Video editing - how I got started - Skydive Video

Skydive video



This is where my whole interest in video editing began. To see more about how I got started have a look at the About Me section on the right here, or the About Us section at my website.

There is also more about how I got started in my first two blog posts here and here.

Once again this movie shows how tight editing and a good choice of music can really make your footage look great. Of course, a visually spectacular subject helps too.

Monthly Movie Making and Video Editing Tips

Better Movie Making Monthly - Video Editing Tips and more.

As you may know I run a video editing site at www.bettermoviemaking.com. As part of this website I produce a monthly email newsletter called "Better Movie Making Monthly".

"BMMM" is packed full of video editing tips, tricks and ideas to improve your movie making. It is freely available to anybody, simply by filling in the form over on the right here, or at any of the webpages that this article links to.

Receiving "BMMM" also gives you free access to our Movie Gallery, which features more videos that have not been seen here in the blog.

The next issue of "BMMM" is due out in early December, and is well worth getting - there are a few good tips in it, and a video tool that is so simple to make, but so effective to use that you won't believe that you didn't think of it yourself!

You can see the previous issue of "BMMM" in our newsletter archive, here.

I have had a couple of form issues on the website, so anybody who filled in our form, but does not get "BMMM 2" in early December, please drop me a line at ian@BetterMovieMaking.com

Snowboard video

Snowboard video



This was filmed last winter here in Australia at Hotham, about four hours north of Melbourne. Winter is about May to September here down under! Mount Hotham is one of several good ski resorts here in Australia.

This video is a good example of how to set the scene, and let the audience know where you are without the obvious use of titles.

Always remember the old Hollywood saying, "Show it, don't tell it".

I wanted to have a fairly relaxed, cruisy feel to the video, and thought the music worked well. It is called Vapour Trail, by an English group called Ride. I thought that was appropriate too.

Hope you enjoy it.

Web movie making tips

There are a few good movie making tips in this article by Astrid Bullen.

Once again, the importance of a script or storyline is stressed in Rule 2:

"Even if you are simply documenting your child’s birthday party, a little league game or a wedding, your event must have a structure, or it will appear pointless to the viewer."

Absolutely!

Streaming Video Tutorial

An Introduction To Streaming Video

There is a good introductory tutorial here on adding video to a web page.

There is plenty of info on different file types, and on different methods of adding video to web pages, all very well explained.

Nice snowboard videos from RiderTech.com

I'm jealous! The winter season has just started in Colorado, and already the team from RiderTech have been out and about in the snow with their video cameras.

They have a couple of nicely edited movies on their video website.

The first one, Vail Colorado Review, shows some footage from last season. You can see how much more interesting you can make your holiday footage by editing it down to a snappy few minutes and adding some appropriate music.

The second video is from this season, and again shows that you don't need to bore your audience with hours of footage in order to show them what you have been up to.
Take a look at Crystal Opening Day here.

Video blog directory

Have just discovered a great video weblog (or vlog) directory site, which can be found at www.vlogdir.com

This is a pretty comprehensive list of people running video based online blogs.

Have a look, there is some pretty interesting stuff. WARNING: You may have to trawl through some less interesting stuff too!

Video editing - THIS is how it's done!

Video editing - have a look at this video - this is how its done!

The creator says, "I made this video maybe three months ago or so. All of it was filmed by myself in my room on a rainy night with nothing better to do. There isn't a whole lot of story to it, I just thought of an idea and improvised as I went along. Some shots were shaky at times considering I had to hold the camera with one arm in some scenes.. so bear with that. In the end I was pretty satisfied with how it came out." John Edwards.

Download the video here

To see the original forum posting and feedback on this video, click here

Consider the music choice, and have a look at how the scenes are short and snappy, but still tell the tale.

What a great piece of work.

Video blog - update

Video blog success!

Ah-ha, finally got the video files to work properly in FireAnt

FireAnt is brilliant! It works much the same as any other newsreader software, with the added advantage of being able to download and play audio or video files included as part of the blog posting. It can do this automatically, or when you tell it to.

It's free software, just download it and install, then browse the directory of video feeds and video blogs (vlogs) available, or add details of any feed you wish to view.

The feed for this blog is:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/BetterMovieMaking

I had some problems getting FireAnt to recognise my wmv (Windows Media Video) files to work properly, but Josh from FireAnt helped out, and had the answer here for anyone elsse having the same problem. Thanks Josh.

Movie Making Manual - Music - Wikibooks

Movie Making Manual-Music - Wikibooks:
"Many people do not understand just how important music is - it is so important that to have a job writing music for a film, one must have a university qualification in psychology."

Music choice is just as important for your short home movies as for any Hollywood blockbuster.

Keep a list of music and songs you like and feel would be good soundtracks for your video editing projects, and when you start a new edit, try your raw footage with a few different tracks to see which fits well.

Hopefully you will find the perfect soundtrack for your movie. Time spent looking at your music options is time well spent.

Video blog feed - video test - Baxter's Day Out

Baxter's Day Out

I've just been introduced to video blogging, and a great piece of software for viewing video from other peoples' video blogs, or "vlogs".

I didn't really consider myself as a video blogger, although many of the films my wife and I feature do contain large elements of our life.

The software is called FireAnt and is freely available from www.getfireant.com. Its like any other blog reader tool, but can download and play video content from those that include such content in their blogs.

I've changed my blog feed settings so that any videos that I post here can now be automatically downloaded by FireAnt, and viewed at leisure.

This video has been posted before, but is simply here as a test for the new direct video feed:
Baxter's Day Out

Many thanks to Verdi from Freevlog.org for his help and information. He and Ryanne have a great info-packed site on how to get your video on the internet.

Home Movie Night

Home Movie Night Blog

"It's a bit later than we would have hoped, but it's here - the first installment of Home Movie Night! This video will give you an idea of what home movies are about, and the kinds of things you can expect to see right here at the all new homemovienight.com."

This looks like it will be an interesting blog. It will feature all sorts of home movie footage from years gone by, captured on older film reel cameras, and now digitised.

Their introductory video gives an idea of what to expect - I love the 1926 footage of the ice skaters opening the beer keg. (Posted on the blog on 9th Sept 2005)

There should be some fascinating, as before unseen footage surface from family archives.

I watch with interest.

Movies and Videos featured in October

Last month saw the launch of this blog, and I linked to quite a few movies, which I think show video editing style and flair, and which are good examples of what can be achieved with a little effort and the right equipment.

At the end of each month I intend to do a summary of movies and videos featured as an easy reference.

October Movies:

Kangaroo Near Miss video
A very short movie (about 17 secs), with very little editing, but shows that with a bit of extra sound you can spice up any clip a little.

Rollercoaster video
Excellent editing work, with great use of music to create excitement and atmosphere.

Karting video
Once again, a video which shows just how much difference the right music choice can make. Action is well timed with the music.

Baxter's Day Out
A very simple little movie, which shows that even without any real story, a simple "beginning, middle, end" construction works well. Lots of different viewpoints. My favourite is the under-car shot.

Scary Halloween video
A great selection of sounds and images to sum up a fun evening. Once again this is well edited to fit the music.

If you know of any movies you would like to see featured next month, or have anything of your own, let me know:
ian@BetterMovieMaking.com

Fantastic website for searching for sound files

Search for sound files

FindSounds is a great tool for finding those extra sound clips that you need to add to your movie projects.

This site searches many other sites to find just the sound you are looking for, and lists sounds available. You can preview sounds, and download the ones you want.

We needed a creaky door slamming shut for the end of our spooky Halloween video, and a quick search here found a great creaking door, but no slam. Further searching produced many door slam sounds, and we picked our favourite.

Be aware of copyright issues, and check that you are able to use each sound you grab.