CHINATIV China Trip 2026 · Final Preparation Meeting

Smartphone Video Diary Guide

How to bring home one short film per day that people actually want to watch.

Friedrich König & Jonathan Göb · 6 October 2026

Why we do this

A tradition since 2019: one day, one short film.

1

Everyone collects

All participants film short clips and take photos during the day.

2

A team of three tells the story

Each day has a team that plans the story and gathers the material.

3

The result goes public

The films are shared on the CHINATIV website. So they should work for people who were not there.

Example from the first trip: China Trip 2019 on YouTube

Storytelling

A diary is not a list of clips. It is a small story.

Beginning

Where are we, what is today about?

Arrive. Show the place. Raise a question.

Middle

What happened?

The visit, the people, the surprise, the obstacle.

End

What do we take away?

The answer to the question. One closing image.

Easy trick: start the day with a question and end with the answer.

Storytelling · in practice

Five shots that make a day.

  1. 1

    The place

    One wide shot. Where are we?

  2. 2

    The people

    Faces, reactions, the group.

  3. 3

    The details

    Hands, food, screens, signs.

  4. 4

    The sound

    One moment with real atmosphere.

  5. 5

    The ending

    A goodbye, a sunset, a door closing.

If the team has these five for every stop, the edit almost builds itself.

Two golden rules

Turn it.

Film in landscape. Our films play on laptops and screens. Portrait clips leave black bars left and right.

Wipe it.

Clean the lens before every shot. A fingerprint makes the picture hazy, and no edit can fix that.

Set it once, tonight

Three settings, then forget the menu.

1080p

Full HD

Sharp enough. 4K fills your storage and slows down the edit.

30 fps

Frame rate

For everything except slow motion.

Grid on

Camera grid

Shows the lines for the rule of thirds.

Before each day: battery charged, storage free, airplane mode while filming.

Composition

Get closer than feels natural.

  • Rule of thirds: put the subject on a line or a crossing, not in the centre.
  • Fill the frame: close-ups carry the emotion. They should be most of your material.
  • Wide shots are for orientation. One per place is enough.
  • Depth: something in front, something behind.

Steady shots

Let the world move. Not the phone.

  • Hold the phone with both hands, elbows at your body.
  • Lean on a wall, a table, a railing.
  • Keep each clip short: 20 seconds at most.
  • Start 1–2 seconds early, stop 1–2 seconds late. The editor needs that room.
  • No pans. They look shaky on a phone.
  • No zooming while recording. Walk closer instead.
  • No talking over a clip you want to use for atmosphere.

Sound

Bad picture is forgiven. Bad sound is not.

Go close

If someone speaks, be near them. The phone microphone hears what is closest.

Watch the wind

Wind on the microphone can drown out a whole interview. Turn your back to it.

Collect atmosphere

A market, a train, a fountain. Ten seconds of real sound bring a place to life.

Music & copyright

Chart music gets your film muted.

It happened to our earlier CHINATIV videos: the original sound is gone on YouTube. Use music you are allowed to use.

Where to find free, licensed music

  • YouTube Audio Library · inside YouTube Studio
  • Pixabay Music · pixabay.com/music
  • Uppbeat · uppbeat.io

Check the licence of each track and add the credit if it asks for one.

Photos and video

Photos are welcome. Movement keeps the pace.

Video

The backbone of each film. Always landscape.

Photos

Portrait or landscape, as you like. They go into the edit as short collages.

A good mix

Mostly moving pictures, photos for the moments nobody filmed.

Teams & workflow

Three people per day. Everyone delivers.

  1. Morning

    Agree on the question

    The day team says what today’s story could be and what shots it needs.

  2. Day

    Film with the five shots in mind

    Everyone films. The team checks that nothing is missing.

  3. Evening

    Collect and back up

    Send your best clips to the day team the same evening. The team saves a copy outside the phone.

Name files simply and always the same way, for example day, place, your name.

Filming in China

Be a guest with a phone, not a film crew.

  • Ask first. A smile and a gesture before you film a person.
  • Stay discreet. Phone only, no professional-looking gear.
  • Install what you need before departure, including a VPN if you want one.
  • Never film police or military.
  • Do not keep filming when someone says no.
  • At company visits: ask the host what may be filmed.

Checklist · screenshot this

Before you press record.

Phone

1080p · 30 fps · grid on
Battery charged · storage free

Shot

Landscape · lens clean
Both hands · no pan, no zoom
Max. 20 s · 1–2 s extra at each end

Sound

Close to the source
Out of the wind
Quiet while filming

Story

Place · people · details · sound · ending
Question in the morning, answer at night

Your turn

Questions?

Next: sign up for your day in the Video Diary teams list.

Based on the “Smartphone Video/Picture Diary Guide” by Michael Götze (CHINATIV Tour 2025), reworked for 2026.
This page: chinativ.kreativfabrik.gmbh