Unit 1

Unit 1 - Self Promo

In this Unit we will create a short promo video about ourselves which represents us. In the video, I aim to include my interests and things I enjoy such as animals, food, music and fashion. I aim to make my video 20-30 seconds long and showcase these interests. We will be conducting research and preparation for our promo on this website, where I will also document my progress. In this Unit, I hope to learn different tips for filming and editing, and also how to use the Adobe Software.

Here are some examples of the interests I mentioned above:

I enjoy these things because they all bring me happiness. I love being around animals, specifically dogs, and my favourite breed is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier as shown above. I like food, and spaghetti is one of my favourites. I also love music and an artist I enjoy listening to is a rapper called Skepta, shown in the image above.

Links to images:

Spaghetti

Dog

Rapper

After Effects Demo

Here is my first time using After Effects and I've created a short demo video of animated text.

After Effects Demo.mp4

How I made it

Here is a screenshot of the final edits of the video. I experimented with the rotation, the scale and opacity by adjusting them on different time stamps so they change throughout. I also looked through the effect presets and added a flickering background This taught me how to animate and reveal titles, and I picked it up quite quickly.

Pre-Production Research

I have decided to focus my promo video on dogs, as they're one of my main interests and I have a dog myself which provides me with the content I would need. I am going to base my video on a dog walk, preferably at sunset, and include shots of my dog and nature whilst attempting to capture my dog's unique personality.

Here is a photograph of my dog, who will be the star of the video. He is a lurcher, and I intend for my promo to demonstrate his beauty and his personality.

Here are some inspiration photos, including a photograph of the Royal Crescent in Bath (4), as that is where I aim to record the shots for my video.

The image to the right (7) is another example of a shot I am aiming to include in the video. Since my dog is a lurcher and they are notorious for their racing abilities, I would like to get some shots of him running around to demonstrate some aspects of his breed. When editing, I could make a part of this shot slow-mo to add variety to the pace of the video. In order to showcase more about my dog, I can get shots of him doing other activities like sleeping or relaxing (as shown in the image below) to demonstrate all parts of his personality.

Image links:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

I really like this image to the left of the dog in the grass (6) because it perfectly demonstrates the way I am aiming to make my video look. It includes a sunset, a field, and a dog which are all things I would like to include in my video. I am going to challenge myself to record a shot like this image of my dog laying, sitting or standing in the grass because it's very cinematic and aesthetically pleasing.

Shot List

Close up of dog sleeping/waking up
Extreme close up of his eyes
Close up of yawn
Over the shoulder shot of dog looking out the window
Ground shot of dog's paws walking along path
Pan of field and sun
Close up of trees blowing
Tracking shot of dog walking in front
High angle shot of dog looking up
Wide angle shot of dog running
Wide angle shot of dog in grass

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-camera-shots/

Here are some examples of shots I included in my shot list that I had a go at filming at the first location. The shot above is an example of the close up of the dog sleeping that I want to include in my promo video, and the shot to the right is an example of the over the shoulder shot of the dog looking out the window. This test shoot was successful as it helped me work out the shots I wanted to do and know what looks good.

Location Shots

At one of the locations of my film (my house) I experimented with recording some shots that are similar to what I would like to include in my video.

Storyboard

Dog sleeping (close up, 4 seconds)

Dog waking up (extreme close up, 3 seconds)

Dog yawning (close up, 2 seconds)

Dog looking out window (over the shoulder, 3 seconds)

Dog walking along path (ground shot, 3 seconds)

Shot of field (pan, 3 seconds)

Close up of trees (3 seconds)

Dog walking infront (tracking shot, 4 seconds)

Dog looking up (high angle shot, 3 seconds)

Dog running (wide angle, 2 seconds)

Dog in field (wide angle, 4 seconds)

I want to start my promo with a fade in and with calming music. During one of the shots in the beginning, I aim to have text revealed on the screen to introduce the video. Throughout the video I hope to make it become more fast paced and then at the end it will come back round to a calm setting, representing a cyclical structure. I then want to have a fade out into the credits.

Editing Practice

In preparation for my promo video I practiced editing a series of pre-made clips and adding text, as in my promo video I want to include this. I put the clips together, added transitions at the beginnning and the end and added text. I added the text "The World's Natural Beauty" to demonstrate what the video is about. I then edited the text to give it correct timings, transitions and I also edited the colours, shadows and font. I had fun doing this and I found it quite easy which is good because now I know what to do for my promo video.

Callout Graphic

In after effects, I had my first go at making a callout graphic. I leant how to camera track and add a graphic to a wall and keep it stuck as the camera moves. I found this fairly straight forward and I definitely want to try and include this in my promo.

callout graphic.mp4

Street Video

Promo - Real Life Comparison

My plan for my promo is similar to the "Amelie" trailer because it is a sequence of short clips separated by short black screen intervals. The trailer also has continuous music like I intend for my promo. I also think it is quite similar in a sense of mood and astmosphere as they are both quite upbeat and uplifted. However, the trailer has a voiceover part-way in, and my promo will not have a voiceover. Additionally, the music in the trailer speeds up, making the clips feel fast paced, and I intend my promo to be slow and relaxed.

My promo is similar to the beginning of the new "Barbie" trailer, as they both begin with short close up shots. The mood of the videos are similar as well because they're both positive and uplifted. However, they are different as the trailer includes more wide angle shots and various sound effects, music and dialogue, as with mine I intend to keep the music the same throughout with no voiceover or dialogue. Also, the structure of the trailer tells a story and includes clips from the movie which give you a teaser of what the movie is about, whereas my promo is going to be just a short video of my interests.

PROMO VIDEO.mp4

Final Promo Video

Here is my final Promo Video, and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I included my logo from Unit 2 and many techniques I have learnt throughout this unit. However, I would've liked to include a call-out graphic, but After Effects said they couldn't track the camera and I am not sure why. Hopefully for my next project I can include this as I will have more knowledge of how things work on Adobe Software. Overall, for my first video I think it was successful, and I like the outcome. I think the editing is smooth and I like the cyclical structure of the video, which is something I planned to do, and I like the story it tells. The added text to some of the clips makes it more interesting and tells you about Cedric, the star of the show. I also really like the music I found, as I think it sets a calm, happy mood for the video.

Music for video: Morning Routine by Ghostrifter Official from Chosic.

Unit 1 Evaluation

In Unit 1, our aim was to film and edit a promo video for ourselves, which represented us in some form. To begin with, I got together images of things I like from Google, including dogs, food and music, and put them on my webiste as a mood board. This helped me come up with ideas of what to focus my promo video on. Next, I began to learn how to animate text on After Effects, so I created a demo and put it on my website along with a short paragraph on how I did it. Learning this was really helpful, as I was keen to include moving/animated text in my promo. Now that I had some knowledge of After Effects, it was time to begin pre-production research. I decided that I was going to base my promo on my dog, as not only do I love dogs, I also thought focusing it on my dog would be the easiest for me to film. I then made a mood board by finding images that inspired me or relate to my promo, which included pictures of dogs, fields, and the city of Bath. This helped me visualise the shots I wanted to include and the general mood of the video. On my website I described why I like each photo and why they inspired me. Following this, I planned out the shots I aimed to film in a Shot List, and I researched different techniques, angles and more. I also drew a story board for the plot of my promo. Doing this went well because it made filming much easier and quicker as I already had a vision in my mind. Before I filmed the actual clips, I went to one of my filming locations and practised filming shots to make sure my location was suitable, which it was. This also helped me get a clearer idea of what shots look good. While filming for my promo at home, in College I was practising editing and learning new techniques. I learnt how to make a call-out graphic and also a green screen. Learning the call-out graphic was very useful because I think they look cool and I intended to have one in my promo. I think the shots I filmed for my promo were very successful, as they were all how I wanted them to be, and I filmed a wide range of different types of shots such as closeups, wide angles, tracking shots, over the shoulder shots, high angle shots and more. The editing of my promo video I think went moderately well. I edited the clips together on Premiere Pro and then added effects such as titles on After Effects. I really like the beginning and the way it alternates between a short clip and a black screen. I think this is interesting for the structure because it is like an introduction, and then later in the video there are no black screens. I also like the cyclical structure of it, which is something I wanted it to have, so that was successfully done. One thing I would like to do next time is include a callout graphic. I intended on doing this however when I tried After Effects said they could not track the camera. I think in the future a hurdle like this won't affect me as much because I will have more knowledge on how Adobe Software works. I like how I included text in the video because it tells the audience about my dog whilst they are watching him, which I think is a good audience captivation technique. On the other hand, I was intending to make my promo 20-30 seconds long, but it turned out to be a minute and 30 seconds in length, which I actually prefer. Another thing I would say is good about my promo is the titles in the beginning; they are prominent yet not overtaking of the clip in the background. They also look nice and sofisticated. Also, I am pleased with the music I chose, as it gives the video a happy and upbeat mood. Overall this Unit went well for me, however for the next Units I am aiming to be more knowledgeable on the software.

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