5 Ways To Suvive Video Projects.
Everyone has had to do a video project for a high school class at some point. They always seem like fun easy A’s at first, but when your computer crashes for the third time while rendering your video the night before even the most loyal will forge a doctor’s note to skip class the next day.
1. Do not use a video camera!
Video cameras use tape, CD, or hard drive. Tapes need to be digitized, which takes a long time. CDs and Hard drives need to be ripped and converted which takes even longer. Most modern digital photo cameras shoot pretty high quality video, and their files do not need to be converted and are easily edited. Quality will not be as good but you will avoid getting Final Cut Pro’s “Unrecognized file format” error.
2. Friend will slow you down.
After 20 retakes of a single shot, you will begin to realize that this project is going to take a while. When working with friends, your video project becomes an excuse to hang out. When shooting, you guys keep giggling during shots because someone reminded someone else of a funny thing that happened last week at the park. Avoid friends if your grade depends greatly on the project.
3. Add jokes at the end.
Nobody watches video projects unless they are funny. That is why many people focus all their time trying to make their project as funny as possible. Funny projects do not get A’s. (unless the project is for a comedy class) The best way to approach the project is to get all the content in first and then use time left over to make it funny. Making your bloopers reel before the actual video is just stupid. (I’ve done it before. I got a C-)
4. Shoot your footage in bright light.
Only professional cameras can record clear footage in the dark. If you shoot in low lighting with a consumer camera, your footage will be noisy and gittery. (Like the example above) If you want clear and professional looking footage with a cheap camera, shoot in bright areas.
5. Do not edit the night before!
Edit your video the night before the-night-before. I love procrastinating as much as everyone, and I am not convincing you not to procrastinate. If you edit the night before, your video might not finish rendering and burning before its due. Best advice is to edit and render two nights before its due, that way you can test the final product.
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