Instagram recently stated explicitly that they prioritise video content. The only new thing here is that it’s explicit, if you’ve been posting both kinds of content for the last few years you’ll already know that since Reels were introduced they’ve become more and more central, with other content types slowly declining in reach and priority.

The statement from Instagram and the discussion around it has been interesting though. There are a lot of people (understandably) upset by the direction Instagram is heading. In some cases it works directly against the type of content that an account can realistically create (photographers, for example, will struggle to move away from still images), but there are some complaints that seem to have misunderstood what it implies.

Your content is not your art.

Your content is the documentation of your art.

If you take nothing else from this post, that idea is by far the most important

When Instagram explicitly says that they prioritise video, that doesn’t mean you need to stop making pottery and switch to meme dancing videos. It just means you need to think about how to showcase your pottery in the form of a video.

It’s perfectly legitimate to be frustrated that you have to learn a new skill and put more time into creating a new type of documentation. It’s non-sensical to think this change means you have to fundamentally change the art that you create. Lip-syncing videos might be popular, but to think there’s no other option is completely missing what you can uniquely bring to video content (and greatly overestimates how popular your lip-syncing videos would be).

When I started writing this post, I realised there were three broad categories of people who might find it useful. Those that were frustrated about making videos at all, those that were looking to get started with video content, and those that were looking to streamline the process and create better content faster:

Frustrations

There isn’t a huge amount to say to the first group. Your complaint is legitimate. Instagram is free, and an incredibly effective marketing tool, but it’s also very frustrating to be subject to their whims. You don’t have to make videos. Still images still do ok. But you will be missing out on some of the potential of the platform. I’ll talk about my photo setup in the third section, which might help take still images faster, but other than that there probably isn’t a huge amount more for you here. Unless you do decide to try making Reels, in which case you might want to make it as easy for yourself as possible to get started:

Getting Started With Video

Video content doesn’t have to be that hard to produce, but it will take a little while to get into the flow of it. Pottery is a pretty ideal art form to document in video though. A lot of interesting things happen in distinct sections, without moving around much, making it fairly easy to film and edit.

You don’t need to, and I would argue that it’s generally counterproductive to, make something specifically for the content. Instead, just document whatever you’re doing that day.

The goal here will be to think hard about the process once, then set up a default way of creating video that requires the minimum additional effort and thought. The content creation should fit in around the art, not the other way around.

Camera

You don’t need a dedicated camera and computer with editing software, a smartphone is good enough at both recording and editing to get by. I would still recommend a better camera and lens (I’ll talk more about my setup later) as a way to step your content up a notch, as a lens small enough to fit into a phone has physical limitations that can be easily overcome with a larger lens. It certainly shouldn’t be seen as a requirement though, especially not for someone just starting with video content.

Tripod/Stand

Something cheap will do here, but having a convenient and consistent place to put your phone will help massively with the ease of filming. If you have a workbench near the wheel, a desktop tripod and phone clamp can be a good way to go. A full sized tripod can be more versatile, but I use my small desktop one 90% of the time.

Lighting

You won’t notice lighting when it’s good, but it can negatively affect a video if it’s bad. If your studio has good lighting, or if it’s a shared studio, then it isn’t really a consideration. If you have a home studio, especially a basement or garage with minimal natural light, I highly recommend getting a couple of LED light panels and surrounding the filming locations with bright diffused light. It makes it far easier for any camera to get good footage, especially a phone.

Filming

If you hate making video content, this is probably where it starts to feel overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be though, if you limit the number of decisions you have to make each time.

The first part of filming is deciding what to film, and there are a few options.

The most obvious is documenting the making process. This has historically been the type of video content everyone has been posting as it’s the most sensible thing to document in motion. However, as Instagram have prioritised video more and more, there are other types (which would previously have been still images) that can be captured differently. Finished pieces can be shown in motion (e.g. holding it in your hands, or turning slowly on the wheel, so all sides can be seen), or in use (e.g. pouring coffee into a mug), or as slideshows of still images (this can be before/after images too).

Before you can film, you need to pick a spot to film from. This will be partly limited by your studio setup, but assuming you have options, I’d suggest considering:

Framing - You can move the camera closer or further away to either focus in on the piece or capture more of the surroundings. You can pick various placements around the wheelhead to show more of you or to leave your body out completely. Wider pieces (like larger bowls) can end up cropped at the edges of portrait footage if you don’t account for it when considering where to place the camera.
Background - If you have a functioning or a shared studio, chances are it’s not all picturesque. In which case, thinking about what will be behind the wheel might help you rule out certain camera positions.
Lighting - If you can control the lighting around the wheel, great. If not, that might also affect where you place the camera. Having a window behind the camera will light the wheel up well, whereas having the windows behind the wheel will put you in silhouette.

If you’re really unsure about this part, I’d suggest putting a prop on the wheel (a fired version of the thing you’ll be throwing is a good option, or you could even make a cardboard cutout of the form) and taking pictures from each of the camera positions that you think are your best/most sensible placements. Then look at the pictures critically, and pick the one you think you’d be most likely to watch if it came up on your feed. It might also be worth going to Instagram and browsing a throwing hashtag to see which angles you think work best for other people, then applying that to your placement options.

If you’re a handbuilder/slipcaster/other then take the same logic and apply it to the space you’re going to be filming instead.

Once you have your placement sorted, the next thing is to set up the camera. This is where having a tripod is great, as you can consistently return the camera to the same place with minimal effort.

If you’re using a phone, I’d suggest looking into a different camera app that allows focus locking (I use OpenCamera). The default camera apps will generally refocus periodically throughout a video, or get confused by the rotation of the wheel, and it can make the footage harder to edit and a lot less enjoyable to watch. With an app like OpenCamera, you just focus in the correct spot once and it stays there throughout the whole video.

With a phone you’ll be able to easily record video in Portrait or Landscape. Reels (and TikTok, and YouTube Shorts) are portrait, so the sensible thing is to record in portrait to get maximum quality and the correct cropping. If you have something capable of recording in 4K resolution and you think there’s any possibility that you might want to make longer form YouTube videos, then it might be worth recording in landscape and cropping to portrait for Reels. This gives you more options later, but it’s best to record in portrait unless you think you might need the landscape video later.

You only need to do this setup process once. This is to establish the camera position and settings once, then you don’t have to think about them again if you don’t want to. When you’re running short on time and want to get some content to post later, you can just shove your phone on the tripod that’s already set up and record what you were making anyway.

Editing

If you’ve filmed on your phone, you might want to edit on your phone. I would highly recommend editing on a laptop/desktop with a mouse and keyboard if you have the option, but free phone editing software is incredibly capable. I use ActionDirector, but InShot and CapCut also come recommended. I would highly recommend against editing footage in Instagram. The Reel editor is buggy and will often fail to upload correctly (or at all), so by editing elsewhere you don’t lose all the work when Instagram fails.

There are a few different options for how to edit.

Timelapse - Take a longer video and speed it up. It’s a very simple edit, and can be very effective. (Example)
Key Moments - Go through the video and pick out the key points, then create a video from multiple short sections of the longer video. (Example)
Single Moment - Find a single part of the video that stands on its own. (Example)
Before/After - Use still images or video footage of a piece before and after the glaze firing. (Example)

These are all good options and will suit different videos.

I’ve found the most success with the Key Moment style of editing overall, but each can work well. The Key Moment edit is definitely the most time intensive though.

I previously said that I recommend using a mouse and keyboard if you have the option, and this is particularly useful for an intensive edit like that. The whole process is made infinitely easier by having the larger screen space to see what you’re doing, the precision of a mouse, and the convenience of keyboard shortcuts. If that’s an option for you, then I’d highly recommend it for that type of edit. If it isn’t, I’d suggest starting with Timelapse (trim unwanted footage from the start and end first, then speed the footage up 4-8x) or Single Moment (just trim the footage to a 5-10 second section). Those edits should only take a few minutes once you get used to the app you decide to use for it.

Uploading

Once you’ve exported the edited footage, you need to upload it to the Reel editor and make a few more decisions:

Music - You have the option to add nearly any song ever released, or keep the sound as it is. Some people recommend adding trending songs to help a Reel become more visible, but I’m unconvinced (if it’s already trending, you’re on the wrong end of a bandwagon). I would suggest picking either music that is neutral/inoffensive or songs that you really like, or just leaving it as the sounds of the making process.
Thumbnail - There’s no right answer here, but you’re looking for something that looks interesting. This will be the frame that’s shown in the Explore page and if it’s compelling enough to get people to click through then your Reel will reach a wider audience
Caption - A lot of people won’t read the caption, and Reels don’t handle long captions as well as previous Instagram content types, so don’t feel the need to type much. If you have a lot that you want to say, it might be better adding it as text within the video itself (or as a narrated audio addition). Always select the text and copy to your clipboard before posting, so if there’s an issue with the upload you don’t have to type it again.

Well Done!

You made a Reel, and you also made decisions that will make it easier and easier to make future Reels.

The goal is to either make the process nearly effortless, or to give you a base from which to keep improving the quality of your videos. If it’s not getting easier or faster over time, it’s quite possible it’s because your standards are getting higher and you’re pushing yourself more (which is great).

Creating Better Video Content Faster

A lot of this will be a continuation of the previous points. The goal before was to get a minimum standard without it taking all day, this is essentially the same with a higher minimum and slightly more effort/expense. If you’re literally just starting with video, this next section might make it feel overwhelming again, so please ignore this section until you’re happy with the basics.