Making a video

The goal of my video was to explain what web 2.0 is without using any technical terms.  I decided that I would try to make a correlation between some traditional approaches to communication, collaboration, and socializing then demonstrate how it relates to web 2.0.  I wanted to keep it simple.  For instance, “grandma” can knit a sweater and mail it to her granddaughter.  Or, she can get online and create some dynamic multimedia by collaborating with others.  Then she can send it to her granddaughter’s phone or computer.  Which one will make a lasting impression? 

The relative time between traditional approaches and current practices is something else I wanted to impress upon.  It isn’t so much that traditional approaches don’t have a place in our culture, it just isn’t as efficient (or fun in my opinion).

How did I make the video?  I used my flip HD camera and set it on a desk in my classroom.  After that I marked the white board so that I knew where the edges of my field of view was on the camera.  I didn’t want to just start drawing and writing in a place that wouldn’t be recorded.  The room is artificially lit with several 4’ flourescent lights.  I didn’t do anything special with the lighting.  Basically, I set the camera about 8’ away from me and started shooting.  Not much prep there.  I did sketch out what I wanted to draw so I used a storyboard for that.

The video was then imported to iMovie ’09 where I spent most of my time.  I tried to find a point closest to white on the video and then balanced the colors around that.  It isn’t perfect, but the best I could do.  Most of the video is sped up 800% faster than what it actually took me to draw in real time.  Some scenes-specifically those right before I erase what I have drawn, are sped up just 200%.

The section with the globe turned out a lot better than what I drew on the whiteboard.  For that, I used some special features built into iMovie ’09.  I created a series of clips using their globes in which I chose points and then gave them titles; such as “Oma,” “social network,” and “veterans group.”  I set the speed to about 1 second for each transition from one point on globe to the next.  iMovie ’09 has an amazing interface, so you don’t have to have a lot of production skills or knowledge about movie editing.  What took the longest was choosing which song to use as the background.  At first I narrated the video, but I wasn’t happy with that.  I figured the viewer can use their own mental narration.  We were all probably making different associations while watching the video and my voice would have been distracting.  So I went with music.  I wanted something fast, but not distracting or too much that it would turn some viewers off.  After watching the video several times with different background songs I went with Dave Matthews.

It was very fun to make this video, and I certainly do enjoy video editing.  Initially, it is very challenging for me to decide how I want to present something.  A concept or process presentation can be done several different ways.  But, after I get started I really get into the project.  I will admit, I change things here and there, but it is because I would rather present something as professional as I can.  Unfortunately, I don’t always have the resources to do that.  For this video I wanted certain effects so I had to upgrade my version of iMovie, and I am glad that I did.