights, your lens, even you standing behind the camera can show up in the shot. To reduce this, try adjusting the angle of the screen slightly off-axis. Using a matte screen protector can also help minimise those distracting reflections.
If you’ve got the time, flagging off your lights or shooting in a darker environment can help you get a cleaner image. Sometimes I even build a little tent around the screen with black cloth or card to block reflections. It’s fiddly, but it works.
3. Use a Polarising Filter
If you’ve never tried using a circular polariser on your lens for filming screens, give it a shot. It helps cut through reflections and glare in a way that nothing else can. Just rotate the filter until the unwanted reflections disappear.
It’s also great for reducing weird colour artefacts or moiré that can sometimes show up on phone screens when shooting digitally.
4. Set the Right Shutter Speed
This one’s key. If you’re getting flickering on the phone screen in your footage, chances are your shutter speed isn’t playing nicely with the phone’s refresh rate.
Try experimenting with slower shutter speeds like 1/50 or even 1/40 depending on your frame rate and lighting. It might take a bit of trial and error, but once you lock it in, the flicker disappears and the image stabilises nicely.
5. Stop Down for More Depth of Field
Most people instinctively shoot wide open for that cinematic look, but when you're filming a screen, too shallow a depth of field can be a problem. You want the entire screen in sharp focus, not just the centre.
Try stopping your aperture down to f/4 or f/5.6. That extra bit of depth gives you more leeway with focus, especially if the screen or camera moves slightly during the shot.
Watch the Full Video
Want to see all these tips in action? I cover everything in detail (with examples) in my video:
▶️ Watch: How To Film A Smartphone Screen
If you find it helpful, drop a like or comment. And while you're there, feel free to subscribe to HarvVideoAudioStuff for more filmmaking, audio, and production content.
Final Thoughts
Filming a smartphone screen isn’t as simple as pointing a camera and hitting record. But with the right setup and a bit of patience, you can get professional-looking results straight out of camera. Whether you're shooting for a short film, YouTube video, or a client project, these techniques will help you avoid the usual headaches and focus on the story you're telling.
Got questions or want to share your setup? Hit me up in the comments of the video. Always happy to nerd out about this stuff.
Catch you in the next one,
—Harv
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