🐾 Filming Pets in Action: How I Capture My Siamese Cats

gear4greatness
May 2, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Nov 14, 2025

🐾 Filming Pets in Action: How I Capture My Siamese Cats

There’s something magical about filming pets, especially when it’s Arlo and Mongo racing around the apartment like they’re starring in their own tiny action movie. 🐾🎥 They don’t understand cameras, and they don’t need to — they just live, and all I have to do is keep up. Every time Mongo tears across the hallway, tail curled like a question mark, or Arlo hops onto the counter pretending he’s king of the world, I can feel that instinctive spark to reach for whichever camera is closest. Sometimes it’s the Insta360 X4 because I know the scene will be chaotic and unpredictable, and other times it’s the DJI Action 5 Pro when I want crisp slow motion that makes even the simplest movement feel cinematic. And on nights when the light is soft and the apartment feels calm, I’ll grab the DJI Pocket 3, because its gimbal glides like a gentle breath, letting me follow them without intruding. Each one feels different in the hand, and each one captures a different version of their personalities — Arlo’s curious stillness, Mongo’s wild bursts of energy, and the quiet moments in between where they’re just themselves.

What always amazes me is how pets bring out the best of our gear without even trying. When Mongo launches himself into the air chasing his favorite string toy, filming at 4K120 feels like slowing down time just enough to appreciate the tiny details — the twist of his back, the way his paws freeze mid-flight, the look in his eyes right before he lands. 🌪️✨ Those shots remind me why slow motion was invented. And then there are the 360° zoomies — absolute chaos in real life, but pure editing gold when I load the Insta360 into the timeline later. With the camera sitting low on the floor, the cats become these streaks of motion looping around the room, and the reframing tools turn the whole scene into something playful and unexpected. That’s the beauty of 360°: you’re not chasing your subject; you’re discovering angles afterward, like finding hidden gems in your own footage. It feels almost like magic, and it lets me be fully present in the moment instead of thinking about the shot.

Sound has its own charm too, especially with cats. The little chirps Arlo makes when he’s excited, Mongo’s tiny mews when he wants attention, even the thud-thud-thud of their paws on the floor when they chase each other — it all adds texture and life to the footage. 🎤💭 When I use the DJI Mic 2 indoors with a deadcat muffler, the audio picks up those soft little sounds that make viewers feel like they’re right there on the ground with them. Editing everything together later in CapCut always feels like stitching a memory into something shareable. A bit of music, a bit of slow motion, a caption here or there… nothing too polished, just enough to let their personalities shine through. Pets don’t need fancy edits; they just need someone who pays attention.

🐾 Filming Pets in Action: How I Capture My Siamese Cats

📦 Buy on Amazon USA

🎥 Insta360 X5

🎥 Insta360 X4

🎥 DJI Action 5 Pro

🎥 DJI Pocket 3

📱 Galaxy S22 Ultra

🌄 Final Thoughts

Filming Arlo and Mongo has become one of those small joys that I never planned but now can’t imagine going without. Every clip I record — whether it’s a slow-motion leap, a frantic hallway zoom, or a quiet moment where one of them curls up beside me — ends up feeling like a tiny piece of my life preserved. 🐾✨ The cameras help, sure, but it’s really the feeling behind the footage that hits me: the warmth of the room, the sound of claws on the floor, the split-second expressions that remind me why they matter so much. These are the little stories that make a home feel alive.

There’s something deeply grounding about filming pets because they don’t perform. They don’t care if the lighting is right or if the angle is clean — they just exist, and that honesty pulls you into the present moment. 📷🌿 When I watch the footage back later, I’m always struck by how these everyday moments become memories without me realizing it. A simple clip of Mongo sliding around a corner or Arlo stretching in a beam of sunlight somehow becomes its own tiny emotional time capsule. That’s the real beauty of this kind of filming: it turns the ordinary into something worth remembering.

And maybe that’s why I keep experimenting, switching gear, trying new angles, new edits, new perspectives. Not to make the clips perfect, but to hold onto the feeling behind them — the laughter, the surprise, the calm, the chaos. 🎥💙 In the end, filming pets isn’t about getting “the shot.” It’s about noticing the moments you’ll miss someday if you don’t take the time to capture them now. And with Arlo and Mongo, those moments arrive every day — fast, unexpected, full of life — just waiting for me to press record.

If you want, I can write a deeper version, or build a second companion post about filming dogs, or a cinematic POV edition using the new X5.