Showing posts with label OUDF404 (Part 1). Show all posts
Showing posts with label OUDF404 (Part 1). Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Final Video
This is the final video for my 1 minute instructional video brief. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, with a lot of editing I managed to produce something that I am proud of for my first video. After watching it back there are a few things I have learned through creating it. There are shots where I could have zoomed out more to show a greater scene and not have all the shots at the same close up. I filmed this all myself and I realised it would have been a lot easier if I had someone else to help me. I would have been able to see what I was filming better and not needed to re-shoot as much. There are small parts where I could have moved things out of the shot to improve the overall look. For example I got the bin in the reflection of the microwave, in film the art director would normally position objects and work out what looks best where. The next time I produce a video I will have to pay extra attention to these things so I can improve on what I have done this time.
In my crit I was questioned to why there wasn't any sound in my video e.g. sound from pans, bowls, microwave etc. I explained that as my kitchen was too echoey the sound would not have come out really well, especially as the cameras we used could not have an external mic attached to it. I could of however created some foley sounds down in the sound booth - so this could be an option to try out next time.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
1 Minute Instructional Video - Editing
After I had filmed the shots I needed, the next stage was editing. I had a problem with my clips as even though I had imported them using Final Cut Pro, I didn't use Log and Transfer. This resulted in my clips being in H.264 - not suitable for editing, they should of been Apple ProRes. Luckily I was able to convert my clips over to the Apple ProRes format - I will be certain to use Log and Transfer next time.
When it came to editing I previewed my clips and cut them down to a suitable length. Even with all the relevant clips cut down I found that the whole video ended up being a lot longer than a minute. Someone pointed out that I didn't need specific clips as I was almost repeating myself, I didn't notice this until they said this. After that I found it much easier to cut out extra bits and in the end I managed to get my video to a minute.
There were a few specific things I did to my video to make it how I wanted. There was a part where I wanted to show the water boiling, however if I showed the whole sequence it would have been far too long. To reduce the time length down I thought of speeding up the clip, I ended up speeding it up by 800%. I think it worked quite well and I separated part of the clip off to bring it down to normal speed to show a specific action. If I didn't do this it would have resulted in that part being too fast and the viewer not being able to catch what was going on.
Once I had got the desired length of time and effects in my video I watched it back to see how it flowed from one shot to another. I saw that it worked quite well, however I wanted to put a fade in at the beginning and a fade out at the end. To do this I changed the opacity on the first and last clip, setting key frames in the appropriate places. There was another way I was shown, by putting in a solid colour matte and having the clip fade in from that, however I found that changing the opacity was a much easier and quicker way of doing this.
Originally I was going to have a voice over in my video. (I tried doing it straight from the camera however my voice ended up being too echoey in my kitchen.) I thought about using the sound recording booth in uni, but after watching my video back I realised it was pretty self explanatory anyway and there was no real need for a voice over. From this I decided to have a look at what music I could put in it to make it a bit more interesting rather than just having a basic video. I was told to look through http://freemusicarchive.org/ - where you are able to obtain legal audio downloads which can be used for your own personal use (some may have other restrictions though). I couldn't really find what I was looking for and as there was such a vast library, I couldn't even begin to search what I was trying to look for. I wanted something happy and cheery yet with no lyrics. I decided to check out Soundtrack Pro - a programme where you are able to edit and compose your own tracks from either your own media or media from their search library.
This was much easier to search for what I had in mind and shortly I was able to find my desired track. I had to edit the track slightly as it was too long for my video and I particularly wanted the ending. It took me awhile to find the right point at which to cut it at and then combine it with the ending. I had to make sure the whole thing sounded right and there were no obvious jumps within it. After I had done this I saved it as an AIFF file in order for it to be used in Final Cut Pro.
With sound you have to make sure that on the audio metre the sound does not go over -12, as anything above this will not sound right and be too high pitched. You can just drop the decibel metre down however by doing this you may reduce the sound too much and it can be too quiet. To be more precise I used the pen tool to add points and manually raise and lower them to get the correct levels on the sound. I wanted the sound to be even and be at the right tempo.
When it came to editing I previewed my clips and cut them down to a suitable length. Even with all the relevant clips cut down I found that the whole video ended up being a lot longer than a minute. Someone pointed out that I didn't need specific clips as I was almost repeating myself, I didn't notice this until they said this. After that I found it much easier to cut out extra bits and in the end I managed to get my video to a minute.
There were a few specific things I did to my video to make it how I wanted. There was a part where I wanted to show the water boiling, however if I showed the whole sequence it would have been far too long. To reduce the time length down I thought of speeding up the clip, I ended up speeding it up by 800%. I think it worked quite well and I separated part of the clip off to bring it down to normal speed to show a specific action. If I didn't do this it would have resulted in that part being too fast and the viewer not being able to catch what was going on.
Once I had got the desired length of time and effects in my video I watched it back to see how it flowed from one shot to another. I saw that it worked quite well, however I wanted to put a fade in at the beginning and a fade out at the end. To do this I changed the opacity on the first and last clip, setting key frames in the appropriate places. There was another way I was shown, by putting in a solid colour matte and having the clip fade in from that, however I found that changing the opacity was a much easier and quicker way of doing this.
Originally I was going to have a voice over in my video. (I tried doing it straight from the camera however my voice ended up being too echoey in my kitchen.) I thought about using the sound recording booth in uni, but after watching my video back I realised it was pretty self explanatory anyway and there was no real need for a voice over. From this I decided to have a look at what music I could put in it to make it a bit more interesting rather than just having a basic video. I was told to look through http://freemusicarchive.org/ - where you are able to obtain legal audio downloads which can be used for your own personal use (some may have other restrictions though). I couldn't really find what I was looking for and as there was such a vast library, I couldn't even begin to search what I was trying to look for. I wanted something happy and cheery yet with no lyrics. I decided to check out Soundtrack Pro - a programme where you are able to edit and compose your own tracks from either your own media or media from their search library.
This was much easier to search for what I had in mind and shortly I was able to find my desired track. I had to edit the track slightly as it was too long for my video and I particularly wanted the ending. It took me awhile to find the right point at which to cut it at and then combine it with the ending. I had to make sure the whole thing sounded right and there were no obvious jumps within it. After I had done this I saved it as an AIFF file in order for it to be used in Final Cut Pro.With sound you have to make sure that on the audio metre the sound does not go over -12, as anything above this will not sound right and be too high pitched. You can just drop the decibel metre down however by doing this you may reduce the sound too much and it can be too quiet. To be more precise I used the pen tool to add points and manually raise and lower them to get the correct levels on the sound. I wanted the sound to be even and be at the right tempo.
Monday, November 21, 2011
1 Minute Instructional Video - Storyboard
This is the storyboard for my 1 minute instructional video. It shows the key frames I want to show in my video, all of which are the important parts in creating s'mores. My establishing shot is showing roughly what is needed and then it moves on to a more specific shot of the ingredients. I have a lot of close up shots as the point of it is an instructional, so the details need to be prominent. There would be no point in having an important part as a wide shot as then you would not be able to tell what is going on.
How To Videos
In order to get some ideas of what already is out there and what I could possibly do for my 1 minute instructional video; I have looked at other how-to videos around my idea, S'mores.
The video above shows the basic steps of creating s'mores, the background is of a plain colour so the eye is concentrated on the main subject. It looks as if this video was created with just the one person with a camera on the tripod, as only the hand is seen at the start and the positioning is coming from the side. The shots themselves are the same, close up/medium close up but then you don't need anything more than this as you are only concentrating on the process and the ingredients.
There has been post-production which has taken place after the shooting, where the ingredients have been placed into the first scene. In every other scene there is a 'Step 1' etc to show which stage it is. Even though it is not that necessary I think it does work as the voice over goes on the top of it. I was thinking about having a voice over but I will see how my video turns out, it may not be needed if I am able to articulate the processes well.
Another video I looked at was more of a conventional 'cooking' style video. This one has a variety of shots from a mid shot to a close up and a wide for the establishing shot. It is very straight forward and tells you what you need to know. For mine though I want it to be a bit more upbeat and so I think I will have a relevant soundtrack to place on top. I like the idea of having real close ups of the ingredients to specifically show what is needed, rather than having a word list. I may take this idea on board and incorporate it into my film.
The video above shows the basic steps of creating s'mores, the background is of a plain colour so the eye is concentrated on the main subject. It looks as if this video was created with just the one person with a camera on the tripod, as only the hand is seen at the start and the positioning is coming from the side. The shots themselves are the same, close up/medium close up but then you don't need anything more than this as you are only concentrating on the process and the ingredients.
There has been post-production which has taken place after the shooting, where the ingredients have been placed into the first scene. In every other scene there is a 'Step 1' etc to show which stage it is. Even though it is not that necessary I think it does work as the voice over goes on the top of it. I was thinking about having a voice over but I will see how my video turns out, it may not be needed if I am able to articulate the processes well.
Another video I looked at was more of a conventional 'cooking' style video. This one has a variety of shots from a mid shot to a close up and a wide for the establishing shot. It is very straight forward and tells you what you need to know. For mine though I want it to be a bit more upbeat and so I think I will have a relevant soundtrack to place on top. I like the idea of having real close ups of the ingredients to specifically show what is needed, rather than having a word list. I may take this idea on board and incorporate it into my film.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
1 Minute Instructional Video
We recently got briefed on our new project: Digital Film Production. The first part of this module we are required to individually produce a 1 minute instructional video from storyboading to filming and editing. I originally wanted to produce an instructional video on how to make brownies, however I felt that even with editing the whole video might be longer than 1 minute. So now I have decided to create one with s'mores, mainly because it is easy to make and would take no longer than a minute (that and they're really tasty!)
With my idea set, I now need to think about shot framing and how this will affect my video. The shots I use will show different things so I need to understand the differences between each.
Extreme Long Shot - Mainly shown to establish setting and could show a grand scale within the landscape. If a single character is in the shot it can show isolation.
Long Shot - Used to show movement and direction from the subject. The whole subject will be visible in the frame and will also establish setting.
Medium Shot - Can show the relationship and any detailed actions between a couple of few characters. Will normally show only half the subject on screen.
Close Up - Easier to see facial expressions and the feelings they may be portraying. Will normally be a detail of the subject e.g hands, faces or objects.
Extreme Close Up - A small detail of the character often enlarged to the point where it creates distortion of scale. With this extreme close up it really brings attention to that area and creates a close intimate relationship between viewer and character.
Having broken down the types of shots, I now need to figure out what will be filmed and what shot types they need to have. I need to start with an establishing shot to set the scene, this will probably show all the ingredients needed. I will then zoom into each of the ingredients for a close up. Producing a storyboard will help me to set up my scenes and figure out what will be shot and when so I will do this next before progressing any further.
This is part of a storyboard by Josh Sheppard. Along with the notes on the side you are able to understand what is going on in each shot and how it progresses to the next. There are different ways of producing storyboards, everyone has their own style. This one Sheppard has produced is quite sketchy and still in its rough stages, however you are still able to establish the main subject of each shot. By putting arrows in the drawing you are giving camera direction so you know it won't be a straight cut to the next scene.
An easy way to start of is to draw onto post-it notes, with this you are able to switch around the scenes and decide which is the best order. From this you can then refine it and you don't need to re-draw the whole storyboard if something does not fit right.
My last storyboard was really short and was very basic, so I think for this one I will try it out on post-it notes to start with to achieve a rough idea. I want to develop my drawing style a bit more and refine it to a standard that I am proud of. I feel like I have let my drawing slip so I need to regain and improve it.
With my idea set, I now need to think about shot framing and how this will affect my video. The shots I use will show different things so I need to understand the differences between each.
Extreme Long Shot - Mainly shown to establish setting and could show a grand scale within the landscape. If a single character is in the shot it can show isolation.
Long Shot - Used to show movement and direction from the subject. The whole subject will be visible in the frame and will also establish setting.
Medium Shot - Can show the relationship and any detailed actions between a couple of few characters. Will normally show only half the subject on screen.
Close Up - Easier to see facial expressions and the feelings they may be portraying. Will normally be a detail of the subject e.g hands, faces or objects.
Extreme Close Up - A small detail of the character often enlarged to the point where it creates distortion of scale. With this extreme close up it really brings attention to that area and creates a close intimate relationship between viewer and character.
Having broken down the types of shots, I now need to figure out what will be filmed and what shot types they need to have. I need to start with an establishing shot to set the scene, this will probably show all the ingredients needed. I will then zoom into each of the ingredients for a close up. Producing a storyboard will help me to set up my scenes and figure out what will be shot and when so I will do this next before progressing any further.This is part of a storyboard by Josh Sheppard. Along with the notes on the side you are able to understand what is going on in each shot and how it progresses to the next. There are different ways of producing storyboards, everyone has their own style. This one Sheppard has produced is quite sketchy and still in its rough stages, however you are still able to establish the main subject of each shot. By putting arrows in the drawing you are giving camera direction so you know it won't be a straight cut to the next scene.
An easy way to start of is to draw onto post-it notes, with this you are able to switch around the scenes and decide which is the best order. From this you can then refine it and you don't need to re-draw the whole storyboard if something does not fit right.
My last storyboard was really short and was very basic, so I think for this one I will try it out on post-it notes to start with to achieve a rough idea. I want to develop my drawing style a bit more and refine it to a standard that I am proud of. I feel like I have let my drawing slip so I need to regain and improve it.
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