[1]Tips for making an interesting and good-looking school video presentation.
[2]Before getting your camera
and go about filming, It is worth to spend some time within your group
discussing on what sort of film you want to produce.
[3]Decide on whether you want
to produce a documentary, a drama or an animation prior to writing a script, as
this kind of choice you will influence significantly the way you conduct your
research and select resources for your project.
[4]Also, at an early stage,
consider the staff you have to work with. Find out what qualities do they have
that you can use during the production of your movie.
[5]For instance, it is
pointless to spend hours working on a script for four actors when you actually
have only one person capable of acting convincingly in your group. On the other
hand, why would you write a script for a narrated documentary when you have
good actors in your group for shooting a thrilling plot?
[6]Ultimately, it is very
important that everyone participating in your project have a clear
understanding of what to do and are happy with their roles.
[7]Finally, make a detailed
planning timeline to have an idea of how much time can you actually spend
working on the project until the day of the presentation.
[8]Although your group will
probably struggle to stick to deadlines, it is of utmost importance that you
are fully aware of things like:
I.
[8a]How much lesson
time does the group has to work?
II.
[8b]How much
break and lunchtime will your group dedicate for the making of your project?
III.
[8c]How much time
does each member in the group have to work on the project at home?
[9]With this information, now
it is time to brainstorm ideas for the movie and depending on what sort of
movie you have decided to make, you will then refine your planning by adding
specific targets and deadlines for each of the following phases:
I.
[9a]Research
II.
[9b]Script
writing
III.
[9c]Story-board
IV.
[9d]Rehearsal
V.
[9e]Location,
scenery, props, costumes, makeup and lighting design
VI.
[9f]Shooting
VII.
[9g]Editing
VIII.
[9h]Sound
effects, music, soundtrack and voice-overs
IX.
[9i]Reviewing,
adding title screen, opening and/or ending credits
X.
[9j]Producing and
delivering the project
[10]For instance, a small
group working on a narrated documentary project using a lot of still images and
information charts would probably spend more time on research and script
writing. [11]However, people involved on a
project heavily based on acting are more likely to spend most of their time on
rehearsals and shooting the scenes.
[11]Whichever way of working
you chose, you must make a great effort to be using your time wisely for the
making of your project or you will be at risk of not completing it on time.
[12]Each of these phases have
several sub phases that have to be completed. Although the work may differ
depending on the project, consider the following information as a checklist for
guidance.
[13]Research:
I.
[13a]Consider
creating a database folder for storing all the information you find in a single
place. You can for instance divide it in sub folders. [13b]Have
a folder to store links from websites that features useful information and
another to store the links from pictures that you might end up using on the
film. [13c]You may have another folder for keeping
“.png” picture files that you can use as callouts in your movie and another
folder for downloaded videos you may want to use as well. [13d]Make sure that everyone has access and can edit
it to facilitate collaboration during this phase.
II.
[13e]Keep a text
document to record sources from information you have taken from books, CDs, DVDs
and magazines.
III.
[13f]Develop the
good habit of tagging your sources. Tags will help you in separate information
by primary and secondary and by order of relevance. [13g]Tag
each piece accordingly, whether they are essential, relevant, interesting and
not relevant. [13h]Trust, when you are on a
rush, just a day from the deadline trying to find that essential information
for your project, you will thank yourself for have doing this before and not
have to scan through thirty or forty different hyperlinks in order to find it
again.
[14]Script writing:
I.
[14a]For your
first draft, do not strive for displaying your super writer abilities. What you
really want is to have all of your ideas on the paper.
II.
[14b]Format your
draft so that you and your team can easily differentiate the different types of
information you have included
III.
[14c]Along with
dialogues, make an effort to write some basic information regarding scenery,
light, actor’s placement, and time and camera motion to facilitate the shooting
process.
IV.
[14d]Review and
finish the script.
[15]Story board:
[15a]The storyboard is a very
important tool to show to the actors, the crew and the camera how you want a
particular scene to be film. It can vary from a very simple serie of rough
sketches that you go about explaining and updating it to your team while presenting
it from very detailed and colorful drawings. [15b]Whichever
method you decide to use, make sure you have sufficient time to complete it.
[16]Rehearsal:
I.
[16a]Stay focused
during rehearsals. Even if you are shooting a comedy movie, you want to ensure
that the actors are acting naturally and convincingly. [16b]Otherwise,
you may end up with a terrible movie sequence that does not cause the impact
you wanted and makes you feel foolish when presenting it.
II.
[16c]Group
members that are not acting should be present during rehearsals to watch and
give constructive feedback to the actors. [16d]Is
the timing good? [16f]Can you hear their voices
loud and clear? [16g]Will the actor’s fit on the
screen? [16h]Are they acting convincingly? [16i]These are just some of the things you can think
of. Consider asking a drama teacher or an experienced student for advice.
[17]Location, scenery, props,
costumes, makeup and lighting design:
I.
[17a]Decide for a
place to shoot the scene
II.
[17b]Examine the
place and decide what sort of extra items like furniture and decorating
materials you will have to add and assign a member from your group to take care
of it.
III.
[17c]Do not
forget to bring any props that the actors may need to interact with when
shooting the scene
IV.
[17d]Designate a
member of the group to take care of the costumes, and another one to take care
of the makeup.
V.
[17e]If you are
using the daylight, make sure that the sun will not ruin your shooting by
placing the camera and the actors prior to setting the stage. [17f]If the
location looks terrible on the video, try it from a different camera angle or
consider shooting the scene someplace else
VI.
[17g]If you are
about to take your own lights, do not forget to take some extensions and
experiment with different lighting and camera positions prior to shooting the
scene.
VII.
[17h] as a rule,
put the actors, film a small sequence and check the lighting. If it looks good,
setup everything, film and enjoy.
[18]Shooting:
I.
[18a]Do not film
without a clapboard. Clapboards store important information from the scene
right of the beginning of the recording and your editor will thank you for have
used it. [18b]Your clapboard should at least
include the following information: the date in which you recorded the scene,
the scene number or title and the take number. use callouts.
II.
[18c]Make sure
everyone is quiet while you are shooting
III.
[18d]Make sure you
can hear the actor’s voices and that the acting is good. Watch attentively to
every scene you record before going to the next one.
IV.
[18e]Give
constructive feedback to your cast and do not be afraid of getting the most out
of them.
V.
[18f]If a scene
is not working as intended, consider trying it again on another day. [18g]It is good to have an alternative for a difficult
scene, but if the script does not look good on the screen or if you are
struggling to get the best performance out of your cast, you may consider cut
the scene out from the movie at all.
VI.
[18h]If you are
filming with more than one camera, spend some time at the end of the shooting
doing backups. Label and store takes on separate folders for each scene to
speed up file location while editing.
[19]Editing:
I.
[19a]Editing
relies heavily on the use of software and takes a great amount of time to
finish. Have a reliable and committed person to take care of this process.
II.
[19b]Consider the
software you will use for editing before shooting the scenes. [19c]There is no point in making the actors look at
the sky in desperation because of a certain alien ship that is coming through
the clouds if your windows “moviemaker” will not let you place it there. [19d]To be honest, I would prefer to know what editing
features my software has way before start writing my script.
III.
[19e]Add the
music, sound effects, voice-overs, and make sure that the transitions between
different scenes make sense and are enjoyable to watch.
IV.
[19f]Probably you
will want to edit and sequence your film accordingly to the order on your
script. [19g]However, taking out a bad sequence
or perhaps changing the order of a scene or two, might give your movie a
different character, making it more mysterious, interesting and engaging. [19h]Do not feel free to experiment when editing.
V.
[19i]Save your
project after every one or two actions. Video files are heavy and very
demanding on CPU. [19j]Quite often, your project
will crash and you want your last editing to be there when you re-open it.
VI.
[19k]Before
making a big change or delete a great deal of content from your project, save
it as a different version number like “my
project_v2” use as callout. [19l]If you regret the choices you have made, you will
always be able to go back and start over.
VII.
[19m]As a piece
of advice, do not delete anything permanently until you have finished and
successfully delivered and presented your project.
[20]Sound effects, music,
soundtrack and voice-overs:
[20a]If you can delegate the
responsibility of all the sound from your movie to one member of your group,
please do it.
[20b]Sound effects:
I.
[20c]You can
easily find and download thousands of free sound effects from the web. Tag them
and store them in a separate folder for using during the editing process.
II.
[20d]Make sure
that the music that you have selected suits the mood of your film. That “Light my fire”add
as audio old The Doors’ song is not going to do well with that panoramic
view of a burning forest on your Nature Channel-like documentary.
III.
[20e]Background
music should stay on the background. It should not overcome the dialogues.
Intelligibility is a key word in here. You want people to hear what you say in
your movie.
IV.
[20f]You can add
exciting original music to your movie if a member of your group is a capable
musician. [20g]A musician can provide a score
for the entire movie, or just for some specific parts in which you could not
find the right music to fit the mood you are after.
V.
[20h]Voice-overs:
the best thing you can do is to record all the narrated parts separated in a
calm and quiet room with an acceptable microphone. [20i]Split
the audio file per sentences and number them on the right order before
exporting the audio. [20j]This way, you can
insert one line at a time on your video editor, and adjust the starting time to
fit the scene exactly how you want.
[21]Reviewing, adding title
screen, opening and/or ending credits
I.
[21a]Your video
editing software may have a way to let you add and edit text in your video. [21b]Try to use these tools creatively but avoid
changing font types and sizes all the time. Try to make it coherent to the
information you are presenting.
II.
[21c]Remember
that you can also use publisher, paint, word and power point to create graphics
and save as “.jpeg”. [21d]A simple way of doing
it is by using the “print screen” command to take a snapshot of what you see on
the screen. [21e]You can also use other videos
from the web and make them dialogue with your own videos. Strive for using your
creativity all the time.
III.
[21f]The ending
credits is your opportunity to praise everyone that participated in your movie.
[21g]Display the name of the people involved
along with the part they took in the movie. [21h]You
may also display pictures from the making of the movie.
IV.
[21i]Watch the
completed project attentively one last time and make sure that it looks exactly
the way you wanted and free from mistakes.
[22]Producing and delivering
the project
I.
[22a]Now, it is
time for exporting the project and I recommend that you do this process twice. [22b]For the first version, render the video to a
format that matches the settings of the camera you have used for maximum quality.
[22c]For the second version, choose an optimized
format and video resolution for faster loading time on YouTube.
II.
[22d]For
presenting the work, make sure you have both versions at your disposal. In case
of a broken internet connection, you can always reach for your laptop, tablet, pen
drive or external hard drive.
[23]I hope you will find
these tips useful. In case you wish to have another look at them, I have
uploaded and shared a copy of my script on my blog
www.stnicholasmusic.blogspot.com.br
use as text
[24]Thanks for watching.
[25]All
the best,
Written & Produced by Mr.
Nogara text.
