Alderwood Video and Video Editing Tips

Hi everyone! Here's a short video I created about Alderwood's Positive Aging Photo Day Workshop to demonstrate just how easy it is to create videos. It was filmed with a Flip camera and put together using Windows Movie Maker.

Here are some tips to getting started with basic video editing.

Before Filming:

Plan out your video a bit. Think about what you want to film and possible locations, people, events you can film. For example, in this video I created in 2008 about the history of the Baddeck Library CAP Site, I needed to include things like the basic history, locations, staff, different services and events offered, and the Victoria County Bookmobile.

Make a basic storyboard outlining your film from beginning to end. The short film about Alderwood would have a storyboard like this:

-> introduction
-> program with newspaper ad
-> introducing users of Positive Aging program
-> parts of program (Donna showing camera use, how to show photos on laptop)
-> end with photo

During Filming:

Use a tripod for interviews and to add stability. For most filming, handheld works well.

When interviewing people, film them at an angle that is slightly to the side. Filming from the front is awkward and too direct for viewers.
[You'll notice in my video from 2008 that I didn't follow this rule. Because of this, the interviews seem awkward and too direct. Don't do this!]

When in doubt, film too much! It's easier to edit things down than to re-create or try to add video that isn't there.

After Filming, comes Editing!:

Organize your film clips; put them in order and name each film clip something helpful to the story. For example, if a clip is about the bookmobile, I would name it Bookmobile or something similar. This makes finding a certain clip very easy, especially if you are making a more detailed video or have a lot of clips to use.

Keep all your files in the same folder and always edit on the same computer, if possible. If not, save all files on a USB drive. Windows Movie Maker does not keep copies of your videos or photos; it only accesses them when you are working on a project. So if you try to copy your Movie Maker file to a different computer without also copying all of your video and photo files, it will not work!

Shorten clips to essentials by trimming them down.

Use a mix of video and photo. This adds variety!

Edit the sound by muting clips, removing noise, and adding music. For example, in the Alderwood video, I muted the sound from the first clip of the newspaper ad because someone was talking in the background when I was filming.

Use subtitle frames to display the name of a person or share something about the location or action that is taking place.

Finishing a Movie:

You can publish your file as a finished movie and/or upload to a website to share, like Youtube or Vimeo. Once published, you can email your movie, burn to a DVD, or store it on a thumb drive.

Hope these tips help you out in making your own videos!