Storytelling Smartphone Videography


Taught by Neuroscientist Videographer |

A Science-Backed Approach to Visual Creation


What if you could capture an ordinary moment—and turn it into a story everyone remembers?


You already carry a powerful video camera in your pocket.


In this hands-on workshop, you’ll discover how to create smartphone videos that feel cinematic, meaningful, and unmistakably mesmerizing—while noticing emotion intentionally, and becoming more present to the beauty unfolding around you.


Led by neuroscientist Dr. Uma Vaidyanathan and Christina Szeto the founder of Photosprouts, this unique workshop combines the storytelling techniques of videography with the science of attention, emotion, perception, and wellbeing.


Through guided exercises, you’ll learn to slow down, observe more intentionally, and recognize the emotions hidden within everyday moments. You’ll discover how using static and motion shots, changing your angle, shifting your focus, or recomposing a familiar scene can completely transform the story it tells—and even change how you experience it yourself.



After the workshop, you will be able to:

  • Transform an ordinary moment into a personal and emotionally meaningful story.
  • Create polished smartphone videos that feel intentional and cinematic.
  • Use color, lighting, composition, and movement to make viewers feel something.
  • Choose camera angles and movements that strengthen the emotion of a scene.
  • See familiar surroundings from fresh and more inspiring perspectives.
  • Use videography as a creative practice for becoming more observant and present.
  • Complete a finished video that you’ll feel proud to share.


Limited to 8 attendees for a personal, hands-on learning experience.


Teenagers aged 12+ are welcome to attend.

Available Date

The next workshop will be in 2027, get notified.


Location: Embarcadero


$195/person

($175 for early registration)



Get Notified for the Next Storytelling Smartphone Videography Workshop

Quick Facts

Length:

3 hours (10am-1pm)

Meetup Location:

Embarcadero

Field trip

The Embarcadero Coastline

(Pier 14 & The Ferry Building)

You will learn

-Frame rates and settings

-Static vs Motion Shots

-Camera Angle & Movement

-Telling a story in 3 ways

-Composition

-Editing, Texts Music & Voiceover

Cinematography

Storytelling principles

Cinematic Mode

A Technical & Wellness Experience

Editing

In Capcut


Application

1) Documentary

2) Website assets

3) Social media

4) Personal vlogging

Pricing

$175/person

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FAQ - The Technical Part

  • What is the itinerary?

    Part 1 (fully outdoors, along the Embarcadero coastling): 

    • Instruction
    • filming
    • guided exercises

    Part 2: Basic editing (fully outdoors)

    • Editing in Capcut


  • Can Android users (Google, Samsung, LG, Huawei etc) sign up for this workshop?

    Yes absolutely! We are teaching the art of videography with a smartphone. All the techniques are the same across different models and platforms. 


    However, the Cinematic Mode is only available in certain Iphone models.

  • Why is this class perfect for video beginners?

    Smartphone videography is more than just using a smartphone to randomly film something.


    One needs to direct the scene, plan the shoot and understand the camera angles and movement.


    This class is perfect for someone who wants to learn the essentials in videography using a smartphone: the camera angles & movement, the composition, lighting, directing, basic settings (frame rate & resolution).


    Basic editing skills will also be taught (versus The Advanced Level Videography Workshop coming in 2025 will be heavily focused on editing).


    You videography skill will improve drastically after taking this class.


  • How is the Smartphone Videography Workshop different from any camera videography workshop?

    A lot of gears will be needed when you film with a camera. For instance, you need to invest in a gimble, which can be very expensive.


    Smartphones are capable of filming high quality videos with very little investment. Most smartphone footages are of high quality even without a gimbal.  


    Furthermore, there are free editing apps that allow one to edit the clips effortlessly.


    As the creative side of videography is more important, this class will help you make amazing videos in 3.5 hours.

  • Is this workshop useful for someone who normally photographs with a camera?

    Yes! Your smartphone is a powerful device in the pocket. Even professional photographers have to use their smartphones in some occasions!  

  • What is basic editing?

    We will show you how to edit videos on Capcut, you will learn these basic skills:


    • Importing and exporting clips
    • Triming, deleting, adding a clip
    • Adding texts and music
    • Adding transitions
    • Adjusting the speed
    • Voiceover
    • Adding effects
    • Adjusting the lighting and color

  • Why is this class taught by a neuroscientist who is also a videographer?

    This class is taught by a neuroscientist who is also a videographer because the workshop is designed to connect both the science and the art of visual storytelling. Videography is not only about learning camera movements, composition, lighting, and editing — it is also about how we notice, process, feel, and respond to the world around us.


    With a background in neuroscience, the instructor can help participants understand how attention, emotion, perception, and mindfulness shape the way we create and experience videos. As a videographer, she can then translate those scientific concepts into practical creative exercises, helping participants use videography as a tool for observation, emotional awareness, storytelling, and wellbeing.


    This unique combination allows the class to go beyond technical skills. Participants will learn how to create better videos while also practicing how to slow down, shift perspective, identify emotions, and bring more joy, calmness, and awareness into everyday life.

  • How videography supports wellness?

    Videography supports wellness by giving people a creative way to pause, process, and express what they are experiencing. When participants create videos, they are not only recording scenes — they are making choices about what to focus on, how to frame a moment, what emotion to highlight, and what story they want to tell.


    Through this practice, participants learn to pay attention to their inner world as well as their surroundings, building a stronger connection between emotion, awareness, and creativity.


    Videography can also offer a healthy outlet for stress. Instead of keeping thoughts and feelings bottled up, participants can use images, motion, sound, and rhythm to express them in a constructive way. 


    Over time, this creative practice encourages reflection, emotional clarity, and a greater sense of joy in noticing what is already present in daily life.

  • How are emotions and mindfulness incorporated into the videography class?

    Through videography, participants will be guided to recognize emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, calmness, excitement, and reflection — not just as feelings, but as visual stories that can be observed, expressed, and understood.


    By slowing down to notice body language, facial expressions, movement, light, sound, and atmosphere, participants learn how emotions can be translated into video.


    This process encourages mindfulness, self-awareness, and a deeper connection with the present moment. 


    The goal is not only to create better videos, but also to help participants become more aware of what they feel, how they see the world, and how they can express those feelings creatively.