Create and Publish Your Own Videos :: New Media Training

Submitted by elias on Wed, 17/03/2010 - 14:57

It can be easy for first time filmmakers to create and publish their own video content on their own equipment without having to fork out lots of cash for high end gear. In this workshop, we focus on learning the basics rules of video, interviews and learning how to edit & publish online! We often focus on cheap or readily available software to train people on. 

Three Simple Rules of Video

We begin by covering three simple rules of video as demonstrated by the young boys from Miller in this link.

Show all three reFILL Film School videos to a group, and run through all the details in the document to ensure that everyone understands the importance of these rules! Having a respect for these rules will increase the quality of all future videos they make.

Abstract Film Exercise

After learning the Three Simple Rules, its time to do some practical application! 

In either groups or alone, each participant needs to learn how to mount their camera on a tripod, and how to start and stop recording. It is useful to have participants bring in the cameras and tripods they will personally be using outside of the workshops so that they can get used to operating them.

Once everyone is ready to go, we start with a very simple abstract video exercise:

  • Capture 10 different shots for 10 seconds each. 
  • Each shot should be unique and setup using a tripod.
  • Take into consideration the source of light.
  • Consider framing each shot differently; ie wide shot, close up, etc.
  • Experiment with different camera angles.
  • Do at least one shot where the tilt of the tripod is either high or low.

Once this exercise is complete participants can review their footage, but the goal of the exercise is to put into practice the rules of video, and to film some footage that might later be edited.

Interviews

One of the more popular skills that arts practitioners and community workers want to learn is how to conduct interviews. 

Run through this simple instructional with the group. For further details on filming interviews, check out the Media College interview tutorials.

Once the basic understanding of interviews is shared, have the group split off into pairs with at least one video camera kit for each pair, and ask them to conduct their own simple interviews with each other. The person behind the camera needs to setup the shot, write out a few questions and record the interview. Then the pair swap roles.

Limit this exercise to 15 minutes in total. By the end of this, the participants should have encountered some of the challenges of conducting an interview, as well as capturing some video content they can edit. 

On a related note, interviews can be used to document projects. Check out a few strategies for video documentation.

Editing Footage

Introduction to Non-Linear and Non-Destructive Editing

Its important to establish two things about digital video editing before commencing:

  1. It is non-linear. This means we can access any point of any footage at any time. This is a significant change to physically cutting film and video!
  2. Digital video editing is Non-Destructive. This is an essential point to understand - the original footage that is captured to your computer is not altered! You can chop the footage and add effects, but your original footage will remain intact and you will be able to revert back to it if necessary. (Some editing softwares behave differently than other, but most obey this rule.)

Editing on Your Equipment

Here comes the complicated bit. Ideally, the goal here is to demonstrate the capture, edit and exporting of video content. The concept is simple, but the execution more difficult. Different people will have access to different cameras and editing equipment. The most popular editing software that people have to use freely is Windows Movie Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac), but cameras and video files won't always be compatible across all of these.

As we enter the more "techy" aspects of the process, it might be a good idea to have a good understanding of modern Digital Video formats. You can discuss these points earlier, but it is useful to consider these things before we start editing so we know what format our footage is in. Make sure all the participants can identify what format their video is shot in!

Next - we need to capture the footage we shot earlier to our computer. The participants can work in groups if they like, and choose either the interviews or the Abstract Video Exercise footage to capture.

Getting Footage into your editing software

For many cameras, capturing the footage to the editing software will be easy (instructions further below). For other cameras, you may have to copy video files from the camera to your computer, then open those files in your editing software. Below are some tips for when that gets complicated:

Learning How to Edit

Below are tutorials for different editing softwares:

For other editing softwares, try searching Google for tutorials.

Editing Exercise

Demonstrate the basics of editing and then let the participants work on their own footage. They must create a video which features all of the editing functionality they have been shown. 

The video exercise should include:

  • A number of trimmed shots assembled on a timeline
  • A soundtrack or extra audio added
  • Crossfades or fade to black
  • Text - titles, credits, etc.

This is usually quite fun for first time videomakers, realising just how easy they can create their own works!

Exporting and Sharing Online

Once your video is complete, its time to upload the video to the internet for the world to see!

The first step is to export the video. This means saving the video as a single file to be uploaded, burnt to DVD etc. (The video hosting service you choose to use will effect how you export your video, so be aware of this before you export! More details on this below.)

You export your video from within your editing software, and each software exports differently. Some have easier options than others. Don't forget to export a full quality version of the video for your own archives.

Some helpful tips on exporting for web:

Once the video is exported, we can upload it to our desired video hosting service; YouTube, Vimeo, AllAroundYou.net etc. For a comparison of different video hosting services, visit this page [link forthcoming].

Have the participants sign-in to their desired uploading service and upload their video file! Hopefully at the end of this exercise their video is published online. Help users experiment with privacy settings if they wish, but encourage them to keep videos public so they can be easily shared and embedded on their website further down the line!

Additional tips:

That covers the essentials of shooting, editing and publishing your own video works, but we've got a bunch of supplementary materials and useful tips for you.

Using an External Hard Drive

If working with lots of video, particularly on a computer with little storage, I highly recommend using an external Hard Disk Drive. Video files can get quite large and fill up your computer's hard drive space sooner than you realise! Either keeping your files on an external hard drive or backing the files up on it will help you manage your space and projects!

If you're already struggling with disk space and want to know where its all gone, try these useful free programs that can help you work out whats taking up your hard drive space!

Keep Your Files Organised

This may seem like an obvious point, but it is imperative that you know where your raw/original video files are stored on the computer and that you keep them organised with the rest of your project. It is very easy to lose track of where files are and end up with parts of your project scattered across multiple hard drives.

  • Know where your files are saved and keep them all together in an appropriately labeled directory
  • If using software such as Final Cut Pro, check your scratch disks to ensure your files are being captured to the correct location
  • Keep your video files and working files together

Burning Your Video to DVD

You may wish to burn your movie to DVD to share with participants or promote your organization. Advanced DVD authoring softwares such as DVD Studio Pro are extremely versatile, but there are cheaper and more accessible options available too:

Exporting Your Video to a Portable Device

Follow this link to learn how to export your video file for use on iPods and mobile phones! [link forthcoming]

Uploading DVDs to the Web

So you've learnt how to upload a video you create yourself, but what about your videos you might already have on DVD that you want to share online?

Using Handbrake you can extract videos from your DVD and share them online! Save the videos as MP4 files and set the "Target Size" to the appropriate size in MB for an uploadable video, or adjust the quality to suit your upload service.

Then you can share these old works online, giving them a new audience and a permanent place of public exhibition!

Additional Exercises

Some other video exercises you can run:

  • The Ball Game can be a really fun video to run for first time filmmakers, especially if you want to operate as a group. You learn the basics of framing, shooting and editing in a simple exercise.
  • Once video skills have been established, you may wish to do something ambitious like make your own short film in a week!

 

Other Editing Softwares

There are a number of editing softwares superior to iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, however there is a cost involved. These softwares will support more files and have more options. Some of these better editing softwares include:

 

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Comparison of Different Video Hosting Services

Submitted by Morgan Sully on Thu, 25/03/2010 - 17:33.

Great write up team CW.

This is a large, video hosting comparison matrix (for the link forthcoming part in the above):

http://www.blogtechguy.com/video_ebook/video_comparison_matrix.html

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