Friday, June 28, 2013

Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #77

Cambodia 2008:  Phnom Bakheng


After the short introduction (which can be seen in the prior blog post.) my Asia trip DVD moves on to several short segments from Cambodia.  We visited the city of Siem Reap which is home to many temples; this video looks at Phnom Bakheng.

It's only 1-1/2 minutes long.  The narration wastes no time, viewers quickly climb the temple steps with us,get a glimpse of typical temple architecture, our guide, and the sunset.  Cinematography-wise I didn't do a good job with the natural lighting; people's faces are cast in deep shadow.  Good reason to keep it short!

I edited this video during the trip, using Final Cut Pro5 on the first generation MacBook.   Didn't have much hard drive space.  As a result, this and other edits used songs by The Who    that happened to be available on the MacBook.  Narration was recorded into Garage Band, then imported into FCP5.

This is a pretty good video, considering the problems with lighting.  It grabs the audience attention.  Since its so short they didn't have a chance to become bored ... yet.  

Lessons Learned:
Pacing.  It's over so quickly that most users barely notice the facial shadows.

Suggestion:
I regret having started with copyrighted music.  Once you place a familiar song with a home video they become linked, making it hard to do a re-edit.


Music Copyright Considerations:
This video contains some identifiable music that is regrettably used without permission.  
Today, with digital distribution, artists' rights deserve more attention.  Since this video is intended for non-profit illustration and educational purposes only, I believe that valid arguments can be made for its "Fair Use" in this situation.  Please understand that I do not encourage improper use of copyrighted material.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #76


Cambodia 2008:  Introduction & San Diego to Siem Reap



Now let's take a look at a sequence of short movies that became the video record of our trip to Asia.  Several nights' land tour in Cambodia followed by a cruise on Oceania.  There will be eight Cambodia segments, followed by sixteen more that illustrate each port of the cruise.

This clip introduces our travelers, uses still and motion graphics, plus throws in a little humor at the expense of Cambodian immigration procedures.

Editing was accomplished in 2008, the same year as the trip.  Map and moving ship animation were done with Apple's Keynote presentation software.  You could accomplish the same thing by exporting a movie from Microsoft's Powerpoint.  Additional graphic elements were then overlaid in the Final Cut Pro 6 timeline. 
I recorded the narration using Apple's Garage Band, then added some audio enhancements to enhance my voice. 

This is a nice introduction; it does a good job of establishing location and preparing the audience for upcoming "entertainment".

Lessons Learned:
Establish your location, prepare the audience.

Suggestion:
Keep the introduction short.  Don't use up the audience's goodwill in the first sixty seconds.  Visualize them on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating the great show to come!


Music Copyright Considerations:
This video contains some identifiable music that is regrettably used without permission.  
Today, with digital distribution, artists' rights deserve more attention.  Since this video is intended for non-profit illustration and educational purposes only, I believe that valid arguments can be made for its "Fair Use" in this situation.  Please understand that I do not encourage improper use of copyrighted material.