Week Eleven: Making movies

4/2/21 – 4/9/21

We are doing a second week of video. We’re bringing it all together in these last few weeks. This is almost entirely taken from the Open ds106 Unit 10:

Video the ds106 Way

Focus on the storytelling aspect of your video making–do not get caught up in the technical points or making the video just for the assignment stars…  Be very sure that your videos tell a story, that it surprises us, that it perhaps jars us, and that when you write up your blog post you are providing full details and context for your videos.

All of your video assignments should include:

• An opening title sequence and/or closing credits – make sure your video gives credit to all media sources.
• Make good use of audio– keep in mind the lessons from your audio storytelling work– use of background music, sound effects, and/or foley.
• Your blog writeup includes the key elements— narrative describing the ideas/inspiration behind the video you created and also details on how it was made (including credits/links to media sources and at least one screen shot of your video editing screen). Think of it as the “extras” on a DVD or a “making of” article about a movie.

The Ins and Outs of Video Editing

We recommend using video editing software that allows you to cut and re-arrange clips on a timeline, and to add, and layer audio tracks. Most typically this is the software that came with your operating system- iMovie on Macs and MovieMaker or Photos on Windows PCs. Feel free to look at some of the other options in the ds106 Handbook. You can even make movies from PowerPoint.

Some of the assignments may require downloading of clips from YouTube. There are Firefox extensions that help with this, and there are other methods (we have a tutorial, but it may be a little dated). PC users may have challenges in importing the downloaded mp4 video files into MovieMaker (We have been told that the Windows Movie Maker Live can import MP4)- you will either have to install codecs to read mp4 videos, or use a converter to change mp4 into AVI or WMV file formats. See the ds106 Handbook for some video converter options. We also have a page of video tips & resources. MPEG Streamclip is a handy tool for working with video, but may have issues with the latest OS X update.

The Rest of Your Video Mission

Those of you who chose the individual option last week can continue with video assignments. Do the equivalent of 10 stars of video assignments. I say equivalent because you don’t need to be tied to the Assignment Bank. Feel free to make up your own projects. You could even make one 10-star equivalent project – just justify in your write-up the effort involved. All of your video work this week should involve some editing and production. They should not just be raw video.

All your video work should be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and you need to write a post for each completed assignment in which you embed your video. We’d like to know the why’s and how’s of your productions. What might you do differently if you did it again? What did you learn, both technically and in creating your story that you might take to the next project?

If you chose the longer form option last week, finish your video, but still be sure to include opening & closing credits and pay attention to sound production. Be sure to blog your progress throughout the week (tag: videoshowprogress) and to share your final show in your weekly post. If you did this as a group, then everyone needs to write their own posts about it.

This is tying together some of the things we’ve worked on this semester. Opening and closing credits are a way of incorporating design, and sound is vitally important throughout video.

Still think ahead: People posted their project ideas, and I wrote up some of my thoughts. Take a look at both, and think about what you might want to do for your project. You may want to revise your original ideas, or build upon ideas from the rest of the class. Your ideas may blend with someone else’s so you may want to connect and collaborate. I’m pushing this advance planning so people can hit the ground running when the final project comes around. Put your thoughts in a post and tag it ideaspart2.

Posts of the Week: What is the Best of ds106 this week? Pick your top three posts and enter them in this form.

Daily Creates

Three TDCs this week.

Commenting

Always. Always Be Commenting.