We learned quite a bit this week with the OzGREEN crew. We also made some awesome videos, an OzGREEN/CuriousWorks Digital Media group on All Around You.net and a few blog posts with pix of our work. Here’s a quick recap of all the things we learned, broken into nice bitesized chunks.
Top 4 Things We Learned in the Past Two Days
- we had to reshoot our videos because the sound quality was bad
- we had good video because we had great lighting
- you can always use photos to overlay on spoken word
- you can even record yourself as you’re traveling about the conference, town and community
Techniques For Editing
- process of using the same questions and then edit all the answers together
- interviewee repeats question and then edits out the interviewer
- use of titles to show what the question is
- when editing, listen out for sections that relate to what you want to communicate
Tips for Using Photos in Interviews/Movies
- good to add in photos to give context to interviewee/place
- you can sometimes download photos of people – just be sure you let them know you are
Tips for Filming
- pay attention to the background of where you’re interviewing someone
- it’s good to have trees all around you:)
- variety of camera angles can keep attention when interviewing people/places
Tips for the Interviewing Process
- when interviewing/prepare what you want to say ahead of time
- if you have a particular focus, listen out for sections of the interview that relate to that point
- for instance, if you’re interviewing about leadership, listen out for things that your subject says about leadership
- if you’re interviewing about the environment, listen out for things that your subject says about the environment
- if you’re only using the mic on your camera to record sound, be sure to keep the camera relatively close to your subject
- dissolves can help to play with the sense of time in the video
- use the description of the video or the comments to give more info about the project – website to go to,
- photos can be used to represent the theme of the video
- you can use titles to clarify things in the video
- if you make a mistake, sometimes you can turn it around by some clever editing techniques;)
- it’s good to have natural light on people’s faces – medium close ups are good to use
- if you don’t have a tripod, look for things that can be used as a stable surface to place your cameras on
Tips for Using Sound/Music
- when adding music, try and make it instrumental – that way the singing doesn’t interfere with anyone speaking
- as soon as you’re at a venue where you want to record people, be sure you find a nice, quiet spot to record – watch out for air conditioners!
- if you’re interviewing people with differing heights, adjust the level of the camera to be on their level
Tips for Using AllAroundYou.net
- allaroundyou.net can be used to host your media – you can then embed your videos into other sites – you can even share links!
- it’s also how you can connect with Morgan and Shakthi (and anyone else you met and connected with at the workshop!)
- here’s a few tips on using it: http://toolkit.allaroundyou.com.au/tag/aay/
Tips for Using Facebook
- from the awesome Beth Kanter
- from Mashable:
Tips for Using Windows Movie Maker