Scary Halloween video

Scary Halloween Video

My wife Laura has just finished this edit of this year's Halloween, when monsters lurked in every shadow, and evil walked the night. She's the Linda Blair look-a-like in the stained nightie!

Music choice was from a Halloween party album, and she added all sorts of extra sounds, such as the heartbeats and ticking clocks. There is some good use of sounds and screams from the footage itself too.

The movie was made with Adobe Premiere video editing software, which allows multiple audio and video tracks, which can be layered, in this case used to layer several different sounds together.

Take a look by clicking here.

Baxter video now uploaded to Google Video

Baxter Video now on Google Video

Well, I finally managed upload Baxter's Day Out to Google Video. It's a bit of a convoluted process, involving signing-up, installing video upload software, checking you own all copyright for your video, formatting it to Google's specifications, then uploading.

The trickiest part is producing the video to Google's format specifications. This required software I did not have, so in the end I gave up and just uploaded my wmv (Windows Media Video) file.

It seems to work okay. Take a look by clicking here.

New download location for karting video

Karting video

If you have any problems with the ZippyVideos movie stopping while playing, try going here, where you can either watch the video or download it to watch later.

Two great video editing and movie making forums

VideoForums.co.uk

AboutVideoEditing.com

These two forums offer a wealth of advice on video editing and moviemaking. They have discussions on different movie making softwares, on different video editing techniques, and have great user video sections too.

Baxter video feedback on videoforums.co.uk

Baxter Video Feedback

Baxter's Day Out movie

I listed my Baxter video on video forums.co.uk a couple of days ago. This is a great video forum, and is well worth a visit. I have had lots of feedback, take a look by clicking here

New short movie on ZippyVideos.com

I've posted a new video on ZippyVideos. Its called Baxter's Day Out. This was made as a promotional video for my video editing course, which includes raw footage, video how to's as well as heaps of other info. More info at www.BetterMovieMaking.com

I wanted to use a few different viewpoints, and had to make a camera mount to stand the camera on for the under-car shots to stop it blowing over! The first pass with the car was nerve-racking, even though we had thoroughly checked clearances.

One of the main aims of this movie is to show that a short film needs structure, with establishing shots, and a nice closing shot too. Also the editing needs to be tight, so the audience does not get bored.

This was cut down from 40 minutes of footage to about two!! Click on the pic below to view the movie.

Google Video (Beta) - Video Upload Program

Google Video (Beta) - Video Upload Program:

"Your work deserves to be seen. You've made a great video. Now who will watch it?

Whether you produce hundreds of titles a year or just a few, you can give your videos the recognition and visibility they deserve by promoting them on Google"
More...

Hmmm, it seems Google are already taking video uploads. I have signed up for an account and will let you know how things go.

Google To Host Home-Video Uploads - Yahoo! News

Google To Host Home-Video Uploads - Yahoo! News

"SAN FRANCISCO -- Move over blogging -- here comes Internet-based home video, to a Google server near you.

While there's no formal announcement yet, Google co-founder Larry Page said Monday that the well-known search engine concern would soon let the general public upload self-produced videos to Google's servers, partly in an effort to learn more about how to more efficiently search and display information about video-based data."

More...

I imagine that video on the internet will be one of the next big things - anybody can buy a reasonably priced camcorder and use free software to edit a very professional finished product.

With free hosting from one of the internet giants, where will it lead?

AC/DC go kart video

I've just uploaded a recent video of mine to ZippyVideos. It was filmed on a rainy winter's evening here in Perth in Western Australia at our local kart racing track.

The track was floodlit, and a bit wet, so things were a bit slippy and slidy.



Click on the picture above to view the video.

Once again, music choice is important, and AC/DC seemed perfect for this. I like the way the video builds up from the preparations and practices, to some good fast on-board footage.

I was very pleased with the end too - the trophy freeze shot works well I think.

My favourite online video host

I am a big fan of www.zippyvideos.com. You can upload video files up to 10MB for FREE. You also get link code to your videos that you can email to anyone else.

You can even have your own FREE account with 20Mb of space.

The only downside - a few ads on the page with your video - a fair trade off.

Awesome rollercoaster video

I found this video through one of the video editing forums, and LOVE it. I think it shows some great editing skills, and the choice of music is perfect. My favourite bit is the "Go, go, go!" and then the music kicking in.

Music choice in video editing is SO important - it sets the whole atmosphere for the video.

Have a look here.

Use the scroll bar in the box to find the download button. Its a big file, 18Mb but well worth it.

Kangaroo car race video

Only in Australia!! Have a look at this near miss at the recent Bathurst 1000 motor race. Drivers here have more to worry about than just the other cars on the track.

Kangaroo Near Miss video

Bathurst 1000 official website

How I got started in video editing, part 2

I was very pleased with my first video editing efforts, and soon bought my own video camera, and have since produced several short movies, many of which can be viewed in my video gallery too.

Take a look here

My preferred style of movie making is a short “music video”-style of movie, usually set to one song as a background track. I like to use my movies as a record of exciting events and activities, as well as holidays too.

I think that a tightly edited short movie of a holiday or activity is the best way to remember it, and when watched later on, brings the whole experience back to life so vividly.

My most recent favorite movies are my edit of last year’s snowboarding trip to Mount Hotham here in Australia (yes, we do get snow here too!!) and our recent go-kart racing evening. The go-kart racing took place at night, so is a little dark, but there are plans for a daylight session soon.

I am married to Laura, who also now makes and edits her own movies. She has a couple of her projects in the gallery too. We have no kids (yet), but when we do have them you can be sure that there will be a comprehensive video record of their lives!

I am currently in consultation with a local TV company, with a view to making a program or series of programs showcasing local and international movie making and video editing talent.

How I got started in video editing

Hi there,

First of all, let me say a BIG “thank you” for taking an interest in my ramblings on video editing.

If you are new to the world of movie making and video editing, welcome. It is a wonderfully creative world to become involved in, with so many options for the type of movies you can create. You really are only limited by your own imagination.

My name is Ian Usher, and although originally from England , I now live in the wonderfully sunny city of Perth in Western Australia .

It wasn’t long after arriving in Perth that I met my friend Marty, who has introduced me to my two most recent passions, skydiving and movie making.

The two were introduced to me as a matching pair, as Marty had spent some time working as a freefall cameraman, and had made several movies from his skydiving footage.

I was hooked, initially on skydiving, and have since gone on to achieve my A-License, which allows me to make solo jumps. My next goal is my B-License, which will allow me to jump with other people, and ultimately my C-License, which will allow me to wear a video camera while jumping.

In the meantime I am happy making more earth-bound movies, of which I have now made quite a few.

My first movie was made from footage that Marty and I took at the beach one evening. We went with some friends and took a few beers and a couple of sandboards. Sandboarding is much the same as snowboarding, but a lot cheaper and much warmer.

Marty gave me the footage we took and quickly showed me the basics of editing. The resulting movie can be seen in our video gallery. You can gain access to this and many more movies, including footage of my first skydive, by clicking here.