Of Leaves and Roots 

Shizuocha was made entirely with open source software. These pages attempt to explain the applications and processes used to make a subtitled DVD with menus from raw DV footage.

Main Elements

Shizuocha is more than just DV video: it also incorporates recorded audio, scaled vector and raster graphics, and subtitles.

Base System 

The film was captured with a consumer camcorder and edited entirely on a (laptop) computer running linux. With a few other external pieces of hardware, some further explanation is needed to describe how everything worked together. read more

Audio

One simple song and some minimal voice overs tied the segments together. They were recorded over a series of multiple takes and several tracks, but mixed back to stereo and conditioned with a single program. read more

Graphics

The prominent tea logo and several overlays were used throughout the film, and they were designed and created with applications tailored for each job. read more

Footage

Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere aren't the only non-linear video editors out there, linux has a strong alternative as well. Learn how everything (audio, video, graphics) came together through this central application. read more

Subtitles 

Writing subtitles for a film is quite a detailed task, but there are programs available to help push the details under a microscope so that they can be easily seen and dealt with. read more

DVD Menus

Part of the 'professional' look of a DVD is the appearance of its menus. Using simple text and images makes the process clear and quick, but menus with moving images and buttons add a produced feel to the DVD. read more

Final DVD 

Once all of the elements have been finalized, the only remaining step is authoring the DVD. Two menus (main and chapter) and subtitles join the main feature on the disc. read more