So I’m looking to graduate my content from filming on my iPhone to making it look like a decent quality production, without breaking the bank. Just starting out, I just want to make content that when people watch, they don’t cringe at the quality. Here’s some things I’m hoping to achieve:

• I want the video quality to stay consistent throughout filming. That means preventing the white balance and color profiles from jumping all over the place, to keep the video from pixelating, the colors from shifting, the contrast from jumping all over the place, etc.
• I’d like the sound quality to remain clean so as to prevent popping or buzzing, picking up background or ambient noise, being able to understand what myself or if I have a guest, what we’re saying and note degrading in to robot voice or having the audio drop out.
• Being able to seemlessly drop in B roll footage, clips, and other media without jarring transitions or looking like a high school morning show production with ‘star wipes’ or ‘overlay fades’.
• Lighting the set, which will mostly be myself via talking head and/or product shots that I’ll be reviewing and having it look natural, minimizing white blowouts or loss of shadows, and without the need for makeup to solve lighting issues.

So basically I’m looking to do a review channel, and have it not look like an amateur filmed it with a phone and a bedsheet back drop. I have some film experience, right now I’m specifically looking for the technical recommendations in terms of what camera to film with including an audio consideration, a lighting setup, and then what editing software I can use to assemble my videos and mix the audio for a final production that I can be proud of. Suggestions?

TL;DR: Looking to step up from recording and editing on my phone and uploading straight to YouTube. What would be my next step in terms of:

• camera
• audio
• lighting
• editing software
• any other
• recommendations

Thanks!