How to Video Yourself with iPhone and Android Like a PRO!
Much as I hate to admit it there will be times when you may need to take shots of yourself to be included in your projects.
Hopefully this will be outside the current world of narcissism with endless selfies posted to social media… or maybe not.
Anyway if you feel you must do it then fine, at least learn how to do it properly!
Editing and the Art of Getting Organised
For the person very new to video editing the excitement of finally getting that software loaded and running then adding some videos very quickly gives way to a very different reality.
Editing can get really repetitive, really boring and really frustrating very, very fast!
One of the main reasons for that is that the new editor sees video editing as one big task where all the component tasks seem to occur all at the same time and have equal importance.
Its like a big cloud of confusion that is full of instructions to “do some stuff” without any apparent direction.
Clearly this is not how the pro’s tackle the problem!
One thing that you will notice very quickly as you move up the food chain and read articles by professionals is that within the entire process they have very clearly delineated tasks all of which are completed in an exact sequence.
At an amateur level I cover this sequence in the Shooting Better Home Moves section of the site but this week I wanted to concentrate on the editing part of it.
If we assume that you have all your footage on the camera and you are ready to begin editing there is only one thing that you need to do.
That thing is to get the footage on to your computer and organized.
This is by far the point where the average editor loses the plot and sets themselves up for endless tears before bedtime.
The key point here is “organized!”
This means getting all the files into the library using a folder structure that makes sense given the overall project you are trying to make.
It means renaming files in a meaningful way so as to be able to find them quickly when you need them and it means one other point.
That point is to go through those files thoroughly and get rid of anything you will not actually be using in the project.
So when they say you need to get organized before you start they really mean it!
The Rule of Thirds Revisited
So it has been a while since I came across anything covering the Rule of Thirds and as such have totally forgotten to add anything about it!
Fortunately someone posted something this week so let’s have a talk about it!
Shooting movies and video has its roots in the world of photography and photography in many ways follows the rules set in fine arts like painting and sculpture.
One of the key and basic rules of creating pleasing art is called the Golden Mean and is actually a mathematical formula that can predict how to create an image that will be considered aesthetic.
An easier to follow iteration of the Golden Mean or at least a faster way to apply it became know as the Rule of Thirds.
Because cinematography is basically a bunch of sequential images, the Rule of Thirds applies very much to images moving or not.
Before I go any further let me just make something clear here.
In an amateur video shooting situation more often than not we are all just shooting on the fly so to speak.
Whatever action we are capturing is generally unfolding in front of us and we are rarely in a situation that allows us to control that action or “set it up” as you would in a professional setting.
So carefully constructing your shots, framing them correctly and having the actors or participants hit their marks and do exactly what you expect them to do will not be happening!
This does not necessarily render the Rule of Thirds redundant.
What it means for the average shooter is that the rule needs to be something you have in mind when you are desperately chasing your subjects around trying to get some shots.
It is not something that you are religiously trying to stick to, it is simply a concept to have in mind in the hopes that for at least some of the time you can follow it.
I cover the rule of thirds in this post here and another shooting rule that also has its roots in the Golden Mean.
The link below will take you to the original article covering the rule a little more visually.
Weekly Transition Rant
In keeping with my regular habit of ranting against the use of pre-packaged transitions in consumer level software here is this week’s edition!
There is much to be learned by watching the pro’s but there is even more to learn by watching pro’s that have been let off their creative leashes!
Check out the 25 transition just from series two of Stranger Things and in particular pay attention to the use of audio in every one of them.
10 Mistakes New YouTubers Make
This is probably one of the best “fast start” videos I have come across on not making rookie mistakes on YouTube.
The internet is chock full of all sorts of courses and advice from so called YouTube gurus on being successful on YouTube.
The reality is that compared to the number of creators on YouTube there are very very who are really successful.
Of course that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least give it a shot but it is far better to walk in with your eyes open than with stars in your eyes because “some guy” said it was easy!
How To Dominate Suggested Videos
In the Getting Your Video Online section of the site I cover a bunch of tips and tricks you can use to prepare you videos correctly for uploading to YouTube or other sharing sites.
I do have some advanced tips in there for using tags and things like that but bear in mind it is not particularly my area of expertise.
On the other Tim Schmoyer is an expert and this week posted a video of a very important point.
One of the ways that some YouTube Channels seem to dominate is that when you watch their videos the Suggested Videos on the right hand side of the screen you see will be from the same Channel.
That does not happen by accident!
It is the result of specific actions taken by that YouTube Creator to make sure YouTube recommends more of their videos.
For the whole deal check out the video below from Tim.
Split Toning Tutorial – CyberLink PowerDirector 16
Split toning could be described as a way of manipulating images or video images in a way so as to create a specific “feel” to the image or to create an emotional effect.
This is achieved by adjusting specific colors in the image especially when it comes to the highlights and shadows.
It can also be used to create a more “film” look to a video.
To get an idea of how it works check the video below for a demonstration.
Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate – Keyframe Tutorial
Key framing has been a bit if a recurring them over the past few weeks and it seems this week is no exception.
The video below covers the use of key frames in pinnacle Studio as it would be applied to adjusting the position and size of a Picture in Picture Effect.
It is a good introduction to key frames which most definitely are not only found in Pinnacle Studio.
From memory I think just about every type of editing software I feature on this site has the ability to use key frames.
In the example Maliek could have also used key frames to adjust the rotation and movement of the PiP effect and a few other things on top of that.
Remember nearly every effect in your editor and nearly every method it offers to adjust your videos in any way can be used in conjunction with key framing.
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